Edward Shames dead at 99 – Band of Brothers officer played by actor Joseph May on HBO series passes away
EDWARD Shames, the World War 2 veteran who helped inspire the Band of Brothers, has died at age 99.
Shames peacefully passed away at his home on Friday, according to an obituary posted by the Holomon-Brown Funeral Home & Crematory.
A member of the Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, Shames was involved in some of the most important battles of the second world war.
He was the first member of the 101st to enter the Dachau concentration camp after its liberation.
“When Germany surrendered, Ed and his men of Easy Company entered Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest where Ed managed to acquire a few bottles of cognac, a label indicating they were ‘for the Fuhrer’s use only,’” read the obituary.
“Later, he would use the cognac to toast his oldest son’s Bar Mitzvah.”
He worked for the National Security Agency with a specialty in Middle East Affairs and served in the US Army Reserve Division after the war. He later retired as a colonel.
Stephen Ambrose’s 1992 book, Band of Brothers, wrote about the Easy Company and eventually turned into a miniseries by HBO in 2001 created by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.
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Shames and his wife Ida were married for 73 years. While they were married, they traveled the world together for many years before she eventually passed away.
He is survived by his sons Douglas and Steven, four grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.
A graveside service will be held at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Norfolk, Virginia, on Sunday morning.
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