Bradford Freeman, ‘Band Of Brothers’ Veteran, Dies At 97

eman, ‘Band Of Brothers’ Veteran, Dies At 97

Transcript

00:00They were Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne.

00:04This is not dog company. This is Easy Company.

00:09The first and finest company in this regiment.

00:13They were the band of brothers.

00:15Over the 4th of July weekend, the last surviving member of World War II's storied rifle company passed away.

00:21Bradford Freeman was 97 years old from Caledonia, Mississippi.

00:25He said that he and his brother had seen an article in like a newspaper about the paratroopers.

00:32And they said, well, if we're going to go fight, this is what we want to do.

00:37Freeman enlisted in 1942. Two years later on D-Day, Easy Company parachuted into Normandy.

00:43We knew what we were going to do. They didn't drop us where we were supposed to, but it was a good thing.

00:51So we just dropped from there.

00:54Over 11 months, they felt the brunt of Europe's battlefields.

00:59Freeman was injured, hit by a German rocket known as the Screaming Mimi, earning him a Purple Heart.

01:05His company's experience captured the attention of historian Stephen Ambrose,

01:09and then the eyes of Hollywood greats Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg,

01:13who turned the book into an acclaimed TV series in 2001.

01:17Now what company is this?

01:19Easy Company!

01:20Winning six Emmys.

01:23But it all started with a humble beginning.

01:26This was an ordinary man who was placed in an extraordinary situation and did some extraordinary things in his lifetime.

01:34What he and his fellow soldiers accomplished would indelibly mark history,

01:38just like Shakespeare's Henry V tells the British troops they would.

01:42From this day to the ending of the world, but we in it shall be remembered.

01:47We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.

01:50For today, Stephanie Gossk, NBC News.

01:54Wow.

01:55You know, I'm so thankful that years ago someone had the foresight to get those oral histories on tape.

02:02So we can hear from all of those men in their own words forever.

02:06Yeah.

02:06It's amazing.

02:07Forever and ever.

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