Friday, July 10, 2009

No 24-Hour TV Coverage, No Obituaries in News Magazines

No 24-Hour TV Coverage, No Obituaries in News Magazines . . .

I found out today via Irons in the fire that Darrell "Shifty" Powers passed away on June 17 of this year.

Who is Shifty Powers, you ask? (Well, some of you, I'm sure.) Perhaps this will jog your memory:


That's Shifty on the left, as played by Peter Youngblood Hills in the 2001 HBO mini-series "Band of Brothers." A pretty good job of casting, as here's what Shifty looked like back in WWII:


And here's what he looked like just a couple of years ago:


Quite simply, Darrell "Shifty" Powers was considered to be the best shot in all of Easy Company with his M1 Garand.

Firehand found out by email, and I suggest you read the whole thing, but here's the part that I want to emphasize:
Shifty died on June 17 after fighting cancer.

There was no parade.

No big event in Staples Center.

No wall to wall back to back 24x7 news coverage.

No weeping fans on television.

And that's not right.

Let's give Shifty his own Memorial Service, online, in our own quiet way. Please forward this email to everyone you know. Especially to the veterans.

Rest in peace, Shifty.
One other thing: In March of 2006 a very dedicated man did a very nice thing for Shifty. You might want to read that, too:

A Rifle for Shifty

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