Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends

William "Wild Bill" Guarnere and Edward "Babe" Heffron, portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, were among the first paratroopers of the U.S. Army - members of an elite unit of the 101st Airborne Division called Easy Company. Arguably the bravest, most efficient, physically fit, and tight-knit group of soldiers the Army has ever produced, the unit was called upon for every high-risk operation of the war, including D-Day, Operation Market Garden in Holland, The Battle of the Bulge, and the capture of Hitler s Eagle s Nest in Berchtesgaden.



Born eighteen days apart and growing up blocks from each other in South Philly, both young men were given exemptions from active duty because of their jobs. Both ripped them up and enlisted.



In this book, Guarnere gives a gripping account of D-Day from the paratrooper s perspective. In vivid detail, the men re-create dropping into Holland to capture the roads and bridges between Eindhoven and Arnhem, known as Hell s Highway. Through much of 1944 the friends fought side by side - until Guarnere lost his right leg in the Battle of the Bulge and was sent home. Heffron went onto liberate slave labor and concentration camps and capture Hitler s Eagle s Nest hideout.



United by their experiences, the two reconnected at the war s end and have been inseparable ever since. Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends is a tribute to the lasting bond forged between comrades in arms under fire and to all the brave men who fought fearlessly for freedom