[jepari]

I just read that "Wild" Bill Guarnere, of E company, 506th, 101st Airborne, made his last jump today. RIP Wild Bill

 

[wilson180]

I saw him last year at a gun show in Allentown, PA. Now he will be back with his brothers. Rest in peace Bill.

 

[curly1]

RIP Bill.

 

[DK PHILLIPS]

may God be with all concerned...<>< dk

 

[panzerfaust44]

I saw him last year at a gun show in Allentown, PA. Now he will be back with his brothers. Rest in peace Bill.

X2.

There's not too many left from Easy Company.

 

[ncreptile]

RIP

Shake their hand any time you meet one, in another 20 years none will be around. I always felt they would be around forever and the truth is they wont. Just 3 years ago the last ww1 vet died. Only 20 years separated those conflicts. I figure we have 15 solid years of the greatest generation being around.

 

[kroh]

I have met Bill (and other vets of my 101st) several times. He had a long and productive life, and I am sure he enjoyed it until the last.

God bless you, Bill (as I have told him many times)

 

[WLD Bill]

Greet and thank all those who did not make it back.Bless you,
WLD Bill

 

[Jungles]

RIP

Shake their hand any time you meet one, in another 20 years none will be around. I always felt they would be around forever and the truth is they wont. Just 3 years ago the last ww1 vet died. Only 20 years separated those conflicts. I figure we have 15 solid years of the greatest generation being around.

All too true. Time was, nobody gave a second thought to someone being a WW2 vet. Because (and I was born in 1950) every adult man you knew had been in the war. You dad, all your uncles, your neighbors, all your friends' dads. You never asked "if" a friend's dad had been in the war. That was a given. You asked what he'd done in the war. Now, most of them are gone. Say thanks while you still have a chance.

 

[zeebill]

Being busy with a gun show this weekend I just learned of Bill's passing from a friend awhile ago. I am sitting here with a tear in my eye as I stare at a black and white he autographed for me many years ago on it is says" From one Wild Bill to another and is a photo of him right after basic I believe. I got to meet Bill many times luckily and even got to eat with him once. I got his book with Babe Heffron at Reading Airshow last year and also another picture with him and to shake his hand once again. He always had a strong handshake which gave away the sincerity with which he gave it to you. Somehow I never heard Babe Heffron died last year and was kind of shocked to see that in the paper article. They talked just about everyday and I am sure that Bill missed the Babe. Like his son said at least they are together again.

The females of Bill's family treated Bill with reverence and respect and it was sometimes very funny to hear Bill say for Gods sake will they never leave me alone for a second. He was a truly wonderful man who seemed to care for everyone and indeed never changed from the first time I met him years ago. He had a great penchant for saying things the way he saw them and never pulled a punch for any reason. I will greatly miss him and all the things he did for this country and his fellow vets he loved so dearly. Rest in Peace Wild Bill from another Wild Bill!

 

[Tony M]

Godspeed my brother..RIP!

 

[Old Rover]

I have not been around here long enough to have the Pleasure of meeting Bill, Very sad to hear the news . My Uncle who lied about his his age to get in WW2 passed 3 weeks ago , A WW2 Vet.my Dad passed over a decade ago . I can't thank these Vets, enough when I see them.
R.I.P. Bill

 

[AlamoCity]

Being busy with a gun show this weekend I just learned of Bill's passing from a friend awhile ago. I am sitting here with a tear in my eye as I stare at a black and white he autographed for me many years ago on it is says" From one Wild Bill to another and is a photo of him right after basic I believe. I got to meet Bill many times luckily and even got to eat with him once. I got his book with Babe Heffron at Reading Airshow last year and also another picture with him and to shake his hand once again. He always had a strong handshake which gave away the sincerity with which he gave it to you. Somehow I never heard Babe Heffron died last year and was kind of shocked to see that in the paper article. They talked just about everyday and I am sure that Bill missed the Babe. Like his son said at least they are together again.

The females of Bill's family treated Bill with reverence and respect and it was sometimes very funny to hear Bill say for Gods sake will they never leave me alone for a second. He was a truly wonderful man who seemed to care for everyone and indeed never changed from the first time I met him years ago. He had a great penchant for saying things the way he saw them and never pulled a punch for any reason. I will greatly miss him and all the things he did for this country and his fellow vets he loved so dearly. Rest in Peace Wild Bill from another Wild Bill!

Thanks for sharing that. It's always nice to hear more about the personal and family side of these revered vets. I wish I could have met more of them, myself.

Rest in Peace of Our Lord, Bill.

 

[Snowman]

Well said! I work at the VA and always take time to talk with the WWII Vets, they're my favorites! I can spend half an hour or two hours with one of them and consider it a GIFT! They TRULY are the Greatest Generation! Wild Bill was truly a hero! He'd never admit it, just as Ed Shames, My Grandfather and Great Uncle NEVER would admit it. They stared death in the face and didn't run away from it. In their words. "The REAL Heroes are the ones that didn't come back." I'm PROUD to have grown up in the shadow of the Greatest Generation. Rest in Peace Bill. You EARNED it!

RIP

Shake their hand any time you meet one, in another 20 years none will be around. I always felt they would be around forever and the truth is they wont. Just 3 years ago the last ww1 vet died. Only 20 years separated those conflicts. I figure we have 15 solid years of the greatest generation being around.

 

[nothernug]

All too true. Time was, nobody gave a second thought to someone being a WW2 vet. Because (and I was born in 1950) every adult man you knew had been in the war. You dad, all your uncles, your neighbors, all your friends' dads. You never asked "if" a friend's dad had been in the war. That was a given. You asked what he'd done in the war. Now, most of them are gone. Say thanks while you still have a chance.

I was born in the 50s too and remember those days exactly the same. On patriotic holidays very nearly every house had a US flag hung out on it. It was the rule rather than the exception unlike the opposite which is true today.