OT - The Funeral You Didn't Hear About

I'm kind of reluctant to start an OT thread, but this just jumped out at me.

A gentleman p***ed away last month that a lot of you may have heard of, and no, I don't mean the skinny creepy guy that danced pretty well. But in todays brainless celebrity driven media circus it just didn't register. It should have. Luckily someone at MSNBC momentarily had their head screwed on straight. You have to suffer through a commercial first but stick with it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/31929477#31929477

Turns out the Chuck Yeager connection mentioned is likely bogus but the rest is correct.

This is from a local paper.

http://www.tricities.com/tri/news/l...others_hero_darrell_swifty_powers_dies/25556/

These guys gave so much and asked for so little in return. At least we can do is give a quiet "thank you" at the end of the day.

Thank you Shifty Powers. Congratulations on a life well lived. The world is a better place because of you and you buddies.

Kurt O.

 

the world has lost a true hero!

 

True Hero !!!!

 

RIP Shifty Powers... and thank you.

 

True Hero indeed. It's a shame the media doesn't spend more than 30 secs. to cover the death of some one who fought for this country & spends two weeks covering a singer whose life finally caught up to their career.

 

The greatest generation loses another one, sad. RIP. My generation could learn a thing or two from these guys

 

Not OT in my book. In one of the interviews for Band of Brothers, he said that his kids/grandkids would ask him if he was a hero, and he would answer that no, he wasn't, but he served with a lot of them. Some have greatness thrust upon them......

 

And I'm subjected to that other guy on TV everyday for the last 2 weeks....I was born in the wrong decade.

R.I.P. Mr. Powers, wish I could've been there.

 

Thank you for the links. These guys were the True Heros.

 

If memory serves he was one of the last few members of Easy Company. There was a tribute on the Military channel the other day. RIP.

 

I loved everything about my daddy,” Margo Johnson said.

Yes the world may be screwed up and the priorities of the media are misguided, but this is what a man like this lived for, to be a good daddy and an american patriot.
May he rest in peace, with his brothers that went before him.

 

Godspeed Shifty - a man who called it as it was and saw the "enemy" from the other side as well....

Soemthing I felt was entirely appropriate......

A Soldier Died Today

He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past
Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, every one.

And tho’ sometimes, to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his Legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we’ll hear his tales no longer for old Bill has p***ed away,
And the world’s a little poorer, for a soldier died today.

He will not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an ordinary and quite uneventful life.
Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way,
And the world won’t note his p***ing, though a soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their p***ing and proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell their whole life stories, from the time that they were young,
But the p***ing of a soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land
A guy who breaks his promises and cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow who, in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his Country and offers up his life?

A politician’s stipend and the style in which he lives
Are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives.
While the ordinary soldier, who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal and perhaps, a pension small.

It’s so easy to forget them for it was so long ago,
That the old Bills of our Country went to battle, but we know
It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom that our Country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand,
Would you want a politician with his ever-shifting stand?
Or would you prefer a soldier, who has sworn to defend
His home, his kin and Country and would fight until the end?

He was just a common soldier and his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us we may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict, then we find the soldier’s part
Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor while he’s here to hear the praise,
Then at least let’s give him homage at the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline in a paper that would say,
Our Country is in mourning, for a soldier died today.

RIP

CURRAHEE !!!

Rat

 

Another great one is lost. Moment of silence for Shifty!

 

I watch Band of Brothers on average every 3 months, I never tire of it...men like him will surely be missed...and while they may not have been saints in their lives, what they sacrificed for us more than makes up for any of their shortcomings...Godspeed Shifty, and the rest of your brethren who you now serve with in Heaven...R.I.P.

 

May he rest in peace.
Here is a link to a page I found on the net.Thanks to Shifty and Alf and all former and current men and women for serving our country....

 

Sorry forgot to post the link it's a good read.....http://bataansurvivor.com/index.php

 

WOW what a story......


We’re hearing a lot today about big splashy memorial services.

I want a nationwide memorial service for Darrell “Shifty” Powers.

Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry. If you’ve seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.

I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn’t know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, ***ured him that he was at the right gate, and noticed the “Screaming Eagle”, the symbol of the 101st Airborne, on his hat.

Making conversation, I asked him if he’d been in the 101st Airborne or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served, and how many jumps he made.

Quietly and humbly, he said “Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so, and was in until sometime in 1945 . . . “ at which point my heart skipped.

At that point, again, very humbly, he said “I made the 5 training jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy . . . . do you know where Normandy is?“ At this point my heart stopped.

I told him yes, I know exactly where Normandy was, and I know what D-Day was. At that point he said “I also made a second jump into Holland , into Arnhem “ I wa s standing with a genuine war hero . . . . and then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day.

I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France , and he said “Yes. And it’s real sad because these days so few of the guys are left, and those that are, lots of them can’t make the trip.“ My heart was in my throat and I didn’t know what to say.

I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in Coach, while I was in First Cl***. I sent the flight attendant back to get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have it, that I’d take his in coach.

He said “No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are still some who remember what we did and still care is enough to make an old man very happy.“ His eyes were filling up as he said it. And mine are b******* up now as I write this.

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.

“A nation without heroes is nothing.“

 

Fathers, if you have sons share this link with them. Men like these are falling away from us in death, but never from our hearts... Shifty, thank you for your courageous service to a country that honors and respects your sacrifice and service. A real hero, a real man with real Courage.

If there are still some WWII vets in your town or neighborhood search them out and listen to thier stories... they are part of what makes America the greatest country on God's green earth... Many became Hot Rodders ...

 

May he rest in peace.
A true man & hero.

 

A huge amen.....!

 

Amen Bro..
My 17yo Son and I sit down often and these together :
Band of Brothers
Saving P Ryan
The Patriot
Glory,
etc...

Hot Rodding ... Iron , Blood and Speed..

 

I hope no one ever takes what they have for granted. . .thank the real heroes. . .and not the weirdos.

 

May He Rest In Peace. Thank You for posting .Men like him need to be in the spotlight not the bs the midia is pumping at us.

 

Dang I am tearing up.
I retired 2 years ago after 26 years in the Air Force. A**** the many people I came in contact with I was blessed one day to share a billeting room with a retired WWII Army Air Force flier who was p***ing though catching a free lift on a military aircraft. It was over 20 years ago in Fairford England I believe. The memory is a little hazy but as I recall he was a enlisted person on a bomber, likely a B-17 Flying Fortress, a gunner probably. He had flown several bombing missions and was shot down, spent the rest of the war in a German prison camp. He didn't talk about it much but the little he told me that night was a privelege for me to hear. The next day he was gone but left me with a memory for the rest of my life and pride in what he and the other soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen had done and pride in what I was doing, an AF crew chief on KC-135's.

 

Thank you for posting.

RIP Shifty RIP

 

Please do not forget the past, study it. We will have another episode like these boys went through.............unfortunately. RIP to all of the Greatest that we lose daily. It breaks my heart that ..................ah **** it.............

 

Thanks for posting.

 

No disrespect to the servicemen and women of today, as they have done their part with honor, but we pretty much deserve the future we have coming. Our culture seems to hate or at least mocks true heroism, while we glorify celebrities. RIP Shifty. Thank you.

 

Belair - your are spot on in your ***essment.

Now as to the actual reasons why this is true - well lets just say I won't get into that on the HAMB.

Rat

 

Living in LA I have been saying it for weeks that the great unwashed public is crazy for the fuss they were making over the death all over the news. You know who I am talking about, don't get me wrong I feel for his family.

But real people who did there duty to protect our way of life, get a 30 second mention is really a shame. I know that Shifty did'nt think of himself as a Hero, but I did and I thank him and all the others that served.


I am VERY sad to hear about his p***ing, RIP Shifty.


CBB