Meeting Babe

While traveling back from my 5 year college reunion I had quite the celebrity encounter in the Philadelphia airport. He might not look to you like a celebrity. I highly doubt if you lined up 100 people many people would have been to spot him out of a crowd, but he is indeed a celebrity. There are newspaper articles, books and an entire miniseries about this man. Still, as I said, not many people would likely be able to pick him out of a lineup.

I came running to Gate B19 to catch my US Airways flight out of breath and annoyed at just about everything. I was annoyed I was in the Philly airport to begin with, but my original nonstop flight the night before had been canceled and it was all they had. I was annoyed that my flight that morning was delayed and then sat on the runway for thirty minutes. I was annoyed I had to run through the airport and race to catch a shuttle because of that stupid delay. I was annoyed my gate was all the way at the end of the terminal. Never mind that I had just spent an amazing weekend reconnecting with my college friends, all these little inconveniences were just adding up and stressing me out.

That is until I arrived at the gate, realized I hadn't missed the connection and looked around, as I always do, at who I would be sharing the plane with. That's when I saw Babe. The first thing I noticed was a 101st Airborne cap on his head. I always notice veterans when I go out and if I haven't heard of the unit that they proudly display on their cap, I always make an effort to look it up when I get home. I looked closer at this man and saw a 506th battalion logo, then a Currahee patch. I took a long hard look at his ruddy face and I thought to myself, "my gosh...that's Babe Heffron!"

Now for those who don't know, I have been quite the military history enthusiast ever since visiting Normandy in 2001. That is honestly the whole reason I became a history major and, consequently, a history teacher. I stood out on that beach and looked back up and I visited the battlefields and cemeteries in the area and was just in awe that I didn't know more about this place and what happened there (I was 18 at the time).

It started with a basic book I bought for myself in France on the D-Day invasion. It has spread over the years to include an entire bookshelf full of books on the topic and a shelf full of DVDs and documentaries. My best friend from college once responded when asked what I would do if I could only do one thing for the rest of my life: "she
d read books on D-Day". My fascination with D-Day extended to an overall interest in World War II narratives and the first-hand accounts of men who, to quote Don Malarkey, were so brave as to be unbelievable. Babe Heffron was one of those men.

He was 19 years old when he answered the call to serve in 1942. He went to jump school and though he didn't jump into Normandy, he fought in Operation Market Garden and earned a bronze star at the Battle of the Bulge. He was an ordinary guy called in to do extraordinary things. HBO chose to focus on Babe's unit, Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne when they made their epic miniseries Band of Brothers (which I have probably seen 5-6 times). Babe is not featured prominently in the film. If you have not read the book or seen the miniseries before you probably wouldn't remember him. He was a replacement who joined after the Normandy campaign and quickly earned the respect of his fellow soldiers. The actor who portrays Babe, Robin Laing, does a fabulous job portraying the 22 year old in combat. One of his most memorable and emotional episodes is the Breaking Point, which depicts how Easy Company endured the horrific Battle of the Bulge. It boggles my mind how these men survived the conditions they did and were able to go on to live such meaningful lives. If you have not seen the miniseries, I highly recommend it. The excuse that "I'm not into war movies" does not hold up. Band of Brothers is a film (miniseries) that every American should see. It's not just a "war movie". The real men of Easy Company are featured prominently at the start of each episode. that is when you'll hear these men vehemently deny that they are heroes or celebrities. To quote Babe, "the real men, the real heroes are the fellows that are still buried over there and those that come home to be buried."

Knowing that, I was very reluctant to introduce myself to Babe. I was genuinely starstruck once I realized it was him and could not work up the courage to speak to him. I wondered if I should just leave him alone. I was 99% confident it was him, but just to be sure I stammered a weak "Mr. Heffron?" to which he turned to me and, in his wonderful South Philly accent, replied "yeah, that's me! I'm Babe!" I introduced myself and told him the story about how and why I became a teacher and what an honor it was to meet him. I only talked to him for about 5 minutes, but in those 5 minuets he told me about all the speaking engagements he does all over the country and how important it is to him to make sure people remember and understand the sacrifices that men and women in uniform make. He told me about how he tried to go to Iraq in 2008 (at the age of 85!) but was stuck in Kuwait 'cos of a sandstorm. He told me about how much he can't stand the liberal papers and people who do nothing but slam the United States. I think everyone at the gate was wondering "why is this girl bothering this poor old man?" Like I said, I was hesitant about bothering him because, despite the fact that he does many speaking tours and wears a jacket and cap that proudly display his service, he does not love being a celebrity. Like I said above, he doesn't believe he's a hero and believes very strongly that he is just a guy who did his job.

Now I'm not the kind of person who glorifies military service and thinks it's "cool" and that everyone who dons a uniform is a superheros or something. I think war is awful. To quote Babe's CO, Major Dick Winters, "wars do not make a man great, but they do bring out the greatness in good men." I think the veterans of WWII are men who led awe-inspiring lives and who this world owes a debt of gratitude to that can truly never be repaid.

As if my exchange with him at the gate wasn't enough, as he was exiting the plane he winked at me, handed me a folded up newspaper, and in his awesome South Philly accent says, "here ya go, I wrote ya something!"

There was a two page article in the Philadelphia newspaper about him and his buddy and fellow Easy Company veteran, Bill Guarnere. On the back page he wrote: Thank you for teaching American history! ~ Babe Heffron, Easy Company, 506th, 101st Airborne. "Band of Brothers". I was in awe as I read it. To think that this guy was thanking ME was mind boggling.

The article was all about Babe and Bill fighting for a monument to honors their former commander, Richard Winters, to be erected in Normandy. which would symbolize the leadership of all Americans on D-Day. The statue would include a statue of Winters leading from the front, as all good leaders, and the quote, "wars do not make men great, but they do bring out the greatness in good men." Nothing could sum up my feelings of the men of this generation any better.

I leave you with the last 7 minutes of the Band of Brothers miniseries. It includes a wonderful narrative by Damian Lewis, who portrayed Major Winters, of what all the men did after the war and interviews with the real men of Easy Company. If it doesn't bring a tear to your eye, I might be convinced you're dead inside.