"I hate it when people call me a hero"........

Earl McClung was born April 27, 1924 in Ichellem, WA. Like his drivers license tells he is 3/8 Indian. The license was issued by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservates. His mother was part Lake Indian.

Like so many other during that period he grew up in a poor family. It was difficult to find work. They raised cattle and grew everything that grew and was eatable. He went to school on horseback.

In 1943 he enlisted the Army just before he finished High School. He trained at Ft. Bragg and choose for the paratroopers because of the extra 50 dollars. He didn't even know what the paratroopers was all about.
He remembers vividly the training. 7 Days a week from early morning 7 till 6 in the afternoon. Intensive. Running, obstacle course, weight lifting and two time a day one half hour pause to eat.
He told me that during that period he was so skinny that he had to stand up twice to get a shade on the ground.
Until the moment he made his first jump he never was in an airplane before. He joined E Company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne when they were at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. -
He made his first combat jump in Normandy. As he came down in the dark, two enemy soldiers shot at his parachute. Earl always jumped with his rifle in his hands and could see their silhouettes against the moonlight. He killed the two men shooting at him moments after he hit the ground.

During Operation Market Garden (starting Sept, 17, 1944) Earl was first scout for E-Co. whose task it was to secure the bridges across the Wilhelmina-canal. While he was hiding behind a tree to wait for the rest of the men to catch up, the Germans blew up the bridge (Son)

Earl: "The timing of that explosion if it had been just a few moments later, they would have got the whole damn company, a few moments earlier, they would have got me. The way it worked out it didn't get anybody. It stopped us, but nobody got hurt. We could talk across the river, but there wasn't anything anybody could do. So I just lay down behind the tree and went to sleep. There were no Germans around. By that time they were long gone."

While fighting in Holland, Earl was hit under his knee with a piece of shrapnel. Medics bandaged it and he limped for several days, but he was never evacuated. Earl was one of the very few men of Easy Company who made it all the way through the war without being seriously wounded or killed.
After Market Garden he fought in the Battle of the Bulge, in Haguenau Germany) and Hitler's Eagles Nest in Berchtesgaden.
It was not without a reason his company was called a Band of Brothers. The bond he had with his buddies was stronger than family bonds. As a company dropped behind enemy lines you were trained to do quick effective actions. You relied on your Buddie for 100% ans even would risk your life for him.
His most vivid memories of the War were the days during the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne. The cold, the snow, the lack of proper clothing and ammo. Also the moment they entered Eindhoven. Thousands of people alongside the narrow streets, waving, hugging and kissing them and gave all kinds of things like apples.

After the War he married in 1946 with Jean (L) from Trinidad, Colorado. The had one sun and two daughters
Earl survived Normandy, Holland and Bastogne but after the War he and his family had to deal with very difficult moments in their life.
Their only son was KIA in Vietnam and one of his daughters was killed in a car accident.
Earl: "I still have problems with that because I have the feeling I failed in taking care for them."

Earl, humble and mentally very strong doesn't like it to talk about himself. Almost automatically you think it's because of his experiences during that War, like so many others but that's not his reason.

Earl: "I hate to talk about myself. I hate it when people call me a hero and put me in the spotlight. The real heroes are those kids who never returned home again."

After the War Earl returned to the US.

Earl: "The kid who left wasn't the kid who came home. I had a pretty rough time of it. I had dreams. I'd be sound asleep and somebody would touch me and they'd end up in the closet with me choking them. I was pretty dangerous even to touch. I got in fights. I was angry all the time. I didn't know what it was. I knew I needed help and the only way to get it was to go back in. A little hair of the dog that bit me to get me straightened out. So in February 1946 I reenlisted for another 18 months. Then I was okay from then on.""

I know Earl as a very humble man who exuded naturally authority and automatically commanded respect.
The Day befor Memorial Day in 2003 I visited the US War cemetery in Margraten with him.

With his head bowed he walked silently beside me, visibly affected.

He stopped, pointed at the thousands of white grave markers and said: " I told you that I hate it when people call me a hero. This is the reason why....."

He could not have said it better.

Left: In 2008, pregnant with daughter Ninke.

Above: Don and Earl as our guests.

Moments we will never forget.

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