Photos: Peter van de Wal ©

The Band of Brothers Reunion

Phoenix, Arizona

October 9 - 14, 2002

The reunion was in the Double Tree Hotel in Phoenix, just a short distance from the Airport..

Everything was perfectly organized. The Johnny Martin family did a tremendous job and was working from the early morning till the late night to make all the guests feel fine.

They had two extra rooms where they kept the food and drinks and where you could get your cold drinks till late at night. They worked indefatigable.

Everything was taken care of.

Even for the oversees guests they had indicated in which direction they had to fly. Great!!(see pic below)

Because Ron Speirs did not attend the reunion I visited him at his home to present him a compilation I made of the 46 veterans that were present at the world premeries from Band of Brothers. He signed my book: "Rendezvous with Destiny". Together we looked at the 46 pictures of the veterans but it was hard for him to recognize them. As he said: "I'm mixing up te wars". He fought in Normandy, Korea and Vietnam.

During the first afternoon of the reunion there was a meeting. Since WWII Bill Guarnere organized all the reunions and he thought it was time to let somebody else do the work.

Finaly the veterans voted unanimous for a new 'leader' to organize the future reunions. Not someone from the new generation but a well respected Easy Company veteran: HERB SUERTH.

Above middle : Bill Guarnere (with next to him his son Gene) during his anouncement and request for a new organizer.

Left: "Babe" Heffron (Bill's buddy since WWII) listens with mixed emotions.

Veterans listening to Bill.

At the table fltr:, vlnr: B.K. Masterson - Don Malarkey - Herb Suerth - Joe Lesniewski - Henri Zimmerman and Richard Wright - Paul Rogers. Standing, with the book: Norman Neitzke.

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Joe Lesniewski (above) en George Luz (below) gave their opinion too. When Bill urged him to keep it brief Joe reacted fierce like an 18 year old and took his time to say what he wanted to.

Chris Anderson, journalist and WWII related tour operator, offers his help for future reunions.
Some moments of action

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"Don't take it too hard Dad"
It was a huge surprise that Michael Sobel attended the reunion. For him it was a very emotional moment to meet the veterans who were trained in Toccoa by his father: Herb Sobel. Everybody who has read the book 'Band of Brothers' or watched the TV-series, knows that Herbert Sobel was disliked by his men because of the very hard training he gave them. It was moving to see that many of the veterans came to shake hands with him, to pay their respect for his father.Below an impression.
Philip Perugini's son, David, was the first one who welcomed Michael. He thanked Michael for the outstanding training his father and the other veterans received from Herbert Sobel. As David said, "Ask any of the veterans here their opinion about your father ... to a man, you'll find out that they credit him with providing the training and motivation that enabled them to survive the war. Without your father, there would be no veterans here, celebrating this reunion together. Nor any of their children. Nor any of their grand children. Your father is the reason all of these lives were possible."

Above middle:Forrest "Goody" Guth (l)

Above right : Michael Sobel signing books.

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Michael Sobel in an animated conversation with Bill Guarnere, one of the first original sergeant from Easy Company, trained by Michael's father in Toccoa. Right: Rechts with the webmaster.
While traveling through the U S, Steph Leenhouwers, a Dutch friend of Bill en Babe, found two Eagles, the symbol of the 101st Airborne Division. During a comic speech he announced that those Eagles from now on could be bought as a new Easy Company item. It sounded credible until he showed an Eagle with one leg, symbolizing Bill. But when he mentioned the telephone numbers to order the Eagles: The phone numbers of Bill and Babe and Merav Brooks (HBO), nobody believed him anymore. Though he managed to keep the attention of all the guests and I think nobody will ever forget this speech. 
Sylvia, Steph's girlfriend, presented the Eagles to Bill and Babe. When she gave the Eagle to Bill, suddenly Babe's characteristic laugh filled the air. We will never forget that moment.
Bill watches Steph. His face tells more than thousand words.
One picture tells more than thousand words can do....

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