Hank and Millie Zimmerman
December 9, 2002 I got the e-mail below from Millie Zimmerman. It proves that she is an extra ordinary woman who is not easily scared.
"Well, folks, I did it! At approximately 3:35 p.m. Sunday afternoon, I jumped in tandem with Howie. It was a great experience which I am glad I did. In attendance for the jump were four clergy, a mortician and about 30-40 of our friends. I think Hank was more nervous over the jump than I was. At least he admitted so after the fact. I was excited but never thought of backing out. Howie gave me a sense of complete trust. The only thing I didn’t like about the whole experience was the free fall after leaving the plane at 11,000 feet. At 120 miles/hr. I had the feeling that every bit of moisture was being sucked out of my body, but once the chute opened, I was fine. Would I do it again? I am sure I would. I think everyone should do it. Unlike what Hank told me about when you hit the ground, we had a very soft landing."
Love to you all,
Millie
The Johnny Martin family.
During the reunion week end Johnny was married 60 years. He passed away Jan.26, 2005. His wife Nov.18, 2006.
Within a year he became, together with 12 other Easy privates, a sergeant. As one private once said: "These were men that were highly respected and that you would follow everywhere." In the tv-series you can see that Bill Guarnere accidentally takes Johnny Martin's jacket and read the letter Johnny's wife wrote him. In that letter she also wrote that Bill's brother was killed in action in Monte Cassino (Italy). In january 1945 there were 11 men left out of 40. Nine of them were old soldiers who had jumped either in Normandy of Holland or both: Johnny was one of them. The others were: McCreary, Liebgott, Marsh, Cobb, Wiseman, Lyall, Rader and Sholty.
After the war Johnny attended the Ohion State University and returned to his railroad job and was making money on the side by building houses on speculation. In 1961 he gave all up and moved to Phoenix, over the protest of his family. He started building apartments and nursing homes and within a year he paid more in taxes than he had ever made working for the railroad. Today he is a multimillionaire.
Text from the book Band of Brothers with permission of the author
Jack Foley (l) hooked up as a replacement during the last week in Holland and later on became the assistant platoon leader from the 2th platoon under Buck Compton. He got in command of the platoon after Peacock was send on furlough in january 1945. .(Bastogne) During the fighting around Bastogne he had surrounded a shack where he had discovered 3 Germans. After he kicked the door in he said in his best German: "Come out with hands up!" No reply. He tossed a granade in the shack and the Germans were wounded. He started to questioning them but one of them put his hand into his coat. They all were shot by one of Foley's men. Foley commented:"We had no prisoners but we had the concealed pistols."
Text from the book Band of Brothers with permission of the author.
Lynn "Buck" Compton stayed in the public service jobs, so he became more famous than rich. He was a detective in the Los Angeles Police Department from 1947 to 1951, then spend 20 years as a prosecutor for the district's attorney's office, eventually becoming chief deputy district attorney. In 1968 he directed the investigation of Sirhan Sirhan, then conducted the prosecutiuon. In 1970 Gov. Ronald Reagan appointed him to the California Court of Appeals as an associate justice.
Gary and Marcele Carson
Gary is the son of Gordon Carson and "The Polisg Blonde" from the book"Band of Brothers"
