I always knew my uncle was a special person from the stories my family had told, but to have the vets, his friends tell me, "He was my best friend from day one at Toccoa"; "He had a magnetic personality that just drew people to him"; "He was totally real"; "he protected and took care of all the men in his squad -- we loved him," and the son of one vet say "My father admired very few people -- your uncle was one of them."

I miss the man I never met.

In the first episode of Band of Brothers, the trooper who turns around and looks at Malarkey when he is getting yelled at by Sobel was Warren “Skip” Muck, my uncle. He and Don Malarkey were best friends (photo left). He's also the soldier who sprains his ankle running up Currahee, and it's Malarkey that helps him up. An incident that occurred that is neither in the book or the movie … after the 100+ mile march that Easy Co. made in Georgia, the book mentions that Malarkey had to crawl to the mess tent. Mr. Malarkey told me that when Skip saw how bad Malarkey's legs were after the march, Skip grabbed both mess kits and said to him "No friend of mine crawls anywhere." He went and filled both with food and came back to the tent to eat with him. One of the many stories I have heard about my Uncle Skip that I treasure.
Our family knew nothing about BoB until Richard Speight Jr. tried to locate Skip's relatives at the start of production. My Mom and Skip were extremely close, and although we knew about him at home, my Mom could never talk about his military career. It was too painful. Richard went to great lengths to locate us. My Mom had married in 1945, so finding our family wasnot an easy task. The local American Legion called Mom saying someone wanted to talk with her about Skip. Was she willing to do that?

To my surprise, she said yes.The man trying to find us was an actor. Mom said to me, "Have you ever heard of two movie people named Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks?" By then Richard was in boot camp in England, and I started what became a long, amazing e-mail correspondence. He called my Mom, letters flew back and forth across the Atlantic, and we developed an incredibly close relationship with Richard. My sister and I finally met him in Paris at the premiere. Richard met my folks at the Philly premiere. My Mom refused to fly to Europe.... saying "Skip was the brave one in the family, you know." Frankly, I think she's one brave lady herself.

The story that Skip tells about swimming the Niagara River (left) is true. He swam it at NIGHT too. When Mom found out from his friends at school, she really gave him "what for" (in her words). Skip tried to calm her by saying that his friends had put a rowboat in the River in case he got into trouble (In the rowboat? Fritz Niland of the 501!). My little powerhouse of a Mom replied "I don't care if the entire $%^&&#@ Coast Guard flotilla was in the river. Don't ever do that again!" The story has become a legend in our family ... my Mom still gets a bit riled when she tells it. My Dad grins and says, "Skip wasn't crazy. He knew he could do it and he did it. Period." Many thanks to Richard for passing it on, and for the writers for including it in the script. It was a thrill to hear it told.
While BoB was in production, I wrote to our congressman to inquire about getting my Uncle Skip's Purple Heart replaced. My mother had always missed it. My grandmother put it away for "safekeeping" and when she passed away, it was never found. Last March, our Congressman responded to me, saying that not only had he won a Purple Heart, but at least 7 other medals for bravery, including Bronze Stars,Distinguished Unit Citations, etc. etc. He came to my mother's house (with a whole flood of media people in tow) to present them to her. It was really a thrill.
It aired on the local TV stations, and a few days later a woman (whose privacy I will protect) called my Mom. It was Skip's sweetheart whom he intended to marry after the war. My Mom and this lovely lady got together later that week (after 55 years) to talk about the man they both loved very much.

Those conversations I will always treasure. We stayed in contact with her in the following months, and this past August I invited her to join me in Ft. Campbell KY (home of the "Screaming Eagles") for a screening of BoB. She and Don Malarkey (r) had corresponded after Bastogne, both devastated by Skip's death. But living on opposite coasts, they had never met. She bravely decided to join me in Ft. Campbell and there Skip's best friend and Skip's fiancee met for the very first time. Introducing them to each other was a moment I'll never forget … they are two very special people.

Skip Muck is the connection between BOB and Saving Private Ryan. The premise for Saving Private Ryan is the Niland Family of Tonawanda, NY (Thanks, writers for putting our town in the script!) It was the Niland family that lost three sons and had another son in the 101st pulled off the line.

The story line about a unit looking for him is totally fictional, he was found by the chaplain.

Robert and Preston (Pete) Niland were killed on D-Day. Eddie Niland was MIA and presumed dead, but later was found in a Japanese POW camp. Frederick (Fritz) Niland was the brother in the 501st who was pulled off the line.
He and Skip were very best friends in school and joined the airborne together.
In Ambrose's book he tells the story of Fritz, Skip, Malarkey (R) and others talking about combat while on leave in London,and then later tells of Fritz finding Skip and Malarkey on the line to explain why he was going home.

Obviously, this part is true.Uncle Skip wrote home to his sister … When they were practice jumping over England in 1943, Fritz got blown off course, and landed on the thatched roof of an English cottage. He landed hard, went right through the roof, and ended up sitting on the dining table of an English couple. Not missing a beat, they stood up, introduced themselves, and invited Fritz to join them for tea. He introduced himself too, politely responded that he needed to return to his outfit, got out of his chute, and walked out the door unharmed. My Mom and Dad knew all the Niland brothers very well. They were always at my grandmother's house. My Dad and Tommy Niland (cousin) were headed for professional baseball careers when the war broke out. Tommy also was in the 501st, and was badly wounded in Holland.When Tommy returned to Tonawanda, a neighbor came down from his porch to greet him. Tommy had never talked to him before, he was a very quiet man. He had been a WWI veteran. He put his arm around Tommy and said, "Now we both know something." Tommy told this story to a local newspaper a few years ago when SPR came out. I have never forgotten it.

Skip looking into the camera. Dick Winters with his hands in his pocket.

This may sound a bit melodramatic.... but true nonetheless. I remember sitting in the grandstands in Normandy on D-Day waiting for the BoB ceremonies to begin. A lot of the vets said it reminded them of D-Day, chilly and very windy, the sky at times was dark and threatening. We were all hoping that it wouldn't rain and put a damper on the ceremonies. I turned to Don Malarkey's daughter who was sitting behind me, and said rather jokingly, "Uncle Skip won't let it rain!" (My sister and I always felt he was a guardian angel during this trip to Europe).

We both smiled and talked about how those Toccoa guys were up there now, so we didn't have to worry. Joe Toye, Skip Muck, Alex Penkala, Gene Roe, Smokey Gordon, George Luz, etc. etc.(above fltr.) When the ceremonies started, the clouds parted and the sun came out. It stayed sunny (but windy) through the whole ceremony. Later, when the BoB film started and the scenes of the jump on D-Day came on, the storm finally broke. You could hear the thunder and strong wind outside mixing with the soundtrack of the flak and explosions during the jump. Amazing.

I think it's important to remember each of these Easy Co. men and the price they paid. "All gave some, some gave all".

Eileen O’Hara

In 2005 we visited Skip's gravesite in Hamm Luxemburg. It was the first time Eileen was able to do that. She laid flowers also on behalf of her mother.
It was a very emotional moment. Both for Eileen as it was for Don Malarkey. We can't imagine what went through his mind.

Photos by Peter van de Wal

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