The Easy Company Machine Gunner Who Risked His Life to Reach His Fatally Wounded Comrade

Edward “Babe” Heffron was a standout among the numerous American heroes forged in the crucible of the Second World War. Distinguished service marked his tenure in Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, famously known as the “Band of Brothers.” Heffron played an active role in battles and offensives, including the D-Day landings and the Allied liberation campaign in the Netherlands.

Edward ‘Babe’ Heffron’s early life

Born on May 16, 1923, as Edward James Heffron, Babe was one of five children. Faced with the challenges brought about by the Great Depression, he left high school to support his parents financially. He took up a job at New York Shipbuilding in Camden, New Jersey and contributed to the conversion of cruisers into light aircraft carriers – an essential task for the wartime effort that granted him exemption from military service.

Despite this exemption, Heffron chose to enlist in an airborne division alongside a friend. He did not disclose a medical condition causing his fingers to painfully lock up in a curled position, something he’d kept private since his youth when he didn’t want it to hinder his passion for playing football.

Undeterred, Heffron was resolute in his determination to serve and fight overseas.

Edward ‘Babe’ Heffron joins E Company

Babe Heffron enlisted on November 7, 1942, joining “Easy” Company as a replacement member. During jump school, he formed a strong bond with John T. “Johnny” Julian and J.D. Henderson, comrades with whom he served overseas. The trio made a solemn pact that in the event of one of their deaths, the others would collect and return their belongings to their families, and they would personally convey the circumstances to their comrades’ loved ones.

Heffron, alongside these companions, played a significant role in some of World War II‘s most renowned battles, including Operation Overlord, Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. He was present with Easy Company during the liberation of Kaufering concentration camp and the seizure of the Führer‘s Eagle’s Nest.

Throughout most of the conflict, he served as a machine gunner, receiving both a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for his dedicated service.

Loss of a friend

During his participation in Operation Market Garden, J.D. Henderson sustained an injury that necessitated his return to the US. A few months later, on January 1, 1945, distressing news spread that Johnny Julian had been struck by enemy fire. Instead of remaining at his machine gun post as his duty dictated, Heffron bravely vaulted out of his foxhole in a valiant attempt to reach his wounded comrade.

Despite making multiple daring efforts to traverse the perilous zone of enemy fire, he couldn’t reach Julian in time.

Confirmation of Julian’s demise only came after his lifeless body was retrieved, although Heffron couldn’t bring himself to gaze upon it. The loss of his friend left an indelible mark on Heffron, casting a shadow over New Year’s Day for years to come. Though initially challenging, he eventually fulfilled his promise to contact Julian’s mother, a pledge made during their training, albeit 12 years after the tragic event.

Befriending William ‘Wild Bill’ Guarnere

Alongside J.D. Henderson and Johnny Julian, Babe Heffron became close with William “Wild Bill” Guarnere, who also served with Easy Company. Their friendship outlasted the Second World War, and they even collaborated on a 2007 book detailing their experiences overseas.

Titled Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends, it featured a section about whether the sacrifices made during the war were worth it. “I know the sacrifices made by those who fought and lived, and the complete sacrifice made by the kids who never came home,” Heffron wrote. “But I saw the faces of the people we set free from their occupiers… and I saw the life, even joy, return to people who’d been starved and beaten close to death, who’d seen their family members die horrible deaths.

“Even they could find joy again once they were free… I put my hand on Bill’s shoulder and told him, yeah, the sacrifice was worth it. He said, ‘Yeah, I think so, too.'”

The pair were heavily involved in each other’s lives, with Guarnere serving as Heffron’s best man at his wedding. He was also named the godfather to his friend’s daughter, Trisha. Recalling her father and Guarnere, Trisha later said:

“When they were together, they always spoke as if they were one person. If you asked them if they were hungry, one would answer ‘No, we’re not hungry.’ As if he was the spokesperson. I’d say ‘Well, maybe Uncle Bill’s hungry.’ And my dad would reply, ‘Nah, we’re not hungry.’ Even better, we’d be in a hotel lobby and I’d say ‘Do you guys need to use the men’s room?’ And Uncle Bill would say ‘No, we don’t need the men’s room.’ It was always we.”

Band of Brothers (2001)

It was the 2001 HBO miniseries, Band of Brothers, based on a 1992 book of the same name, that made the wartime experience of Easy Company famous. It followed the men from their training to the end of the conflict, and supplemented the information from the book with both historical research and interviews with surviving members.

Babe Heffron was played by actor Robin Laing, who was quickly accepted by the veteran and his family.

Laing recalled meeting Heffron for the first time, saying, “He asked how I was getting on with the accent. ‘Fine,’ I replied. ‘Let me hear it,’ he said, and so I took a deep breath and did my best Philly accent. ‘No, your Philly accent,’ Babe said. He must have seen the disappointment on my face because he didn’t let it hang in the air too long before breaking into a laugh and giving me a slap on the back. ‘I’m only messing wicha, you did fine.'”

Unexpected connections

As time went on, Robin Laing spent more time talking with Babe Heffron, first to gain a better understanding of his role, but, eventually, because he came to view the man as a friend. He also met with Heffron’s daughter and her husband, who instantly took a liking to the actor. He traveled around with them, and, in later years, Trisha and her partner repeatedly visited Laing and his wife in Scotland.

Perhaps this connection is all the more special because Band of Brothers allowed Trisha to hear about much of her father’s wartime experience for the first time, stories she could keep with her, even after his death. In one instance, he finally explained that the reason he always fed feral cats was because he knew what it was like to be cold and hungry during the war.

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Babe Heffron passed away on December 1, 2013. He was 90 years old. At the time of his death, he was still insisting that he was no hero and had simply fulfilled his obligation to his country.