We Who Are Alive and Remain

Last updated

We Who Are Alive and Remain: Untold Stories from the Band of Brothers is a military non-fiction book published in 2009 by Penguin/Berkley-Caliber publishers. Journalist Marcus Brotherton is credited with the book's authorship. Brotherton also co-wrote Call of Duty with Lt. Lynn "Buck" Compton.

Contents

The book lists 20 main contributors all of whom were members of Easy Company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne, the company of soldiers that has come to be known as the original Band of Brothers. The company's nickname, Band of Brothers, was taken from the 1992 book of the same name authored by historian Stephen Ambrose that was later turned into an award-winning HBO miniseries by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg in 2001.

The 20 contributors were all alive when the book was released in May 2009, except Norman Neitzke, who died December 8, 2008, at age 82, while the book was in the final stages of production. [1]

The title of the book comes from 1 Thessalonians 4:17: "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."

Contributors

The book traces the life stories of the contributors through basic training and World War II. Major campaigns of Easy Company include the Normandy Campaign, Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands, the Siege of Bastogne, Hagenau, Ruhr/ Germany, and occupation duties in Austria.

Three essays are provided at the back of the book in appendix form. The essays, titled Memories of my father, are from adult-children of deceased members of Easy Company. Mike Sobel talks about his father, Herbert Sobel. C. Susan Finn talks about her father, Robert Burr Smith, and George Luz Jr. and Lana Luz Miller (brother and sister) talk about their father, George Luz Sr.

The book made the New York Times Extended Bestseller list for Hardcover Nonfiction the sales week of June 28, 2009. [3] The following week it climbed from #34 to #28. [4] In July 2009 the book reached #10 on the New York Times Bestseller list for Political books. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Band of Brothers</i> (miniseries) American TV mini-series

Band of Brothers is a 2001 American war drama miniseries based on historian Stephen E. Ambrose's 1992 non-fiction book of the same name. It was created by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who also served as executive producers, who collaborated on the 1998 World War II film Saving Private Ryan, the 2010 World War II miniseries The Pacific, and the upcoming miniseries Masters of the Air. Episodes first aired on HBO, starting on September 9, 2001. The series won Emmy and Golden Globe awards in 2001 for best miniseries.

Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initially owning 53% of the joint venture, and Pearson PLC initially owning the remaining 47%. Since December 2019, Penguin Random House has been wholly owned by Bertelsmann.

Berkley Books A publishing imprint of Penguin Group (USA)

Berkley Books is an imprint of the Penguin Group.

Lynn Compton Easy Company soldier turned noted jurist

Lynn Davis "Buck" Compton was an American jurist, police officer, and soldier. In his legal career, he served as a prosecutor and California Court of Appeal judge, and is most notable as having been the lead prosecutor in Sirhan Sirhan's trial for the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Previously, he served with the Los Angeles Police Department. During World War II, he was a commissioned officer with E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army. Compton was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Neal McDonough.

Grosset & Dunlap is a United States publishing house founded in 1898.

New American Library American publisher

The New American Library is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948. Its initial focus was affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works as well as popular and pulp fiction, but it now publishes trade and hardcover titles. It is currently an imprint of Penguin Random House; it was announced in 2015 that the imprint would publish only nonfiction titles.

Herbert Sobel American military personnel, salesperson and paratrooper

Herbert Maxwell Sobel Sr. was an American commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. Sobel was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by David Schwimmer.

Ronald Speirs US Army officer

Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Charles Speirs was a United States Army officer who served in the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. He was initially assigned as a platoon leader in B Company of the 1st Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Speirs was reassigned to D Company of the 2nd Battalion prior to the invasion of Normandy in June 1944 and later assigned as commander of E Company during an assault on Foy, Belgium after the siege of Bastogne was broken during the Battle of the Bulge. He finished the war in the European Theater as a captain. Speirs served in Korea, as a major commanding a rifle company and as a staff officer. He later became the American governor for Spandau Prison in Berlin. He retired as a lieutenant colonel.

Carwood Lipton WWII American army officer (1920–2001)

Clifford Carwood Lipton was a commissioned officer with Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, during World War II.

Albert Blithe United States Army soldier

Albert Blithe was an American career soldier who served as a private first class with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. Blithe was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Marc Warren. His life story was featured in the 2010 book A Company of Heroes: Personal Memories about the Real Band of Brothers and the Legacy They Left Us.

E Company, 506th Infantry Regiment (United States) 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division

E Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, the "Screaming Eagles", is a company in the United States Army. The experiences of its members during World War II are the subject of the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers based on the book of the same name by historian Stephen Ambrose.

Daniel H. Pink American author (born 1964)

Daniel H. Pink is an American author. He has written six books, four of them New York Times bestsellers. He was a host and a co-executive producer of the 2014 National Geographic Channel social science TV series Crowd Control. From 1995 to 1997, he was the chief speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore.

Call of Duty: My Life Before, During, and After the Band of Brothers is the title of Lt. Lynn Compton's memoirs. Buck was made famous by the popular HBO World War II miniseries, Band of Brothers, by the book of the same title by historian Stephen Ambrose, and his involvement in Sirhan Sirhan's trial for the murder of Robert F. Kennedy.

Darrell Powers

Staff Sergeant Darrell Cecil "Shifty" Powers was a non-commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. Powers was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Peter Youngblood Hills.

Walter Gordon (veteran)

Corporal Walter Scott Gordon Jr. was a non-commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army during World War II.

<i>Band of Brothers</i> (book)

Band of Brothers, subtitled, E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne: From Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, by Stephen E. Ambrose is an examination of a parachute infantry company in the 101st Airborne Division in the European Theater during World War II. While the book treats the flow of battle, it concentrates on the lives of the soldiers in and associated with the company. The book was later adapted into a 2001 miniseries for HBO by Tom Hanks, Erik Jendreson, and Steven Spielberg, also titled Band of Brothers.

Penguin Random House Multinational conglomerate publishing company

Penguin Random House LLC is a multinational conglomerate publishing company formed in 2013 from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House.

Edward Tipper United States Army soldier

Private First Class Edward Joseph Tipper Jr. was an enlisted man in Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the 101st Airborne Division, United States Army during the Second World War. Tipper was one of the 140 original Toccoa men of Easy Company. Tipper was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Bart Ruspoli. Information about Tipper was featured in the 2009 book We Who Are Alive and Remain.

Edward Shames U.S. army officer during World War II

Colonel Edward D. Shames is a retired United States Army enlisted man and officer who later served in the U.S. Army Reserve. During World War II he was assigned to the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. Shames is the last surviving officer and, following the death of Roderick G. Strohl in December 2019, oldest surviving member of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. He is Jewish and reported being deeply affected by his personal viewing of Nazi Germany's concentration camps.

Sergeant Robert Emory "Popeye" Wynn Jr. was a non-commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army during World War II. Wynn was one of the 140 Toccoa men of Easy Company. Wynn was portrayed by actor Nicholas Aaron in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers.

References

  1. Brotherton, Marcus (2009). We Who Are Alive and Remain. Penguin/ Berkley-Caliber. p. 231.
  2. "Men of Easy Company Association". Archived from the original on 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
  3. "Hardcover Nonfiction". The New York Times. June 28, 2009.
  4. "Hardcover Nonfiction". The New York Times. July 5, 2009.
  5. [ dead link ]