“A beautifully-crafted insight into the life of a national treasure and backbone of 3rd Platoon, E Company, whose words are honestly conveyed through this tender and moving narrative.”-Ian Gardner, coauthor of Tonight We Die as Men Shifty’s War is a tale of heroism and adventure, of a soldier’s blood-filled days fighting his way fromthe shores of France to the heartland of Germany, and the epic story of how one man’s skills as a sharpshooter and engagingly unassuming personality propelled him to a life greater than he could have ever imagined. He parachuted into France on D-day and fought for a month in Normandy eighty days in Holland thirty-nine in the harshly cold winter of Bastogne and for nearly thirty more near Haguenau, France, and the Ruhr pocket in Germany. Little did Shifty know his finely-tuned skills would one day save his life-and the lives of his fellow paratroopers.Īs one of the original men who trained at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, Shifty was one out of only two soldiers in Easy Company to initially earn the coveted expert marksman designation. His father trained him to listen to the woods, to “see” without his eyes. Look for the Band of Brothers miniseries, now available to stream on Netflix!Īs a boy, Darrell “Shifty” Powers’s goal was to become the best rifle shot he could be. As a husband, father, and grandfather, he was a man that we all can relate to.From D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge and more, here is the authorized biography of one of the most celebrated paratroopers of Easy Company, Sergeant Shifty Powers, the legendary sharpshooter from the Band of Brothers. As a sergeant, he did what he could to keep his men safe. Shifty was a regular guy who fought in the trenches, doing his duty, day after day. Here is a great story about a true American hero. Most military books lift up the generals as heroes. Shifty’s faith in God pulled him through a dark time and brought him healing. Shifty was a good man and he knew that if he did not defeat his inner demons, they would defeat him and he would lose his family. Men did not talk about their internal struggles or their feelings. This is the story that we often do not hear about WWII vets because it was a different era. The narrative also provides a wonderful account of Shifty’s return to the US. It is impossible, though, to go through all he went through and not be scarred mentally and emotionally. Shifty’s tenacity and dogged determination brought him through World War II unscathed physically. Shifty describes what it was like for him being combat day after day. There are many familiar characters here: Captain Soebel, Major Winters, Lieutenant Spiers, Lieutenant Compton, and so many others. Shifty’s dad also helped him develop his woodcraft skills that would serve him well later when Shifty was hunting German soldiers. As a young boy, his father taught him to hunt and fish. The author spent enough time with Shifty during the interviews that his friends and family felt that the author captured him brilliantly. Shifty was also considered to be the best rifle shot in the company and he was sometimes used as a sniper. He holds the incredible distinction of being the only soldier from Easy Company who fought in every major campaign but was never wounded. He was one of the original members of Easy Company. If you saw the HBO mini-series, Band of Brothers, or better yet, read the book by the same name, you probably remember Sergeant Darrell “Shifty” Powers.
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