Edward Heffron

Edward James "Babe" Heffron (16 May 1923 – 1 December 2013) was a private with E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army during World War II. Heffron was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Robin Laing. In 2007, Heffron wrote Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends: Two WWII Paratroopers from the Original Band of Brothers Tell Their Story with fellow veteran William "Wild Bill" Guarnere and journalist Robyn Post.

Early life Edward James Heffron was born in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1923,

Military service As a replacement member of E Company, Heffron fought and proved himself in several major battles, including Operation Overlord in France, Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands, and the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne, Belgium. During the latter, he served as a machine gunner and was awarded the Bronze Star. He helped to liberate the Kaufering concentration camp in Landsberg, Germany, and to seize Hitler's Eagle's Nest (Kehlsteinhaus).

While at jump school, Heffron made a pact with his two best friends, John T. "Johnny" Julian and J. D. Henderson, that if anything happened to one of them, the others would gather up that person's personal belongings and return them to that person's family, while also making sure that they contacted the family and carried out any other individual requests. Henderson was wounded in Veghel, and made it back to the US. then godfather to Heffron's daughter Patricia.

In the Band of Brothers miniseries, Heffron was played by Scottish actor Robin Laing. Heffron appears as himself at the end of episode ten, speaking about the company, and also makes a brief cameo appearance in the fourth episode, as an unidentified man sitting at a table in Eindhoven and waving a small flag as Sgt. Floyd Talbert kisses a Dutch woman.

In 2013, Heffron, who never graduated from high school, was named an honorary graduate of West Point High School in West Point, Virginia.

Death and legacy Heffron died on 1 December 2013 at Kennedy Hospital in Stratford, New Jersey;

On 17 September 2015, the 71st anniversary of Operation Market Garden, a statue of Heffron's likeness was unveiled in his old neighborhood in South Philadelphia. Located near 2nd and Reed streets, the statue includes a plaque detailing Heffron's military career, as well as a bronze heart that contains a portion of his and his wife's ashes. In 2019, the statue was additionally joined by one of Bill Guarnere.