🇺🇲WWII uncovered: Veterans Day 2022: Wild Bill Guarnere of Easy Company ♠️

Staff Sergeant William J. “Wild Bill” Guarnere Sr., of Philadelphia Pennsylvania, enlisted in the US Army Airborne on August 31, 1942. At 19 years old, Bill entered the service as a Private and began training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia. He soon became a NCO with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army.

According to “Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends: Two WWII Paratroopers from the Original Band of Brothers Tell Their Story”, the biography co-authored by William J. “Wild Bill” Guarnere and Edward “Babe” Heffron: “In December of 1944 Bill Bill was hospitalized for a broken leg. Nothing was holding this hero back as he subsequently broke out of the hospital, covered his cast with black shoe polish and returned to the front lines with his brothers. This was a risk he was willing to take. Guarnere had a unique grudge against the Germans. His older brother, Henry, had been 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed in combat at Monte Cassino in Italy. During the Battle of the Bulge, Wild Bill’s friend, Joe Toye, suffered the loss of a leg and was calling for help. Despite the ongoing attack, Bill left his foxhole to save his friend, and took shrapnel to his knee. Bill later had to have his leg amputated above the knee.”

“Bill’s courageous efforts and how he lost his leg was not known to his family until the release of Band of Brothers. Bill was not the kind of man to discuss much about his service although he remained proud of the fact that Easy Company trained so long together that they became like brothers who risked their lives for each other on the frontlines.” (Wild Bill Guarnere Memorial Fund)

Staff Sergeant Guarnere was honored with the Silver Star, three Bronze Star Medals and two Purple Heart decorations.

After the war Bill returned to Philadelphia. In 1945 he married Frances “Frannie” Peca (pictured) and the couple had two sons. Wild Bill and Babe Heffron remained the best of friends for the rest of their lives. Bill Guarnere passed away on March 8, 2014 at the age of 90. He lies in rest at the Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery in Springfield Pennsylvania. Lest We Forget.

“Wild Bill” Guarnere was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Frank John Hughes.

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WWII uncovered©️ original photos sourced by the Wild Bill Guarnere Memorial Fund. Description: Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends: Two WWII Paratroopers from the Original Band of Brothers Tell Their Story” by William “Wild Bill” Guarnere and Edward “Babe” Heffron, Wild Bill Guarnere Memorial Fund and Ancestry Database (Fair Use Photos)