A Company of Heroes Read Online Free PDF

say, “One more word out of any of you, and you’ll go eat dinner sitting at the top of the stairs.” The view from the top of the stairs wasn’t too bad, according to my sister Kelly. He could be hard on us, but it was all in the hope of keeping us out of danger. My sister remembers getting in trouble as a kid a few times, but no matter what she did wrong, whenever the punishment or fight was over, Dad would tell her that she was still his little princess. She always loved that he said that.
    Dad enjoyed working with his hands. He enjoyed woodworking and kept a full workbench of tools and assorted paraphernalia he accumulated over the years. He’d rather fix something than buy it again.
    He was an involved father and helped out with us kids. My brother and I joined the Boy Scouts. Dad also joined and went with us to Scout meetings and on hiking/camping trips. He helped us make Pinewood Derby cars, which we still have and are treasured possessions. One of my all-time favorite memories I have about my dad is when he built plastic models with my brother and me. I still have one of the first models I ever built.
    You could say our religious life was fairly average. We were regular churchgoers at St. Elizabeth’s. We kids all took our first Holy Communions there, and my sisters went to the Catholic grade school for a couple of years. Mom grew up Baptist, but converted to Catholicism because my dad was Catholic. Both of my sisters were also married at St. Dominic’s, and my parents renewed their vows after my sister Kelly’s wedding ceremony.
    In 1972, along with many other families in the neighborhood, we moved out of San Francisco to the suburbs in San Bruno, about twelve miles south of San Francisco. Dad kept the same job, transferring to a newer location in Colma, CA.
    Dad always seemed well adjusted to us. He never succumbed to addictions or disturbing behavior. Except for the nightmares, the war never really showed outwardly. Essentially, he put the war aside and moved on with his life. He went to reunions and was heavily involved with the Northern California Chapter of the 101st Air Division. He was president of the chapter for a year. He went to the occasional Easy Company reunion, more so early on. It was harder to go when he was raising a family, and later while taking care of my mom. Dad had a strong network of friends and especially kept in contact with buddy Les Hashey, who lived in Maine. Periodically he phoned or wrote his commanding officer, Dick Winters.
    I’m thankful we never had to worry about an insecure family life. What helped promote that? I think it’s because he came from a large, supportive family in the first place. He had a healthy, down-to-earth childhood, and learned to appreciate things because he went through the Depression as a kid. He had a good marriage to our mom, that’s for sure. And he was sure of himself. There was a real confidence about him. It’s as though he always knew what to do, and never had problems deciding on one course or another.

Dancing to the End
    When the book Band of Brothers came out, Dad was very proud of the book and gave copies to friends and family. When the miniseries came out he was even more excited. We all were. We met Doug Spain, who came up from LA to meet us and to get to know my dad, the character he’d be portraying in the miniseries. That was one of the first times I ever heard dad talk openly in detail about the war. My parents didn’t have HBO, but they subscribed to it just to watch the miniseries. Doug Spain drove up from LA when the fourth episode aired to watch it with us. We had a big gathering with friends and neighbors to watch the episode.
    HBO held premieres in various cities, with one in Sacramento. At first my dad didn’t want to go because of the difficulty of transporting, housing, and caring for my mom, but arrangements were made with the help of HBO and he decided to go. At the theater, after watching part of the first two