American Valor Quarterly Issue 1 - Winter 2007 | Page 6

Holland:
Parades, Grenades, and Hell’s Highway
From Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends

By William “Wild Bill” Guarnere
and Edward “Babe” Heffron
Bill Guarnere and “Babe” Heffron have, in recent years, become
two of America’s most recognizable veterans of World War II, with
their stories made famous by the book Band of Brothers, and the
subsequent miniseries on HBO. The popularity of the miniseries,
and of Bill and Babe themselves, has done a tremendous service in
encouraging younger generations to learn more about the history of
World War II and its veterans. Bill and Babe recently told their own
story, in the new book Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends. In
this issue, we print an excerpt from that book, recounting their experience in Holland during Operation
Market Garden.
Mid-September to End Of
November 1944

the Dear John letter. He must have related the story to the
pilot, because the pilot, a really nice guy from New Jersey,
came out to shake my hand. He looked at us all and said,
“Don’t worry, boys, I’ll be dropping you right where you
belong.”
The mood in the plane was tense. Guys were praying, sitting
in contemplation. We felt some flak on the tail of our plane,
and the order came to stand up and hook up. Sometimes
you felt that order in the pit of your
stomach. When you stepped out
that door, you knew full well you
might not be alive when you hit the
ground. We were told to check
equipment and stand in the door.
Joe Toye was pushmaster.

Babe: Going to Holland we flew
in C-47s, with P-38 fighters trailing
They make sure you get a good fast
us for safety. The P-38s fired at
stick out of the plane. The green
anything they had to. Once we got
light came on, even though we
close to the drop zone, we heard
weren’t by the drop zone yet. We
occasional bursts of antiaircraft
jumped from about twelve hundred
fire, but not much. Things were
Waves of Allied paratroopers land in Holland during
feet, which is high for a combat
pretty quiet. Looking out the door
Operation Market Garden - September, 1944.
jump, but the area was supposed to
of the plane, I saw a windmill,
might have been on the Belgium side of the border, and be quiet. We were glad to go out that high because that
shots were firing out of it at the planes in the sky. We had meant there was no major threat in the area.
been told the Germans used windmills to hide their
antiaircraft batteries, and sure as hell they did. Right away I heard a story later that in Bill’s plane, a few of the guys
a couple P-38s that were escorting us flew straight under here cutting up and laughing, I guess to re