For Memorial Day, I'm posting the opening theme from Band of Brothers as my Musical Monday selection. The miniseries about Easy Company of the 506th of the 101st Airborne Infantry Division during World War II is a little bit of family history for me. My grandfather, Paul Wright, wasn't part of Easy Company, but he was a member of the 101st Airborne, and their story was, in large part, also his story.
His story doesn't coincide perfectly. Every man who served in World War II lived a different experience, and although I don't know all of his story, I know some. Because he was a truck driver for an oil company, he had to get a special exemption to join the U.S. Army. He wasn't part of the Normandy invasion, but rather participated in the invasion of southern France from North Africa. He may or may not have been part of Operation Market Garden, but he was definitely at Bastogne, and stayed with the division for the rest of the war. Eventually he transferred into the 82nd Airborne and participated in the occupation of Berlin. Those are the broad strokes of his service, but that's most of what we know about it. There are some details here and there, but like many men who served, after the war he came home afterwards, took up his old life, and rarely spoke about his experiences.
This song is for him, and all the other men and women who have served, including my other grandfather who had his own, very different story as part of the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II.
Previous Musical Monday: It's Not Easy Being Green by Big Bird
Subsequent Musical Monday: Firefly Opening Theme by Sonny Rhodes
Game, Movie, and Television Music Musical Monday Home
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