18 Facts About Edward Shames

Colonel Edward David Shames was a United States Army enlisted man and officer who later served in the US Army Reserve.

Edward Shames was survived only by Private First Class Bradford C Freeman.

Edward Shames was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in June 1922, to David and Sadie Edward Shames.

Edward Shames enlisted in the US Army on September 25,1942.

Edward Shames read about and applied for duty with the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment.

Edward Shames was sent to Toccoa, Georgia, for training, starting as a private in I Company, 3rd Battalion of the 506th.

Edward Shames built the sand tables the airborne unit used in planning the airdrop into Normandy.

Edward Shames made his first combat jump into Normandy on D-Day as part of Operation Overlord.

Edward Shames was the first NCO in the Third Battalion to receive such a commission in Normandy.

Edward Shames was transferred to Easy Company and took charge of its third platoon.

Edward Shames fought with Easy Company in Operation Market Garden and volunteered for Operation Pegasus led by Frederick Heyliger.

Edward Shames was wounded once in his left leg during the campaigns.

Edward Shames then fought with the rest of E Company in the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne.

Edward Shames served in the United States Army Reserve and retired as a colonel in 1973.

Edward Shames died on December 3,2021, at the age of 99 at his residence in Virginia Beach and he was buried in the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Norfolk, Virginia.

Edward Shames was survived by two sons, four grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.

The casket party was led by the second lieutenant who held the same organizational position that Edward Shames held in Easy.

Edward Shames provided an audio interview for the documentary Greatest Events of World War 2: In Colour where he briefly described the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes, Belgium.