Rutherglen man meets the real Band of Brothers

Nov 25 2009 by Douglas Dickie, Rutherglen Reformer

IT WAS a dream come true for a Rutherglen man when he met heroes of the Second World War made famous in a TV dramatisation.

Peter Fuggacia (56) had already developed his own interest in World War Two before he read Stephen E Ambrose’s book, Band of Brothers, and the story of the men from Easy Company has stayed with him ever since.

The TV show of the same name made personalities of the men who fought with E Company in the US 101st Airborne, as the world was able to see on screen the bravery this small group showed, often in the face of seemingly unsurmountable odds.

For Peter, the chance to meet four men from Easy during a print signing was just too good to miss, so on a family holiday to Italy he made sure they stopped at the Aces High Gallery in Wendover to meet Sergeant Buck Taylor, Tech Sergeant Paul Rogers, Colonel Ed Shames and Corporal Herb 'Jr' Suerth.

It also prompted Peter, a security worker at Asda in Toryglen, to take a trip to visit the grave of a British solider, whose sister shops in the superstore.

For Peter, meeting the four war heroes was an incredible thrill. He said: “Band of Brothers is something that is implanted in my mind. I love the book and I love the TV show.

“I actually collect prints and I had been trying to get some of Easy Company for ages.

“It was an amazing experience. My wife and son were not too keen, but they were actually more effected than me. It was very emotional.

“The guys were just amazing. They went through some incredible things. They were so clever and down to earth.

“They must have been in their 80s but they were still so sharp.”

Band of Brothers tells the story of Easy Company, who parachuted into France hours before the D-Day landings in 1944.

From there they fought through the Normandy countryside, took part in Operation Market Garden in Holland and fought in the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium before moving into Germany in 1945 where they captured Adolf Hitler’s Berchtesgaden retreat.

The TV show brought the legend to a whole new generation, with their motto, Curahee (which means We Stand Alone in Cherokee), striking a chord with audiences.

Sadly, one of their members, sniper Shifty Powers, died just days before Peter met his heroes.

Peter said: “It was mixed with sadness, but it was just something I had to do.

“I’ve been to places like Haugenau (were Easy fought in early 1945) and it’s incredible to ask yourself what it must have been like.

“The French still hold the war very close to their hearts.”

After meeting the Easy veterans, Peter and his family headed for France to fulfil a promise to an Asda customer.

Peter explained: “We have a customer, Margaret McMillan, who had never visited her brother’s grave in Bayeux so I said I would go along and place flowers.”

Gunner Thomas Docherty (Royal Artillery) was killed in theNormandy Campaign and wasburied in the Commonwealth Cemetery in Bayeux alongwith 4144 others who fought and died in the months after D-Day.

While some may have been put out to take such a detour on theway to Italy, Peter was onlytoo happy to take his wife and 15-year-old son, Marco.

He said: “I’ve been interested in history since I was very young. History has always been my subject but especially World War Two.”