Heyliger was assigned to E Company before it left the U.S. and was later assigned as the Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, mortar platoon leader. After Richard Winters was assigned as 2nd Battalion Executive Officer (XO), First Lieutenant Heyliger took command of Easy Company from Winters' first replacement. Heyliger commanded Easy Company during Operation Pegasus on October 23, 1944, and oversaw the rescue and evacuation of some of the British 1st Airborne Division that were stranded on the German side of the line after the failed Operation Market Garden across the Rhine. After the successful rescue of 138 men from the British 1st Airborne Division, for which he received the British Military Cross, he was accidentally shot by one of his own men, an uneasy veteran, on October 31, 1944, while on patrol and talking with Richard Winters about commanding Easy Company. He then underwent skin and nerve grafts before being discharged in February 1947.