Ronald Speirs Lieutenant Colonel Ronald C . Speirs ( April 20 , 1920 – April 11 , 2007 ) was a United States Army officer who served in the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment , 101st Airborne Division during World War II . He was initially a platoon leader in Company either " C " or " B " ( " Charlie " or " Baker " Company ) of the 1st Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment . Speirs was reassigned to " D " Dog Company prior to the Normandy Invasion . Later he was re - assigned to " Easy " Company , and commanded " E " or " Easy " Company in Bastogne at the end of the Battle of the Bulge . Speirs also served in Korea where he commanded a rifle company , and later became the American Governor for Spandau Prison in Berlin . He reached the rank of captain while serving in the European Theater during World War II and retired as a lieutenant colonel . Speirs was portrayed in the television miniseries " Band of Brothers " by Matthew Settle . Speirs ' life story was featured in the 2010 book " A Company of Heroes : Personal Memories about the Real Band of Brothers and the Legacy They Left Us . " A more detailed and in depth account of Speirs ' early life and military career can be found at www . ronaldspeirs . com . Youth . Speirs was born in Edinburgh , Scotland , in 1920 and spent his first few years there until he emigrated with his family to the United States , arriving in Boston , Massachusetts , on December 25 , 1924 . He attended military training in high school , which led to a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in the infantry ; Speirs then volunteered for the paratroopers . He served as a platoon leader with Dog Company , 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment at Camp Toccoa , Georgia and was shipped to England shortly before Mission Albany . Military service . Speirs parachuted into Normandy on June 6 , 1944 ( or D - Day ) and quickly met with fellow troops after landing . He assembled a small group of soldiers to assist during the Brecourt Manor Assault , where he single - handedly captured the fourth 105 mm howitzer . Speirs ' platoon spent the night of June 6 being shuffled in position with other platoons as the company was arranged for battle to begin early the next morning . A rolling artillery barrage had been coordinated in support of the ground assault on the morning of June 7 . To initiate the attack , artillery fire was adjusted back towards American lines before moving forward in increments . Speirs ordered his platoon to hold position until the fire was completed to prevent serious casualties and fratricide . One of his squad leaders ignored the orders due to fatigue and disorientation . After his order was ignored a second time , Speirs shot the sergeant between the eyes , then promptly reported the incident to the company commander , Captain Jerre S . Gross . Gross was killed in combat the next day and the incident was not pursued . Due to Easy Company ' s role as primary assault company , Dog Company did not see as much action as Easy . However , it still participated in many engagements during the war , and both Speirs and Dog Company were at Bastogne . When Easy Company ' s initial attack on the German - occupied town of Foy bogged down due to the poor leadership of its commander , 1st Lt . Norman Dike , battalion executive officer Captain Richard Winters ordered Speirs to relieve Dike of command . The selection of Speirs was random ; Winters later stated that Speirs was simply the first officer he saw when he turned around . Speirs successfully took over the assault and led Easy Company to victory . During this battle , Lt . Dike had ordered a platoon to go on a flanking mission around the rear of the town . To countermand this order , Speirs himself ran through the town and German lines ( as this platoon had no radio ) , linked up with the other soldiers , and relayed the order . Having completed this , he proceeded to run back through the German - occupied town . He was reassigned as commanding officer of Easy Company and remained in that position for the rest of the war . Of the officers who commanded Easy Company during the war , Speirs commanded the longest . Winters assessed Speirs as being one of the finest combat officers in the battalion . He wrote in his memoirs that Speirs had worked hard to earn a reputation as a killer and had often killed for shock value . Winters stated that Speirs was alleged on one occasion to have killed six German prisoners of war and that the battalion leadership must have been aware of the allegations , but chose to ignore the charges because of the pressing need to retain qualified combat leaders . Winters concluded that in today ' s army , Speirs would have been court - martialed and charged with atrocities , but officers like Speirs were too valuable because they were not afraid to engage the enemy . Although Speirs had enough points to go home after the end of the European Campaign , he chose to remain with Easy Company . Japan surrendered after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , before Speirs and Easy could be transferred to the Pacific Theater . Post World War II . Speirs returned to England to find that his wife ( the widow of a British soldier who had been reported dead ) had returned to her first husband who had turned up alive as a German prisoner of war . She apparently retained ownership of all the spoils of war ( i . e . , silver platters , goblets , plates , and utensils gathered at different places throughout Europe like Haguenau or Kehlsteinhaus ) that Speirs had sent home from his travels in Europe . Korean War . Speirs then returned to the United States and decided to remain in the army , serving in the Korean War , where he made one combat jump and commanded a rifle company until the war ' s end . On March 23 , 1951 , he participated in Operation Tomahawk in which he parachuted into Munsan ( known as Munsan - ni at the time of the Korean War ) with nearly 3 , 500 other troopers in his unit ( 187th Regimental Combat Team ) . The initial mission of his battalion was to secure the drop zone ; this was accomplished , killing forty or fifty enemy soldiers . After the initial mission , he continued to command the 3rd battalion for its attack to cut the enemy escape route near Uijongbu . Post Korean War . Following Korea , Speirs attended a Russian language course in 1956 and was assigned as a liaison officer to the Red Army in Potsdam , East Germany . In 1958 he became the American Governor of the Spandau Prison in Berlin , where prominent Nazis such as Rudolf Hess were imprisoned . Prisoner Albert Speer mentions in his book , " Spandau : The Secret Diaries , " a " hard - nosed , irritating American Commandant " . That man was later identified as Speirs . Laotian Civil War . In 1962 , Speirs was a member of the U . S . Mission to the Royal Lao Army , where he served as a training officer in Mobile Training Team ( MTT ) for Operation White Star which was then managed by the Military Assistance Advisory Group in Laos ( MAAG Laos ) . Later years . His final assignment in the Army was as a plans officer in the Pentagon . He retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1964 . Although he did not normally attend the yearly Easy Company reunions , Speirs met with some Easy Company members several times and attended at least one reunion in 2001 . He died on April 11 , 2007 , in Saint Marie , Montana , where he and his wife lived part - time . He has survived by his son Robert and 3 grandchildren . 2 stepsons , 1 stepdaughter , 6 grandchildren , and 10 great grandchildren