E Company , 506th Infantry Regiment ( United States ) Easy Company , 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division , the " Screaming Eagles " , is one of the best - known companies in the United States Army . Their experiences in World War II are the subject of the HBO miniseries " Band of Brothers " based on the book of the same name by historian Stephen Ambrose . In 2009 , twenty of the last few remaining survivors from Easy Company recounted their stories in the oral - history book project " We Who Are Alive and Remain : Untold Stories From the Band of Brothers " . History . The 506th PIR was an experimental airborne regiment created in 1942 at Camp Toccoa , Georgia . Easy Company missions were to involve being parachuted from C - 47 transport airplanes over hostile territory . Major Richard Winters described the original organization of Easy company as follows : " [ Easy ] company included three rifle platoons and a headquarters section . Each platoon contained three twelve - man rifle squads and a six - man mortar team squad . Easy also had one machine gun attached to each of its rifle squads , and a 60mm mortar in each mortar team . " The training was not easy . Besides attending the standard airborne school , the unit had to perform battle drills and excruciating amounts of physical training . One of the more famous exercises was the regular running of Currahee , a large , steep hill . The phrase " 3 miles up , 3 miles down " was derived from this run . Easy Company , while training at Toccoa , was under the command of Herbert Sobel , who was known for his extreme strictness . Also as part of their physical training , the members of Easy Company performed formation runs in three - four column running groups . The purpose of this training was to push the soldiers to their limits , and to teach them how to work together as a team . Missions . Operation Overlord ( D - Day ) . For Operation Overlord , Easy Company ' s mission was to capture the entrances to and clear any obstacles around " Causeway 2 " , a pre - selected route off Utah Beach for the troops ' landing from the sea a few hours later . The company departed from Upottery airbase in Devon , England , and dropped over the Cotentin Peninsula of Normandy , France in the early hours of the morning of 6 June 1944 . After assembling on the ground , the men of Easy Company disabled a battery of four German heavy guns on D - Day that threatened forces coming along Causeway 2 . Eindhoven , the Netherlands . Easy Company was assigned to support the British forces around Eindhoven , by defending the roads and bridges , so that the British armored divisions could advance into Arnhem and force a crossing over the major bridge across the Rhine River in September 1944 . The story of the ill - fated Operation Market Garden is told in the book " A Bridge Too Far " by Cornelius Ryan . Easy Company landed on its designated drop zone in the Sonsche Forest , north west of Son and marched down the road into Son behind the 2nd Battalion ' s other two companies . When the 2nd Battalion reached the Son Bridge they were met by enemy harassing fire whilst the bridge was destroyed by the Germans . After the Regiment ' s engineers constructed a makeshift crossing , Easy and the rest of the 506th moved out for Eindhoven . These events were omitted from Band of Brothers , with Easy having been portrayed as landing in the Netherlands and then marching into Eindhoven to join up with the British Army advancing from the south . During the days following the link up , Easy made an unsuccessful attack towards Helmond and successfully defended the towns of Veghel and Uden until XXX Corps infantry took up the task of defending the area . As Market Garden progressed , Easy and the rest of the 101st joined the 82nd Airborne on " the island " north of Nijmegen . At the conclusion of Market Garden , Easy Company was involved in the rescue of over 100 British troops trapped outside Arnhem . Operation Pegasus was a military operation carried out on the Lower Rhine near the village of Renkum , close to Arnhem in the Netherlands . Overnight on the 22 – 23 October 1944 , the Allies evacuated a large group of men trapped in German occupied territory who had been in hiding since the Battle of Arnhem . On the south bank of a Dutch river , Canadian engineers and a patrol of E Company observed the signal and immediately launched their boats , but the British were some 500 - 800m upriver of the crossing point . Upon reaching the north bank E Company established a small perimeter while men headed east to locate the evaders . The men quickly moved downstream and in the next 90 minutes all of them were evacuated , with the exception of a Russian who was captured by the Germans . The Germans opened fire sporadically and some mortar rounds fell near the crossing , but the fire was inaccurate . Once on the other side the escapees were led to a farmhouse for refreshments , before being driven to Nijmegen where Dobie had arranged a party and champagne . The men were later flown back to the UK , rejoining the men who had escaped in Operation Berlin . Battle of the Bulge . During December 1944 and January 1945 , Easy Company and the rest of the 101st Airborne Division fought in Belgium in the Battle of the Bulge . The 101st was in France in December when the Germans launched their offensive in the Ardennes . They were told to hold the vital cross - roads at Bastogne and were soon encircled by the Germans . Easy Company fought in cold weather under German artillery fire without winter clothing and with limited rations and ammunition . The Allies defeated the German offensive . Afterward , Easy Company and the rest of the 506th PIR moved into Germany . The 101st Airborne Division was awarded a unit citation for holding the line at Bastogne . Occupation duties . Toward the end of the war , Easy Company was assigned to occupation duty in Germany , specifically to Berchtesgaden , which was home to Adolf Hitler ’ s famous Eagle ' s Nest . Following Berchtesgaden , Easy Company moved into Austria for further occupation duty . The company mostly attended to various patrols , awaiting the end of the war . Post - war . Easy Company and the rest of the 506th PIR was disbanded in November 1945 and reactivated in 1954 as a training unit .