Edward Heffron Edward James Heffron ( born May 16 , 1923 ) is a former private with Easy Company , 2nd Battalion , 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment , in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army during World War II . Heffron was portrayed in the HBO miniseries " Band of Brothers " by Robin Laing . Heffron wrote " Brothers in Battle , Best of Friends : Two WWII Paratroopers from the Original Band of Brothers Tell Their Story " with fellow veteran William " Wild Bill " Guarnere and journalist Robyn Post in 2007 . Youth . Heffron was born in South Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , the third of five children to Joseph ( a prison guard ) and Anne . His parents were Irish and Catholic , and the family went to Mass every Sunday and the children went to Sacred Heart Catholic School . He attended South Philadelphia High School , but had to drop out to earn money during the Great Depression . He went to work at New York Shipbuilding in Camden , New Jersey , sandblasting cruiser s in preparation for them to be converted to light aircraft carriers . Because of his job he had a 2B exemption from military service , but he didn ' t use it , since he wanted to go with his friend , Anthony Cianfrani , into the airborne . When a teenager , he had also developed an intermittent medical condition with which his hands and fingers would curl under and lock - up , causing severe pain ( possibly , the onset of Dupuytren ' s Contracture ) , but he never told anyone about this because he wanted to keep playing football in school . Either the exemption or the medical condition would have allowed him to remain stateside , but he refused to stay home when his brothers ( Joseph , James , and John ) , friends , and neighbors were all doing their duty . Heffron enlisted on November 7 , 1942 in his hometown . Military service . As a member of Easy Company , Heffron fought in several major battles , including Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands and the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne , Belgium . During the Battle of the Bulge he served as a machine gunner and was awarded the Bronze Star . He helped liberate the Kaufering concentration camp in Landsberg , Germany , and in the seizure of Hitler ' s Eagle ' s Nest ( Kehlsteinhaus ) . While at jump school Heffron made a pact with his two best friends , John T . " Johnny " Julian and J . D . Henderson , that if anything happened to one of them , the others would gather up that person ' s personal belongings and return them to that person ' s family , while also making sure that they contacted the family and carried out any other individual requests . Henderson was wounded in Veghel , and made it back to the U . S . Julian became Heffron ' s best friend during the time they shared while in front - line combat . On January 1 , 1945 , Heffron was in his foxhole manning his machine gun when he heard Sergeant Johnny Martin cry out that Julian had been hit . He left his position and attempted to get to Julian , but enemy fire prevented any approach . Every time he tried to make a move for Julian the Germans opened fire , driving Heffron and his fellow soldiers back . Later , the squad that Julian was in repelled the Germans and brought back his body , but Heffron couldn ' t bring himself to look at his friend ' s corpse . Heffron thereafter maintained he always hated New Year ' s Day , with its reminder of the anniversary of his friend " Johnny " Julian ' s death ; he also thereafter always felt a similar dislike concerning Christmas Day , with its reminder of the anniversary of his Battle of the Bulge experiences in Bastogne . It was twelve years after the war ended before Heffron could bring himself to call Julian ' s mother , honoring the pact he and his friends had made at jump school . In early May , 1945 , after Easy Company ' s penultimate operation , the capture of the Eagle ' s Nest , Heffron was standing guard duty at a crossroads near Berchtesgaden when German General Theodor Tolsdorff , commander of the LXXXII Corps , came down the road leading 31 vehicles ( much of it loaded with the General ' s personal property ) . The general told Heffron that he wished to surrender , but only to an officer , not to an enlisted man . The officer who ultimately accepted the surrender was Lt . Carwood Lipton . Later years . After the war , Heffron went to work for Publicker Industries , which operated a whiskey distillery plant at 3223 South Delaware Avenue in Philadelphia . In 1966 , after he had been employed by Publicker for 20 years , it relocated its operation from Philadelphia to Linfield , Pennsylvania ; Heffron did not relocate with the company , and spent the next 27 years working on the Philadelphia waterfront , checking cargo and clerking . Heffron is referred to frequently in the Stephen Ambrose book " Band of Brothers " ; in the HBO / Dreamworks / Playtone miniseries of the same name produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg in 2001 , he was played by Scottish actor Robin Laing . Heffron appears as himself at the end of episode ten , speaking about the Company , and also makes a brief cameo appearance in part four , sitting at a table in Eindhoven and waving a small flag , while Sgt . Talbert is seen kissing a Dutch woman . Heffron wrote " Brothers in Battle , Best of Friends : Two WWII Paratroopers from the Original Band of Brothers Tell Their Story " with fellow veteran William " Wild Bill " Guarnere and journalist Robyn Post in 2007 , outlining the activities of Easy Company 1942 - 1945 .