Darrell Powers Staff Sergeant Darrell C . " Shifty " Powers ( March 13 , 1923 – June 17 , 2009 ) was a non - commissioned officer with Easy Company , 2nd Battalion , 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment , in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II . Powers was portrayed in the HBO miniseries " Band of Brothers " by Peter Youngblood Hills . The 2011 book " Shifty ' s War " by journalist Marcus Brotherton , published by Penguin / Berkley - Caliber , captures Sgt . Powers ' full life story . His story was also featured in the 2009 book " We Who Are Alive and Remain : Untold Stories from The Band of Brothers " . Youth . Powers was born in Clinchco , Dickenson County , Virginia . Shifty spent a great deal of time in the outdoors hunting game prior to joining the service . This experience proved useful later as many of the skills he obtained helped him as a soldier . He graduated from high school . Powers enlisted on August 14 , 1942 , at Richmond , Virginia . and volunteered for the paratroopers with his newly met good friend , Robert ' Popeye ' Wynn . Military service . Powers jumped into Normandy on D - Day , missing his drop zone . He eventually came in contact with Floyd Talbert and the two made their way to Easy Company . He also participated in the Allied military operation Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands , and the Battle of the Bulge in Foy , Belgium . While in Foy , a German sniper shot three members of Easy Company , and everyone hid for cover . With the aid of First Sergeant Carwood Lipton , Shifty made a heroic attempt and silenced the German with his M1 right between the eyes . Company members say Powers saved many lives that day . He was generally considered to be the best shot in Easy Company . One of his most truly remarkable achievements , and a testament to the extraordinary gifts his backwoods upbringing brought to Easy Company , was the story documented in the Ambrose book , " Band of Brothers " , about the time in Bastogne when Shifty mentioned to his commanding officer that he noticed a tree in the distant forest that was not there just the day before . The " tree " was ultimately discovered to be a camouflaged German observation post . Were it not for Shifty ' s keen observations and outdoors experiences , many lives might have been lost , had that enemy weapon not been spotted from a distance of nearly a mile away and amongst a literal forest of other trees . Later years . Because many men serving in the 101st lacked the minimum points required to return home , a lottery was put in place . Shifty Powers won this lottery after the rest of the company rigged it in his favor by removing their own names , and was set to return stateside . During the trip to the airfield , the vehicle that Shifty was in was involved in an accident and he was badly injured . He spent many months recuperating in hospitals overseas while his comrades in arms arrived home long before he did . Honorably discharged from the Army in the postwar demobilization , he became a machinist for the Clinchfield Coal Corporation . He was married to his wife Dorothy for 60 years at the time of his death . He is listed as one of 20 men from Easy Company who contributed to the 2009 book " We Who Are Alive and Remain : Untold Stories from the Band of Brothers " , published by Penguin / Berkley - Caliber . Powers died of cancer on June 17 , 2009 , in Dickenson County , Virginia . He is buried at Temple Hill Memorial Park , Castlewood , Russell County , Virginia . " Band of Brothers " . In the first edition of the book Band of Brothers , Ambrose wrote that in December 23 Powers disobeyed a direct order from Lieutenant Edward Shames to go out on a patrol because he was discouraged . Both Shames and Powers denied that had happened . Powers called it ' a slap in the face ' . Upon request and verification , Ambrose deleted that story from the later edition of the book .