Last Remaining WWII ‘Band of Brothers’ Member Bradford Freeman Dies at 97

Bradford Freeman, the last remaining member of the World War II U.S. Army paratroop regiment known as the “Band of Brothers” which inspired a book and HBO miniseries of the same name, has died at the age of 97.

Freeman passed away in Columbus, Mississippi, at the Baptist Memorial Hospital–Golden Triangle on Sunday, according to the Lowndes Funeral Home & Crematory.

After graduating high school in 1942, Freeman enlisted in the U.S. Army to become a paratrooper in 1944 with “Easy Company” in the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He was assigned as a motorman in the company.

Freeman jumped in the Normandy D-Day invasion, fought in Operation Market-Garden in German-occupied Netherlands, and took part in the Battle of Bulge in Belgium, where he was injured.

After recovering, he rejoined his company in 1945 and participated in the occupation of Berchtesgaden near the Austrian border, where Hitler’s “Eagles Nest” retreat home was located, and the occupation of Austria in the waning days of the war.

Historian Stephen E. Ambrose documented and interviewed members of Easy Company in his book Band of Brothers. The book went on to inspire the acclaimed 2001 HBO miniseries of the same name, created by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. Freeman was portrayed by James Farmer in a nonverbal role, according to the New York Times.

After being discharged in 1945, the Times noted, Freeman returned to his birthplace and home in Caledonia, Mississippi, where he worked as a mailman for 32 years. He married his wife Willie Louise Gurley in 1947.

According to the funeral home, Freeman is survived by his sister and two daughters. He also leaves behind four grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

After the death of the last remaining officer of Easy Company, Col. Edward Shames, in December 2021, Freeman was the last surviving member of the company.

The final remaining recipient of the Medal of Honor in World War II, Hershel “Woody” Williams, recently passed away at the end of June.

You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.