Darrell Powers

Early life

Powers was born in Clinchco, Virginia. His father, an excellent marksman, taught him to shoot as a child. He spent much time hunting outdoors and could hit a coin thrown in the air with a rifle. His nickname "Shifty" came from his basketball days, referring to his footwork. After high school, he took a machinist course in Norfolk, Virginia, where he befriended Robert 'Popeye' Wynn. Both worked at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard until they learned their jobs would be deemed critical to the war effort, preventing them from leaving. They enlisted together on 14 August 1942 in Richmond, Virginia.

Military service

Powers followed Easy Company to Aldbourne, England, where he was surprised to see residents prepared to defend themselves with only garden implements. He jumped into Normandy on D-Day, missing his drop zone, and later linked up with the company to fight in Carentan. He participated in Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands. During the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium, on 29 December 1944, Powers noticed a tree that had not been there the previous day and reported it to First Sergeant Carwood Lipton.

The "tree" was part of a German anti-aircraft battery's camouflage. Lipton obtained approval for artillery fire, and the area was deserted within an hour. On 13 January 1945, during the attack on Foy, a sniper pinned down several men. Powers yelled, "I see him!" and fired, killing the sniper.

Lipton and Wynn later found the sniper's corpse with a bullet hole centered in the forehead. Powers was never wounded in combat, but lacked sufficient points to return home under the military point system. He won a lottery for an early furlough, but the vehicle taking him to the airfield was involved in an accident, badly injuring him. He spent months recuperating overseas while his comrades returned home.

Later years

Honorably discharged, Powers became a machinist. He was married to his wife Dorothy for 60 years at the time of his death. He moved to California for a machinist job, staying three years until the company lost a government contract and laid him off. He returned home and worked as a machinist for the Clinchfield Coal Corporation for over twenty years. In later years, his health declined and he became depressed. The release of the Band of Brothers miniseries and subsequent speaking engagements lifted his depression, with his family speculating it added years to his life. Powers contributed to the 2009 book We Who Are Alive and Remain. He died of lung cancer on 17 June 2009 and is buried at Temple Hill Memorial Park in Castlewood, Virginia.

Band of Brothers

In the first edition of the book Band of Brothers, author Ambrose wrote that on 23 December 1944, Powers disobeyed a direct order from Lieutenant Edward Shames. Both Shames and Powers denied this, with Powers calling it "a slap in the face." Ambrose deleted the story from later editions. In the HBO miniseries, Powers was played by Peter Youngblood Hills. The episode "The Last Patrol" showed him on a patrol mission, though in reality he was not on that patrol.