William Guarnere

Early life and education

Guarnere was the youngest of ten children born to Joseph and Augusta Guarnere, who were of Italian origin. During the Great Depression, he participated in the Citizens Military Training Camp program, entering at age 15 after his mother told the government he was 17. He spent three summers in the program, which normally took four years, planning to graduate and apply for an officer commission, but the program was canceled due to the war in Europe. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he dropped out of South Philadelphia High School six months before graduation to work for Baldwin Locomotive Works, which manufactured Sherman tanks. He later switched to the night shift, returned to school, and earned his diploma in 1942. Despite having a work exemption from military service, he enlisted on August 31, 1942, and began training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia.

Military service

Guarnere was assigned to Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He made his first combat jump on D-Day during the Allied invasion of France. He earned the nickname "Wild Bill" for his reckless attitude toward the enemy, and his strong hatred for Germans stemmed from the death of his older brother Henry, a medic killed at Monte Cassino with the 1st Armored Division. On June 6, Guarnere joined First Lieutenant Richard Winters and others securing Sainte-Marie-du-Mont and the exit of causeway number 2.

When a German platoon approached, Winters ordered the men to wait for his signal, but Guarnere opened fire immediately with his Thompson submachine gun, killing most of the unit. Later that morning, he joined Winters in assaulting four 105 mm guns at Brécourt Manor; Winters named Guarnere as 2nd platoon's sergeant as 13 paratroopers faced about 50 German soldiers. The attack was later used as an example of a small squad attacking a larger defensive force.

In mid-October 1944, while Easy Company secured the line on "The Island" south of the Rhine River, Guarnere stole a motorcycle from a Dutch farmer and rode across an open field, where a sniper shot him in the right leg. The impact fractured his right tibia and lodged shrapnel in his right buttock. He was sent back to England on October 17, 1944.

Later life and death

Guarnere returned to the United States in March 1945 and held various odd jobs. He wore an artificial right leg until securing full disability from the Army, then discarded the limb and used crutches for the rest of his life. He became active in veterans organizations and presided over many Easy Company reunions. After returning home, he married Frances Peca (died 1997) and had two sons, Eugene and William Jr.; Eugene later served briefly in Vietnam.

Guarnere co-wrote Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends with Edward "Babe" Heffron and Robyn Post, published in 2007. He also contributed an afterword to Silver Eagle: the official biography of Band of Brothers veteran Clancy Lyall, released in March 2013. Guarnere and Heffron remained lifelong friends; Guarnere was Heffron's best man in 1954 and godfather to his daughter Patricia. Guarnere died of a ruptured aneurysm at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia on March 8, 2014, at age 90. He was survived by his two sons, nine grandchildren, and fourteen great-grandchildren.

Legacy

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, through Governor Tom Corbett, honored Guarnere with a half-staff flag order. Following his death, his granddaughter Debi Lynch Rafferty established the Wild Bill Guarnere Memorial Fund to aid veterans. On September 19, 2015, the Fund donated an 8-foot bronze statue of Guarnere, created by sculptor Chad Fisher, to the Delaware County Veterans Memorial. A second statue of Guarnere was unveiled in 2019 in Philadelphia, placed next to one of Babe Heffron.