Edward Heffron
| Edward Heffron | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | "Babe" |
| Born |
May 16, 1923 South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Died | December 1, 2013 (aged 90) Stratford, New Jersey |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army
|
| Years of service | 1942-1945 |
| Rank |
 Private First Class
|
| Unit | Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards |
 Bronze Star Purple Heart Good Conduct Medal European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
|
| Relations | Joseph (father) Anne (mother) |
| Other work | Author |
Edward James "Babe" Heffron (16 May 1923 – 1 December 2013) was a 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.
Edward James Heffron was born in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1923, the third of five children to Joseph (a prison guard) and Anne. The family were Irish Catholic and attended Mass every Sunday and Heffron and his siblings attended 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 cruisers 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 7 November 1942 in his hometown.
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