I would like to share with you how I came to write poems about the men in Easy Company of the 101st Airborne.
When I was sixteen years old, I got into trouble for ‘fighting’ with another student. I was only defending myself but had to see the college counselor for ‘anger-management’. He and I clicked and we talked about many subjects and debated even more. He was Jewish and when he discovered I was interested in Jewish people and The Holocaust, he introduced me to a man who was to profoundly and forever change my life.
Edward Castle was a Jewish man unlike any other Jewish man and a Holocaust survivor. He was controversial in his community and his story is epic and full of adventure, loss, passion and extraordinary humor. I am writing a novel (The Broken Places) based on his life. It was Eddie’s time at the displaced person camp, Bad Gastein that introduced me to the 82nd Airborne. Eddie told me stories of this place; of his respect and love (and comedic turn) for the young American paratroopers who ran the camp. These young men were, in many ways though temporarily, as displaced as the damaged Jewish children they sought to protect and rehabilitate. They were thousands of miles away from home and family, had witnessed and survived such terrible things but still retained a childlike wonder and sense of fun. More importantly, they understood absolutely their responsibility for these children and without doubt recognized the horror of the genocide and the Nazi regime in a way the British and the Russians never quite could. “They were like big, boisterous older brothers who talked like movie stars. There always seemed to be more Americans in a room than there actually were,” Eddie remembered. “They taught me how to be a kid again and I taught them how to ski!”
Eddie died in 1992. He was the best teacher and male role model I’ve ever had. Such was my interest in the 82nd Airborne and my indentured obsession for WWII bred into me by my father that my best friend gave me a copy of Stephen Ambrose’s book ‘Band of Brothers’ for my 22nd birthday. I became enamored with the men of Easy Company: their characters, their stories, and their experiences. I began to take notes about each man.
I wrote about the men, adding detail here and there, but I was too busy being young and totally selfish to close the project. When I eventually settled down and became married and a mother, I was working as a teaching assistant too and I decided to review my work and see what could be done. There were many finished poems but many more were not. I began to craft a poem for each man. This was not easy. Some poems arrive fully formed out of nowhere (The Devil’s In The Details for William Guarnere for example) and some take months of plotting and finding a line into the man himself (Requiem for Kenyon Webster) but eventually the whole project was finished in 2015. Between 2008 and 2015, I have had excellent correspondence with Ed Tipper and his wife. I have correspondence from George Luz Jr and his sister, Lana. I have actors from the BOB television series on my Face book friend’s list, a few of which are very supportive of my work. I received letters and a phone call with William Guarnere about the poems before he died. James Madio, who brilliantly portrayed Frank Perconte in the TV series, thoughtfully did a recording of one of the poems ‘Season’s Greetings – A Paratrooper’s Lament’.
I had no idea what to do with all this work so I sent one or two poems to the official Easy Company website expecting nothing. Within the hour, the lady who ran the site, Marion van Hellemond, replied and asked for everything I had. I met a few of the veterans at a signing in Suffolk in the fall of 2008 and I was invited to the reunion in Ohio in 2009. I know no more about Joe Lesniewski than any other Easy Company admirer. I simply noticed at the reunion that he was a people-watcher, like me. He has timber wolf eyes hence the title of his poem Watcher With The White-Wolf Eyes.
Below is my poem dedicated to Joe Lesniewski.
~ Marie Tierney, Poet
WATCHER WITH THE WHITE-WOLF EYES
Twelve men in a stick
willin’ the green light appear
and beneath the choke of cigarette smoke,
the monkey-house stench of fear.
I’ve been watchin’ the others for a while now
since we left the land for the skies,
especially the rookie, the cocky tough cookie;
the watcher with the white-wolf eyes.
The plane lists and falls like a schooner
caught in the throes of a gale.
Through the sides and the floor,
the engines full roar
and the faces around us glow pale.
I keep an eye on the watcher
whilst he keeps an eye on the rest.
Lesniewski seems calm beneath his cool charm
but soon he’ll know this ain’t a test.
A good-lookin’ Pollack-American,
emotions kept tight under lid,
he had the whole Paul Newman thing going on
before even Paul Newman did.
He watches the silent stay silent,
he watches the ones who keep prayin’,
the ones who are sick, the ones whose throats click
and the ones whose courage keeps frayin’.
I can see in his face he feels ready,
ready to both jump and fight
and if we can get through all that we have to do
I know he’ll see Easy all right.
He never tried hard for acceptance
nor kissed ass until it wore thin.
Joe simply waited ‘til suspicion abated
and so Easy Co. let him in.
He seems detached from this whole thing,
serious for all but himself,
so how will he cope with nothin’ but hope,
a packet of smokes and his health?
So what if he’s buzzin’ for action,
coz action is coming in spades.
Will he give thanks facin’ down Panzer tanks
and potato-masher grenades
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