Lt Colonel Ronald Speirs, who commanded the unit from which "Band of Brothers" is based on, died at his home this month.
The true life commander of Easy company, 2nd battalion of the 506th PIRA /101 Inf Div (ABN), immortalized in Stephen Ambrose book and Tom Hanks HBO/BBC series "Band of Brothers", has left us. Lt Colonel Ronald Speirs was born April 20, 1920 in Edinburgh Scotland and moved the United States with his family as a child. He joined the US Army at the outbreak of world war two and volunteered for the infantry then for the paratroopers. He attended a military high school and therefore was extended a commission as a second lieutenant. He served with other units in the 101st Airborne (Screaming Eagles) before being promoted and assigned to Easy Company of "Band of Brothers" fame as company commander just after the jump into Normandy on D-Day. He was in command during the Battle of the Bulge, the advance into Germany and the capture of Adolf Hitler's Kehlsteinhaus at Berchtesgaden.
He remained in the army, led paratroopers in Korea, served as Allied Military Commander of the Spandau Prison, and as an advisor to Laos before retiring as a Lt. Colonel. He died at his home April 11, 2007
Ronald Speirs was played in the HBO/BBC miniseries Band of Brothers by Matthew Settle who is no stranger to military history having hosted the excellent documentary series "Decisive Battles" as well as starring in the more fanciful U-571
