For the first time in 82 years, airborne training returned to Camp Toccoa, Georgia. Between March 25-30, 2024, eight actors from the hit HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers” conducted airborne qualification training in preparation for jumping twice into Normandy, France, on June 3 and June 8, 2024, as part of the commemoration for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
D-Day Commemoration: Actors from “Band of Brothers” Prepare for Historic Jumps
The actors’ experiences are being captured in a feature documentary called “The Jump: Currahee to Normandy.” Numerous non-profit organizations, including the All Airborne Battalion, Tunison Foundation, and Walk Among Heroes, are supporting the project.
The original soldiers depicted in the “Band of Brothers” miniseries were first made famous by historian Stephen Ambrose in his 1992 book “Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest.” Though none of the original members of Easy Company are still alive today, the actors who portrayed them are dedicated to preserving their collective memory.
“Band of Brothers” Actors Honor D-Day Heroes
Alex Sabga-Brady, who portrayed Cpl. Frank Mellet, and his fellow cast members have remained close since the premiere of the show in 2001 because of the impact the show had on their lives and their commitment to remember the legacy of those who fought to liberate Europe, whether they fell during the war or died since the war ended.
“It’s been said you die two deaths: your physical death and the final death when the last person speaks your name,” Sabga-Brady said in a statement. “We are committed to continuing to speak their names so no one forgets what they sacrificed for us. My family will never stop saying Frank’s name.”
Christian Black (who played Walter Hendrix on the show), George Calil (James M. Alley), Nolan Hemmings (Charles E. Grant), Mark Lawrence (William H. Dukeman), Rene Moreno (Joseph Ramirez), Pete O’Meara (Norman S. Dike) and Douglas Spain (Antonio C. Garcia) will join Sabga-Brady in the historic Normandy jump. Other cast members will be present but will not be jumping – they may have portrayed paratroopers on television, but they still need to be airborne qualified.
“We never jumped for real during the series, but we did a lot of training,” Alex Sabga-Brady told the BBC. “We thought it would be a nice close of the circle.”
The actors will be jumping from another D-Day veteran, a C-47 Skytrain nicknamed “Placid Lassie,” which dropped paratroopers into Normandy in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944. Director Chase Millsap, a Navy and Army veteran, and his camera crew are following the actors as they journey to France in the footsteps of the men of Easy Company (and all the paratroopers who jumped into Nazi-occupied Europe that morning) to honor the legacy of their sacrifices. It’s a project the actors hope to continue in the future, for many D-Days to come.
Read About Other Military Myths and Legends
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