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Bradford Freeman, last 'Band of Brothers' survivor, dies at 97

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Posted at 1:45 PM, Jul 06, 2022
and last updated 2022-07-06 15:45:22-04

One of the last surviving members of a group of World War II heroes has passed away.

Bradford Freeman, the last survivor of the Army unit featured in the HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers” was 97, the Associated Press reported.

According to his obituary from the Lowndes Funeral Home in Columbus, Mississippi, Freeman died Sunday at Baptist Memorial Hospital–Golden Triangle.

Freeman will be buried Friday in Egger Cemetery in Caledonia, Mississippi, his obituary said.

Freeman was a freshman at Mississippi State when World War II began, so he volunteered for the paratroopers.

He became a mortarman in Company E, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, a group known as Easy Company.

He parachuted into Normandy on D-Day, fought in Operation Market-Garden, and was part of the defense of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge before he was wounded, his obituary said.

He recovered and rejoined his unit to participate in the occupations of Berchtesgaden, Germany, and Austria.

After the war ended, Freeman returned home, got married, and worked as a mail carrier for 32 years.

He is survived by a sister, two daughters, four grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren.