Bradford Freeman, the only remaining member of the legendary Army unit depicted in the interesting historical book and film miniseries “Band of Brothers” about World War II, died at the age of 97. 

According to Lowndes Funeral Parlor in Columbus, Mississippi, Freeman recently died on Sunday at Baptist Memorial Medical center Triangle. 

According to the biography, Freeman lived in Caledonia, Mississippi, and was raised in Artesia, Mississippi. A graveside funeral ceremony will be conducted there on Friday.

After Freeman committed to serving in World War II, he was a Mississippi State student who was 18 years old. He voluntarily participated in the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division’s mortarman mission. 

After becoming injured during the conflict after being wounded by “Screaming Mimi” German rocket fire, he was granted a Purple Heart. Freeman allegedly said, “I don’t know, but it came through screaming and then it blasted,” when asked what a “Screaming Mimi” was.

According to his biography, he returned to Caledonia. He married Willie Louise Gurley on June 29, 1947, and continued to operate as a mail carrier for 32 years.

The strongest and the inspiration for the 2001 HBO miniseries of the same name, “Band of Brothers,” by the University of New Orleans historian Stephen E. Ambrose is about “Easy Company” and its participants. 

Freeman left behind two daughters, four grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren, and a sister. 

According to the obituary, “our dad was always amazed that a farm lad from Mississippi was free to explore so many worlds and meet so many fascinating people.”

Band of Brothers:

The same non-fiction book by historian Stephen E. Ambrose was the motivation for the 2001 American war drama miniseries Band of Brothers.   After working together around the 1998 World War II movie Saving Private Ryan, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who acted as executive producers, devised this. The very first episodes of the series were broadcast on HBO beginning on September 9, 2001. In 2001, the show took home the best miniseries honors from the Emmys and the Golden Globe award. 

Such as its intervention in major moments in Europe and its willingness to take part in jump training in the United States, all attributed to Japan’s capitulation and, indeed, the end of World War II.

Ambrose’s research and taped discussions with participants of the Easy Company provide the background for the story’s events. The show used that literary license by interpreting history for dramatic impact and series structure.  Based on actual Easy Corporate employees, the characters are shown. Despite being mentioned by name just once, after something like the finale, excerpts from interviews with a few survivors are used as the openings to the episodes.