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On Friday, December 3, the last surviving member of the iconic World War II US Army regiment composed of the parachute infantry, Colonel Edward Shames, passed away at the age of 99. His regiment was called the Easy Company, which inspired the events of HBO’s hit miniseries from 2001, Band of Brothers.
News of his death was posted by Hollomon-Brown funeral and crematorium services. They mentioned that he passed away peacefully at home. The post also revealed that his wife of 73 years, Ida, died on February 21, 2019.
Edward Shames is survived by his family, including his sons Steven and Douglas, his grandchildren Sarah, Samuel, Aaron, and Rebecca. The late nonagenarian also had 12 great-grandchildren.
Late retired Colonel Edward Shames was worth around $1 million
As per multiple publications, Late Col. Edward Shames has a net worth of $600,000 to $1-2 million. A significant portion of that was earned via his 31 years of service from 1942 to 1973. After his retirement in 1973, Col. Shames also received pensions which added to his wealth.
After the war ended, Colonel Edward Shames worked with the National Security Agency as an expert on Middle East affairs. While it is unknown until when he continued this job with the NSA, it must have fetched him a hefty paycheck.
In 2001, an HBO Miniseries titled Band of Brothers, produced by Stephen Speilberg and Tom Hanks, was based on the 1992 book of the same name by Stephen Ambrose. The series featured Edward Shames, portrayed by Joseph May in the episode.
Twelve years after the series, author Ian Gardner worked with Col. Shames and Private Mario DiCarlo on Deliver Us From Darkness: The Untold Story of Third Battalion 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment during Market Garden. The book was published in 2013.
Three years later, Gardner also published No Victory in Valhalla, for which Colonel Edward Shames wrote the introduction. In 2017, Gardner finally published a biography of Shames, titled: Airborne: The Combat Story of Ed Shames of Easy Company.
The late Colonel Edward James lived in his hometown of Virginia Beach, in the same house where he used to stay with his wife.
