🇺🇲WWII uncovered: Honoring the Service of First Sergeant Floyd Talbert of Easy Company♠️
🇺🇲WWII uncovered: Honoring the Service of First Sergeant Floyd Talbert of Easy Company♠️
Floyd Merrill Talbert, of Kokomo, Indiana, enlisted in the U.S. Army on August 24, 1942 at Fort Benjamin Harrison, located in Indianapolis, Indiana.
He was assigned to E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division at Camp Toccoa under the direction of Captain Herbert Sobel.
Talbert made his first combat jump on D-Day. While in Normandy, he was bayoneted by Pvt. George Smith, who mistook him for a German. Talbert had been trying to wake Smith while carrying a pistol, and wearing a German poncho.
Also, Talbert jumped in Operation Market Garden in Holland, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne.
Talbert had quickly risen through the ranks, making the rank of Company 1st Sergeant, he would later turn that rank in, when he thought he could do better to be with the men he had fought alongside of during the war, self-demoting to Staff Sergeant.
"Major Richard D. Winters, whom Talbert worshiped and considered a friend, had described Talbert as his "guardian angel", and said that if he had to pick just one man to be with him on a mission, it would be Talbert.
While Talbert was an excellent soldier, he was 'deathly afraid of anything that crawled'.
So his comrades, including Forrest Guth, were always putting things in his footlocker, his bed and even his ammo belt. According to Guth, Talbert 'would go wild'.
After the war, Floyd returned to Kokomo and attended Indiana University.
According to his brother, " Floyd accepted a position with the Union Carbide (Haynes Stellite Division in Kokomo, Indiana).
He then transferred with the same organization to Alexandria, Indiana, and worked there for several years. He decided to become a full-time farmer and purchased land in that area.
Later, he became a plant manager for the General Tire and Rubber Company.
He also was a successful car salesman both in Indiana and California.
Talbert was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Matthew Leitch.
Floyd Talbert's life story was featured in the 2010 book "A Company of Heroes:
Personal Memories about the Real Band of Brothers and the Legacy They Left Us" by Marcus Brotherton." - Sources cited below
Floyd Talbert passed away on October 18, 1982 in Redding California. He was 59 years old. Lest We Forget.
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