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This Remembrance Profile was originally created by SGT Robert Briggs - Deceased
Contact Info
Last Address Bayue Chene
Date of Passing Dec 30, 1998
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Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Easy Company 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division.
Eugene Gilbert "Doc" Roe Sr. (October 17, 1921 – December 30, 1998) was an American soldier who served during World War II and fought with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne. He also served with allied forces defending Bastogne, Belgium, in the Battle of the Bulge. He received the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and the Medal of Valor for his services to the war. He was portrayed by British actor Shane Taylor in the 2001 miniseries Band of Brothers.
Eugene was born in Bayou Chene, Louisiana, USA, a son of Ed Roe and Maud Verret, and was one of Easy Company's medics. He was a participant in D-Day, Operation Market Garden, and the Battle of the Bulge. In the Band of Brothers miniseries, episode 6, called Bastogne, is told from his point of view. Even though he was mentioned only briefly in Stephen Ambrose's book Band of Brothers, it was said that he was a very brave and heroic medic. Roe was half-Cajun.
He died in 1998 of cancer in his home state of Louisiana
The medics were the most popular, respected, and appreciated men in the company. Their weapons were first-aid kits; their place on the line was wherever a man called out that he was wounded. Lieutenant Foley had special praise for Pvt. Eugene Roe. "He was there when he was needed, and how he got 'there' you often wondered. He never received recognition for his bravery, his heroic servicing of the wounded. I recommended him for a Silver Star after a devastating firefight when his exploits were typicaly outstanding. Maybe I didn't use the proper words and phrases, perhaps Lieutenant Dike didn't approve, or somewhere along the line it was cast aside. I don't know. I never knew except that if any man who struggled in the snow and the cold, in the many attacks through the open and through the woods, ever deserved such a medal, it was our medic, Gene Roe."
Other Comments:
Awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart, and Medal of Valor.
He and his ex-wife, Vera, had three children, two daughters, Maxine and Marlene, and a son, Eugene Jr., six grandchildren, Kyle and Derek Tircuit, Christopher and Ryan Langlois and Greg and Michelle Roe, as well as two stepddaughters Mel Timberlake and Margaret Wendt, a stepson Danny Williams, seven stepgrandchildren including Michael and Jill Edwards, William Wendt and Daniel, Jay Williams and Jody Williams and several stepgreat-grandchildren.
WWII - European Theater of Operations/Normandy Campaign (1944)/Operation Overlord/D-Day Airborne Landings
From Month/Year
June / 1944
To Month/Year
June / 1944
Description
The American airborne landings in Normandy were the first United States combat operations during Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy by the Western Allies on June 6, 1944. Around 13,100 paratroopers of the U.S. 82nd Airborne and 101st Airborne Divisions made night parachute drops early on D-Day, June 6, followed by 3,937 glider troops flown in by day. As the opening maneuver of Operation Neptune (the assault operation for Overlord) the American airborne divisions were delivered to the continent in two parachute and six glider missions.
Both divisions were part of the U.S. VII Corps and provided it support in its mission of capturing Cherbourg as soon as possible to provide the Allies with a port of supply. The specific missions of the airborne divisions were to block approaches into the vicinity of the amphibious landing at Utah Beach, to capture causeway exits off the beaches, and to establish crossings over the Douve River at Carentan to assist the U.S. V Corps in merging the two American beachheads.
The assault did not succeed in blocking the approaches to Utah for three days. Numerous factors played a part, most of which dealt with excessive scattering of the drops. Despite this, German forces were unable to exploit the chaos. Many German units made a tenacious defense of their strong-points, but all were systematically defeated within the week.