During the war, Shams was a member of the famous E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.
The obituary said, “He made his first combat jump in Normandy on D-Day with Operation Overlord. He volunteered for Operation Pegasus and then fought Company E in Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Ardennes in Bastogne.”
Shamis was the first member of the 101st Airborne Division to enter the Dachau concentration camp a few days after its liberation.
“When the Germans surrendered, Ed and his men in the E company entered Hitler’s nest, where Ed managed to get a few bottles of cognac, labeled as intended for use exclusively by the Führer. The bar ”- added.
After the war, Shams worked for the National Security Agency as an expert on Middle Eastern affairs. He also served in the US Army Reserve Division and then retired with the rank of Colonel.
The Easy Company’s war inspired Stephen Ambrose to write the book “Band of Brothers” in 1992, on the basis of which the HBO series, produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, was created in 2001. It shows the fate of the battalion member from his training in Georgia in 1942 until the end of The war of 1945. The role of Shams was played by British actor Joseph May.
Shams had two sons, Douglas and Stephen, four grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
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