Donald Malarkey | |
|---|---|
 Malarkey in 1945 | |
| Nicknames | Don, Malark |
| Born | (1921-07-31)July 31, 1921 Astoria, Oregon, U.S. |
| Died | September 30, 2017(2017-09-30) (aged 96) Salem, Oregon, U.S. |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank | Technical Sergeant |
| Unit | Easy Company, 2nd Battalion,506th Parachute Infantry Regiment,101st Airborne Division |
| Battles / wars | World War II |
| Awards | Bronze Star (2) Purple Heart Knight of the Legion of Honour (France) Croix de Guerre (France) |
| Spouse | |
| Other work | Sales manager Author |
Donald George Malarkey (July 31, 1921[1] – September 30, 2017)[2] was anon-commissioned officer withEasy Company, 2nd Battalion,506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the101st Airborne Division of theUnited States Army duringWorld War II. Malarkey was portrayed in theHBO miniseriesBand of Brothers byScott Grimes.
Donald Malarkey was born inAstoria, Oregon, on July 31, 1921,[1] to Leo and Helen (née Trask) Malarkey,[3]: 12, 17 married in 1918. He graduated fromAstoria High School in 1939 and was ofIrish descent.[3]: 23 As a youth, he worked on apurse seiner crew on theColumbia River.[3]: 70 He was a volunteer firefighter during the destructiveTillamook Burn forest fire, which destroyed thousands of acres of Oregon timber.[3]: 255 He was in his first semester at theUniversity of Oregon in the fall of 1941 when theJapanese attacked Pearl Harbor.[3]: 25
After Pearl Harbor, Malarkey tried enlisting in theMarines, but was rejected because of dental problems. He then tried theArmy Air Corps, but lacked the requisite mathematics background. As such, when he was drafted in July 1942, he volunteered for theparatroops of theUnited States Army, after reading aLife magazine article about them being the best.[3]: 29–30, 281 He trained atCamp Toccoa,Georgia. Of the enlisted men who trained atToccoa, only one man in six received certification as a member of the fledgling paratroops. He received his jump certification in 1942.[3]: 36
Malarkey became a member of E ("Easy") Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the101st Airborne Division. He went to England in 1944 to participate inMission Albany, the airborne landing portion ofOperation Neptune, the largest amphibious invasion in history, which was the assault portion ofOperation Overlord.[3]: 64 Malarkey parachuted intoFrance with his unit. Later that day, in a pitched battle, he helped knock out four German 105 mmartillery battery, an action now called theBrécourt Manor Assault, for which he received theBronze Star for his heroism.
He fought for twenty-three days inNormandy, nearly eighty in theNetherlands, thirty-nine in theBattle of Bastogne in Belgium, and nearly thirty more in and aroundHaguenau, France, and theRuhr Pocket inGermany. He was promoted to sergeant beforeOperation Market Garden. Malarkey, who was never seriously wounded, served more consecutive time on the front lines than any other member of Easy Company. Malarkey was awarded theBronze Star,Purple Heart,Good Conduct Medal,American Campaign Medal, and others.
Malarkey returned to theUniversity of Oregon in 1946 to complete his degree. He was a member of theSigma Nu fraternity (Gamma Zeta).[3]: 234 While attending the university, he met and became engaged to Irene Moor (1926–2006) of Portland.[3]: 234–236 They married on 19 June 1948.[3]: 236 Malarkey graduated in 1949 with a bachelor's degree in business.[3]: 26 The couple lived in Astoria, Oregon, where Malarkey became the sales manager for Lovell Auto Company. During this time, he ran for the position of County Commissioner ofClatsop County, Oregon, and was elected in 1954.[3]: 237 The family moved toPortland, Oregon, where Malarkey worked as an insurance and real estate agent.[3]: 237
Malarkey and his wife Irene had four children, a son, Michael and three daughters, Martha, Sharon, and Marianne.[3]: 237 Irene died in April 2006 of breast cancer.[3]: 251
In 1987, Malarkey was introduced to author andUniversity of New Orleans Professor of HistoryStephen Ambrose at an Easy Company reunion inNew Orleans. In 1989, Malarkey traveled with Ambrose and other members of Easy Company, includingRichard Winters andCarwood Lipton, to various sites where they had fought in Europe.[3]: 252 The oral history and first-person recollections that Malarkey and the others provided became the basis for Ambrose's bookBand of Brothers, which was published in 1992. During Ambrose's collection of anecdotal information for the book, Malarkey told of the saga of theNiland brothers of Tonawanda, New York, how two had died on D-Day and another was presumed killed.[3]: 250 Fritz, one of the four Niland brothers, was close friends with Malarkey's best friend and fellow Easy Company member Sergeant Warren H. "Skip" Muck who was from the same town as the Nilands. This episode was the impetus for the screenplay ofSaving Private Ryan.[3]: 110
Malarkey lived inSalem, Oregon, and formerly spoke extensively to high school and college students and other groups on his Easy Company experiences. He traveled with theUSO to Army posts and hospitals in the United States and Europe, where he met with soldiers wounded in theIraq War. In 2005, he appeared in an advertisement urging repeal of the estate tax. In 2012, Malarkey retired from public speaking events.
Following the death of Sergeant Paul Rogers on March 16, 2015, Malarkey became the oldest surviving member of Easy Company. Malarkey died on September 30, 2017 inSalem, Oregon,[4][5] of age-related causes.[2] He was interred atWillamette National Cemetery.[1]
 | Bronze Star with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster |
 | Purple Heart |
  | Presidential Unit Citation with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster |
 | Good Conduct Medal |
 | American Campaign Medal |
   | European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 4Service Stars and arrow device |
 | World War II Victory Medal |
 | Army of Occupation Medal |
 | Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur[7] |
 | Croix de Guerre with palm |
 | French Liberation Medal |
 | War Cross (Belgium) with palm |
 | Belgian World War II Service Medal |
 | Combat Infantryman Badge |
 | Parachutist Badge with 2 jump stars |
