Donald Malarkey

Actor · 1921 – 2017 · Astoria, Oregon, USA

Donald George “Don” Malarkey (July 31, 1921 – September 30, 2017) was an American Army non-commissioned officer and World War II veteran. He served as a Technical Sergeant with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, and was one of the original members of the company trained at Camp Toccoa, Georgia. Born in Astoria, Oregon, Malarkey graduated from Astoria High School in 1939 and attended the University of Oregon before being drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942. He volunteered for the airborne forces and joined Easy Company, completing his training at Camp Toccoa and Fort Benning before deploying to England in preparation for the Allied invasion of Europe. Malarkey parachuted into Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and participated in the Battle of Normandy, including the assault on the German artillery position at Brécourt Manor. He subsequently fought with Easy Company during Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands and the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium. He remained with the company through the campaign in Germany and rose to the rank of Technical Sergeant. After the war, Malarkey returned to the University of Oregon and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1949. He later worked in insurance and real estate and served as a county commissioner in Oregon. He remained active in veterans' affairs and became a frequent speaker about his wartime experiences, including appearances at West Point and events for American soldiers and veterans overseas. Malarkey's recollections were an important part of historian Stephen E. Ambrose's research for the 1992 book Band of Brothers. He later co-authored the 2008 autobiography Easy Company Soldier: The Legendary Battles of a Sergeant from World War II's “Band of Brothers” with Bob Welch. His experiences were also featured in the HBO documentary We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company, and he was portrayed by Scott Grimes in the 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. Malarkey died on September 30, 2017, in Salem, Oregon, at the age of 96, and was buried at Willamette National Cemetery.