Darrell 'Shifty' Powers

Actor · 1923 – 2009 · Clinchco, Virginia, USA

Darrell Cecil “Shifty” Powers (March 13, 1923 – June 17, 2009) was an American Army non-commissioned officer and World War II veteran. He served with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. Born in Clinchco, Virginia, Powers grew up in a coal-mining community and developed his skills as a marksman while hunting with his father. After completing vocational training as a machinist, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in August 1942 and volunteered for the airborne forces. He trained with Easy Company at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, and became one of only two soldiers in the company to initially qualify as an expert marksman. Powers parachuted into Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and fought with Easy Company throughout the Normandy campaign. He subsequently participated in Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands and the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium, remaining with the company through its advance into Germany. His exceptional marksmanship earned him the nickname “Shifty” and became an important part of his reputation within Easy Company. After the war, Powers returned to Virginia and worked as a machinist for the coal industry. He married Dorothy Powers and raised a family in Clinchco, where he lived for much of his life. He remained in contact with his fellow Easy Company veterans and later contributed his recollections to Marcus Brotherton's 2009 book We Who Are Alive and Remain: Untold Stories from the Band of Brothers. His experiences were also featured in Brotherton's authorized biography Shifty's War. He also appeared as himself in the companion documentary We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company. Powers was portrayed by Peter Youngblood Hills in the 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. Powers died on June 17, 2009, in Dickenson County, Virginia, at the age of 86. He was buried at Temple Hill Memorial Park in Castlewood, Virginia.