William Kiehn
| William F. Kiehn | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | "Bill" |
| Born |
1921 Washington, U.S. |
| Died |
February 10, 1945 Haguenau, France |
| Buried at | Epinal American Cemetery, Epinal, France[1] |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America |
| Service/branch |
 United States Army |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank |
 Sergeant |
| Unit |
 Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division |
| Battles/wars | |
William F. "Bill" Kiehn (died February 10, 1945) was a United States Army soldier who was killed in World War II. During the war, he was a non-commissioned officer with the Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division. He was one of the original 140 Toccoa men of the company. Kiehn was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers.
Early life and education
Kiehn was an only child from the U.S. state of Washington and he entered service there.[2]
Career
Kiehn volunteered for paratrooper and received training in Toccoa, Georgia. In 'Shifty's War', the biography of Darrell Powers, a good friend of Kiehn, Kiehn was described as a muscular guy who would still go strong long after other guys were exhausted.[3] But he was at risk of being washed out because he had a chip on his shoulder.[4] Therefore, one day, Sergeant Buck Taylor, who saw the potential in Kiehn, took extra time to teach Kiehn close order drill one-on-one real early in the morning to help Kiehn shape up.[3] Powers did not like Kiehn at first, but the two became good friends and Kiehn came home with Powers to Clinchco once after receiving their jump wings.[5]
Kiehn made his first combat jump into Normandy on D-Day. He had lost his cricket in the jump, and was almost shot by Powers because he failed to respond to the cricket challenge.[6] The two, together with Taylor and Rod Strohl, saw some action with soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division.[7] They left to search for their own unit as Taylor was worried that the ranking officer there would order them to stand guard over the prisoners and the wounded. The foursome found a jeep in a glider on the way and thought they could drive it. Kiehn suggested that they could blast the jeep out with some C-4. Unknown to them the jeep was leaking gasoline, and everything blew up when they hit the charge.[8] The group linked up with Easy Company later. During his fight with Easy in Carentan, Kiehn was wounded and was sent to a hospital in England.
Kiehn missed the jump for Operation Market Garden.[9] He was put in a replacement depot and was about to be sent to another unit because he was out of action for too long.[10] He went AWOL to rejoin Easy toward the end of the campaign. He was almost shot by Powers again because he did not know the password used at that time.
Kiehn fought in the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne. In February 10, 1945, during the fights in Haguenau, while Kiehn was taking a nap in the basement of an empty house, an artillery shell hit the house. The ceiling collapsed and Kiehn was killed before Doc Roe could hear the call for a medic.[11]
Kiehn is buried in Epinal American Cemetery, Epinal, France.[1]
Legacy
Kiehn's death was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers in the episode "the Last Patrol". In the series Kiehn was killed when he was carrying a sack of potatoes from one building to another. It was a fabrication, according to Kiehn's comrade Paul Rogers.[12]
References
Bibliography
- Marcus Brotherton (2009). We Who Are Alive and Remain: Untold Stories from Band of Brothers). Berkley Trade. ISBN 0425234193.
- Brotherton, Marcus (2011). Shifty's War: The Authorized Biography of Sergeant Darrell 'Shifty' Powers, the Legendary Sharpshooter from the Band of Brothers. Berkley Caliber. ISBN 978-0-425-24097-7.