Shot, paralysed, but never broken-Smokey Gordon’s war story

Shot, paralysed, but never broken-Smokey Gordon’s war story

I have been learning more about the men of Easy Company from Band of Brothers, and I want learn more about Walter Scott “Smokey” Gordon Jr.

He was born on the 15th of April 1920 in Jackson, Mississippi, and grew up in the southern United States. As a young man, he attended Millsaps College for a time, but like many of his generation, the war soon shaped the direction of his life. Although he was rejected by both the Navy and the Marines due to colour blindness and flat feet, he was determined to serve. He enlisted in the US Army in 1942, he even managed to pass the eye test despite his condition.

Gordon became part of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, training at Camp Toccoa. Known by the nickname “Smokey,” he served as a machine gunner and quickly became part of the tight-knit group that would later become so well known.

He saw action throughout the Second World War, taking part in the D-Day landings in Normandy on the 6th of June 1944. Just days later, during the fighting at Carentan, he was wounded in the arm and shoulder and was awarded the Purple Heart. After recovering, he returned to the front and continued to fight in Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands and later in the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium.

During the brutal winter fighting at Bastogne, he was shot by a sniper on Christmas Eve 1944, a devastating wound that left him temporarily paralysed. He was evacuated and spent months recovering, eventually being discharged with a high level of disability. Despite this, he regained movement, though he lived with lasting pain.

After the war, he built a life in Louisiana as an oil and gas lease broker and helped organise reunions for Easy Company veterans. He died on the 19th of April 1997 at the age of 77.