Front Porch: One of the ‘Band of Brothers’ was our neighbor

It is a gift to writers everywhere when something we’ve written generates a response that unexpectedly ties a local story to something national, and even more so when it offers the opportunity to showcase someone from our neck of the woods, someone connected to something important that happened in a much larger arena.

This was the experience I had following a “Front Porch” column I wrote in February, in which I expounded on the task of cleaning out a bunch of junk from my house, and some of the surprises I discovered in the process.

And then came an email from Spokane reader Tom Peacock, who told me of the discovery of an old scrapbook in the attic when his sisters were cleaning out their mother’s house in Walla Walla. The scrapbook – probably better described as an album – had belonged to their uncle Thomas Arthur Peacock (who was known as Art Peacock), for whom Tom was named. Tom never knew him, as his uncle died eight years before he was born.

“He was my father’s older brother and had been a paratrooper in World War II, that’s all I knew,” Tom told me. The scrapbook, produced professionally in Germany, was filled with photos, overlays, narratives and battle descriptions. Written on the cover was “506th Parachute Infantry Regiment,” and inside, “101st Airborne Division.”

That was the famous “Band of Brothers,” whose story was told by Stephen E. Ambrose in his nonfiction book by the same name. It was later beautifully and brutally chronicled in the 2001 HBO 10-part series , which won nine Emmy awards, a Golden Globe and Peabody Award … and is still considered today as one of the best series of all time.

Upon receiving the album Tom began to research the man for whom he was named. “Every hit came back Band of Brothers.”

It seems very appropriate now – just after Memorial Day and looking ahead to the nation’s birthday on July 4 – to bring his uncle’s story to light, as Tom was able to discover it.

Art was indeed one of that honored group – E (Easy) Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. They parachuted in to Utah Beach on D-Day (though Art jumped as a member of Hotel Company), and were in for some of WWII’s most brutal battles – at the Siege of Bastogne (Battle of the Bulge), the invasion of Germany, liberation of a concentration camp, the taking of Hitler’s Eagles Nest in Berchtesgaden and through the war’s end.

Art was deployed to Easy Company in Holland as a replacement officer, first appearing in episode four the HBO series, titled “Replacements.” Lt. Peacock, as portrayed by actor David Nicolle, appeared in episodes 4-7.

In his research Tom read material written by Easy Company members, joined a veterans webpage and connected with persons affiliated with or interested in the soldiers themselves, or the series. He got bits of information here and there.

He did learn that his uncle was somewhat controversial among his peers, and portrayed that way in the series. “He was described as a by-the-book officer and not much of a combat leader,” Tom said. “To be fair, he was an S-4 officer, supply and logistics, so not exactly a trained combat leader.”

Even their commander Maj. Dick Winters (portrayed by actor Damien Lewis in the series) spoke of him as “well intended but not a combat man.”

While not heavily involved in combat missions, he did spend a good bit of time training soldiers. And, he was there for all of it.

Art Peacock was born in Colfax in 1920. He survived WWII and came home to Eastern Washington. With a degree from Washington State College, he went to the University of Michigan and got his law degree in June 1948. Later that same month, he was killed in a car accident while driving home to Pullman from Palouse. He was 28.

Also killed was his mother, Alma. Art’s wife and infant daughter suffered minor injuries, and, Tom believes, they returned to live with her family in Michigan afterward.

Art is buried in a cemetery in Pullman, and Tom is currently working on a project to replace his plain gravestone with one noting his military and Band of Brothers affiliation.

American film critic Paul Clinton wrote about the “Band of Brother” series as “… a remarkable testament to that generation of citizen soldiers, who responded when called upon to save the world for democracy and then quietly returned to build the nation that we now all enjoy, and all too often take for granted.”

One of those men was our neighbor, Art Peacock.

Voices correspondent Stefanie Pettit can be reached by e-mail at upwindsailor@comcast.net.