It is with a heavy heart that we share the sad news that Bradford Freeman, the last surviving member of the legendary Easy Company, passed away on on July 3, 2022. We hope you will take a few moments to read Senior Historian Chris Anderson’s personal remembrance of Mr. Freeman.
“Me and my buddies did a job for America.”
By Chris Anderson, Senior Historian
One of the questions on tour that has always been hard for me to answer is, “How many men of Easy Company are still alive?” Each year the number would be smaller than the year before and each time I answered I thought about all the men who had made their final jump. I knew, but tried not to think about, the fact that someday I’d have to answer-“none.” I’m so sorry to report that that day has finally arrived. Bradford Clark Freeman, 97, of Caledonia, Mississippi, passed away peacefully on July 3, 2022. He was the last surviving member of Easy Company.
Busy raising a family of two daughters with his wife Louise, working on his farm, and for 32 years serving as a letter carrier, Freeman did not get as involved in Easy Company reunions and events as many of the other men. But he did stay in frequent content with Major Richard Winters, who would often tell me about Freeman during our conversations. Winters frequently remarked that he thought Freeman would have made a fine officer but that the quiet Mississippian would always turn down offers of promotion. He served in the 1st Platoon in Normandy, the Netherlands and Bastogne. He was wounded outside of Noville in January 1945. He returned to Mississippi after the war and, later in life when time permitted, would speak about his experiences during the war and returned to Europe on several trips.
During an interview later in life, Freeman said, “Me and my buddies did a job for America.” The men of Easy Company have been such a huge part of my life that I know it will be difficult to answer the question of how many are left as I lead future tours. I’ll always remember the job Freeman’s buddies did for America and I know that my job-and the job of everyone else at Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours-will be to ensure that as many Americans as possible know about the job that they did for all of us.
