Nickname(s) "Alabama" Name Dewitt Lowrey Rank Corporal | Years of service 1942-1945 Allegiance United States | |
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Born April 22, 1922
Atmore, Alabama, United States ( 1922-04-22 ) Battles/wars World War II
Battle of Normandy Died July 8, 2015, Birmingham, Alabama, United States Battles and wars Operation Overlord, World War II | ||
Service/branch United States Army | ||
Dewitt lowrey world war ii
Corporal Dewitt Lowrey (April 22, 1922 – July 8, 2015) was a soldier with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army during World War II. Lowrey was one of the 140 Toccoa men of Easy Company. Lowrey's life story was featured in the 2009 book We Who Are Alive and Remain: Untold Stories from Band of Brothers.
Contents
Youth
Lowrey was born near Atmore, Alabama. He grew up on the farm his family owned and worked there when he became old enough. After finishing eleventh grade, he got a job loading boats in the shipyards.
Military service
Lowrey wanted to join the Navy, but was rejected because he failed the colorblindness test. He then joined the Army and volunteered for the paratroopers, and was sent to Toccoa, Georgia for training.
On the march from Toccoa to Atlanta, a stray dog had been following the soldiers for several miles. Noticing that the dog was limping, Lowrey picked him up, so Lowrey's comrades helped him to take his stuff in his backpack and Lowrey carried the dog in his pack. The dog was named Draftee and became the mascot of Easy Company. Photos of Lowrey and Draftee were featured in newspapers. Draftee was later given to the nurses at Fort Benning. The incident was recounted in "Shifty" Powers' biography, which described Lowrey as a good-hearted farmboy.
Lowrey was sent to Aldbourne, England for further training in preparation for the invasion of Europe. Lowrey's southern drawl invited teasing: His comrade, Donald Malarkey, remembered one night when Lowrey was drunk and crying in the barracks, probably after some serious harassing in the pubs. When Malarkey tried to comfort him, Lowrey pulled out a knife and held it to his gut. Joseph Toye pinned Lowrey up against a wall and warned him that if he ever hurt Malarkey, he'd kill him. Lowrey apologized to Malarkey the next morning. Lowrey did not recall the incident, but did not discount it either, as he admitted having an awful temper.
Lowrey made his first combat jump on D-Day into Normandy. He hung up on a tree and had to cut himself down. He spent the night alone, crawling and scurrying with his machine gun. Lowrey also fought in Carentan and was wounded there when shrapnel hit his head. He was sent to a hospital in England and later to hospitals in the States for operations.
Later years
Lowrey had post-traumatic epilepsy due to his wound. He met Barbara Drew, who was then 16, in a cafe while still in the hospital. They fell in love, but since Lowrey decided to go to Cushing General Hospital for further treatment, he told her to date others. He spent a year at Cushing, and thought that the time there taught him "patience, humility and hope." Lowrey and Barbara were reunited and married on 28 December 1946, having two children. Barbara died in 1999.
Lowrey wanted to become a CPA and a tax attorney, so he went to business school in Montgomery, but had difficulty coping due to headaches and concentration problems. The epilepsy also made it hard for him to find jobs. He eventually worked in the shoe business run by a friend in Montgomery. He would retreat to the stockroom if he felt an oncoming attack. Lowrey thought fondly of Easy Company's men, describing them as "young, carefree, 10 feet tall, and bulletproof." He chose not to associate with his old comrades, however, because he did not want anything to trigger the war memories that would set him back. He is referred to as "one of the lost ones."