Lewis Nixon was born in New York but had traveled the world extensively compliments of his wealthy family before attending Yale. After college, Nixon attended Officer Candidate School and was briefly attached to the Military Police before volunteering for the Airborne. He joined Easy Company as a 2nd Lieutenant at Camp Toccoa.

A native of Los Angeles, Buck Compton was a standout baseball and football player at UCLA before he went to Officer Candidate School. He completed jump training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and joined Easy Company as a 2nd Lieutenant in Aidbourne, England, in December 1943.

Ronald Speirs was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and grew up in Portland, Maine. Military training during high school led to a commission in the infantry. But Speirs soon volunteered for the paratroops. He was a platoon leader in D Company at Camp Toccoa in 1942 and joined Easy Company in Bastogne. After the war he stayed in the army and made the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

Carwood Lipton was born the son of a successful contractor in Huntington, West Virginia. His father was killed in an auto accident when Lipton was 10, leaving the family in a tight financial spot. A LIFE magazine article about the paratroops captured Lipton's imagination, but his factory job was considered essential industry, and the plant manager wouldn't release him. Determined to fight, Lipton got the help of a former boss to skirt the truth with the draft board about his employment. He volunteered for the Airborne and joined Easy Company for basic training at Camp Toccoa in the summer of 1942.

Popeye Winn grew up in South Hill, Virginia, and started work in the Norfolk Naval Yard after high school. He enlisted in the paratroops in 1942 and completed basic training at Camp Toccoa.

A nine-year Army veteran before he joined the paratroops, Colorado native Roy Cobb met up with Easy Company in training at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.

Frank Perconte came to the paratroops from Joliet, Illinois, and was one of the first privates assigned to Easy Company at Camp Toccoa.

Walter Gordon grew up solidly middle class in Jackson, Mississippi and had completed two years at Millsaps College before Pearl Harbor. When he tried to enlist, Gordon discovered he was colorblind and was turned away by the Marines and the Navy.
He enlisted in the Army in Philadelphia and was able to finesse his way through their colorblindness test. He volunteered for the Airborne because he wanted to do something meaningful and reported for basic training at Camp Toccoa.

Bull Randleman left his home in Arkansas in 1942 to volunteer for the Airborne and complete basic training with Easy Company at Camp Toccoa.

Joe Liebgott lived in San Fransisco before volunteering for the Airborne and training at Camp Toccoa in 1942

The youngest of ten children from the tough streets of South Philidelphia, Bill Guarnere enlisted in the Citizen Military Training Corps at age 15 with the encouragement of his mother, who saw it as his chance to get fed, clothed, and out of the city. Guarnere spent three years in the CMTC, but the program was cancelled when the war broke out. Drawn by the excitement of the Airborne, he enlisted in 1942 and attended basic training at Camp Toccoa.