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{{Short description|US Army non-commissioned officer (1923–2009)}}
{{citation style|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox military person
|name= Darrell Cecil Powers
|image= Shifty2.jpg
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption=
|nickname= "Shifty"
|birth_date= {{birth date|1923|03|13}}
|birth_place= [[Clinchco, Virginia]], US
|death_date= {{death date and age|2009|06|17|1923|03|13|mf=yes}}
|death_place= Clinchco, Virginia, US
|placeofburial=
|allegiance= United States
|branch= [[United States Army]]
|serviceyears= 1942–1945
|rank= [[Staff Sergeant#United States|Staff Sergeant]]
|servicenumber=
|unit= [[E Company, 506th Infantry Regiment (United States)|E Company]], 2nd [[Battalion]], [[506th Infantry Regiment|506th Parachute Infantry Regiment]], [[101st Airborne Division]]
|commands=
|battles= [[World War II]]
|awards= [[Bronze Star Medal]] (2)
|relations= {{hlist|Dorothy Powers (wife)}}
|laterwork= Machinist
}}
'''Darrell Cecil "Shifty" Powers''' (13 March 1923 – 17 June 2009)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Darrell Cecil "Shifty" Powers (1923-2009) - Find...|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/39433467/darrell-cecil-powers|access-date=2021-05-27|website=www.findagrave.com|language=en}}</ref> was a [[non-commissioned officer]] with [[E Company, 506th Infantry Regiment (United States)|Easy Company]], 2nd [[Battalion]], [[506th Infantry Regiment|506th Parachute Infantry Regiment]], in the [[101st Airborne Division]] during [[World War II]]. Powers was portrayed in the [[HBO]] miniseries ''[[Band of Brothers (TV miniseries)|Band of Brothers]]'' by [[Peter Youngblood Hills]].

==Early life==
Powers was born in [[Clinchco, Virginia]]. His father was an excellent rifle and pistol shot and taught him how to shoot when he was young.<ref name="Location 269, Brotherton">Location 269, Brotherton</ref> Powers spent a great deal of time in the outdoors, hunting game.<ref name="Ambrose 5">Brotherton, p.5.</ref> He got to the point where he could throw a coin in the air and hit it with a rifle.<ref name="Location 269, Brotherton"/> Such skills helped him as a soldier. His nickname "Shifty" originated from his basketball days from his ability to be 'shifty' on his feet.<ref>Location 3559, Brotherton (2011)</ref>

After Powers graduated from high school, he took a [[machinist]] training course at a [[vocational school]] in [[Norfolk, Virginia]]. It was there he befriended [[Robert Wynn (soldier)|Robert 'Popeye' Wynn]]. After completing the course, both went to work in the [[Portsmouth Naval Shipyard]].<ref>Location 758, Brotherton</ref> When they found out their work was going to be deemed critical to the American war effort, preventing them (even if they wanted to fight), from leaving for the duration of the war, the pair decided to join the US Army. Powers enlisted on 14 August 1942, at [[Richmond, Virginia]].<ref name="NARA">[https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=1&tf=F&q=Darrell+powers&bc=&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=720844 WWII Army Enlistment Records: on-line NARA Archival Database]</ref>

==Military service==
Powers followed Easy Company to station in [[Aldbourne | Aldbourne, England]]. He was shocked to see that the residents there were prepared to defend themselves against the Germans with only garden implements. He thought it would have been a massacre if the Germans had indeed invaded Aldbourne.<ref>Location 1624, Brotherton</ref>

Powers jumped into Normandy on [[Normandy landings|D-Day]]. Missing his [[drop zone]], he joined two others from the company and the three linked up with Easy Company several days later to fight in Carentan. Powers participated in the Allied military operation [[Operation Market Garden]] in the [[Netherlands]].

Powers also fought in the [[Battle of the Bulge]] in [[Belgium]]. On 29 December 1944, when Easy Company was staying in the woods, Powers noticed a tree that was not there just the day before and reported it to First Sergeant [[Carwood Lipton]]. The "tree" was ultimately discovered to be part of the camouflage the Germans put up for their anti-aircraft battery. Lipton got approval for full battery fire to attack the area despite the short supply of artillery ammunition and the area was deserted within an hour. Lipton commented, "It all happened, because Shifty saw a tree almost a mile away that hadn't been there the day before." It was one of Powers' most remarkable achievements and a testament to the extraordinary gifts his backwoods upbringing brought to Easy Company.<ref>Chapter 11, Ambrose</ref>

On 13 January 1945, when Easy Company was attacking Foy, several of the men were pinned down by a sniper that nobody could locate. Suddenly, Powers yelled, "I see him!" and fired his rifle, killing the sniper. Later, when [[Carwood Lipton]] and Wynn found the sniper's corpse, they were shocked to see the bullet hole centered in the middle of his forehead. Wynn commented, "You know, it just doesn't pay to be shootin' at Shifty when he's got a rifle."<ref>Location 3647, Brotherton (2011)</ref><ref name="Ambrose 211-212">Ambrose, pp.211–212.</ref>

Powers was one of the very few who was never wounded in combat. It was for this reason that Powers lacked the sufficient points to return home under the [[Advanced Service Rating Score|military point system]], although he was there every day when Easy Company fought on the line.<ref>Location 2962, Brotherton</ref> Powers joined and won the lottery that was organized to allow one man from each company to return home early on a furlough.<ref name="Ambrose 282-287">Ambrose, p.282.</ref> During the trip to the airfield, the vehicle that Shifty was in was involved in an accident and he was badly injured.<ref name="Ambrose 282-287"/> He spent many months recuperating in hospitals overseas while his comrades in arms arrived home long before he did.<ref name="Ambrose 282-287"/>

==Later years==
Honorably discharged from the Army in the postwar demobilization, Powers became a [[machinist]]. He was married to his wife Dorothy for 60 years at the time of his death. He moved to California, got a machinist job there and stayed there for three years with his family. He was laid off when the company he worked for lost a government contract, so he returned home. He worked as a machinist for the Clinchfield Coal Corporation for more than twenty years.

Powers, in his later years, was in declining health and depressed. The Powers family noted the release of the ''Band of Brothers'' TV miniseries and the subsequent speaking engagements brought Powers out of the depression and speculated that the series bought Powers extra years of life.<ref>Location 3666, Brotherton (2011)</ref>

Powers is listed as one of 20 men from Easy Company who contributed to the 2009 book ''[[We Who Are Alive and Remain|We Who Are Alive and Remain: Untold Stories from the Band of Brothers]]'', published by [[Penguin Books|Penguin]]/[[Berkley Books|Berkley]]-Caliber.

Powers died of lung cancer on 17 June 2009, in [[Dickenson County, Virginia]]. He is buried at Temple Hill Memorial Park, Castlewood, Russell County, Virginia.

==''Band of Brothers''==
In the first edition of the book ''Band of Brothers'', author Ambrose wrote that on 23 December 1944, Powers disobeyed a direct order from [[Lieutenant]] [[Edward Shames]] to go out on patrol because he was discouraged. Both Shames and Powers denied that had happened, with Powers calling the insinuation "a slap in the face." Upon request and verification, Ambrose deleted that story from the later edition of the book.<ref>p.220, Brotherton, 2011</ref>

Powers was a character, played by [[Peter Youngblood Hills]], in the HBO ''[[Band of Brothers (TV miniseries)|Band of Brothers]]'' TV miniseries. In the episode [[List of Band of Brothers episodes|"The Last Patrol"]], Powers was shown to be one of the soldiers participating in the patrol mission; However, in reality, Powers was not on that patrol.<ref>Location 3656, Brotherton (2011)</ref>

==Medals and decorations==
[[Staff Sergeant#United States|Staff Sergeant]] Darrell C. "Shifty" Powers' medals and decorations included:
{| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|colspan="12"|[[File:Combat Infantry Badge.svg|200px]]
|colspan="12"|
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=1|type=oak|ribbon=Bronze Star BAR.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=Army Good Conduct ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=American Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|-
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=American_Campaign_Medal_ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=3|type=service-star|other_device=arrowhead|ribbon=European-African-Middle_Eastern_Campaign_ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|other_device=|ribbon=World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|-
|}
{| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
| {{Ribbon devices|number=1|type=oak|ribbon=United States Army and U.S. Air Force Presidential Unit Citation ribbon.svg|width=106}}
|-
|
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|-
!Badge
| colspan="12"|[[Combat Infantryman Badge]]
|-
!1st row
| colspan="5"|[[Bronze Star Medal]] w/ 1 [[oak leaf cluster]]
| colspan="3"|[[Good Conduct Medal (United States)|Army Good Conduct Medal]]
| colspan="5"|[[American Defense Service Medal]]
|-
!2nd row
| colspan="5"|[[American Campaign Medal]]
| colspan="3"|[[European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal]] with 3 [[service star]]s and 1 arrow-device
| colspan="5"|[[World War II Victory Medal]]
|-
!Unit Award
| colspan="12"|[[Presidential Unit Citation (United States)|Presidential Unit Citation]] w/ 1 [[oak leaf cluster]]
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book| last = Ambrose| first = Stephen E.| title = Band of Brothers: Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest| year = 1992| publisher = Simon & Schuster| isbn = 978-0-7434-6411-6| url = https://archive.org/details/bandofbrothers00ambr_0}}
* {{cite book| last = Brotherton| first = Marcus| title = We Who Are Alive and Remain: Untold Stories from The Band of Brothers| year = 2009| publisher = Berkley Caliber| isbn = 978-0-7434-6411-6| url = https://archive.org/details/bandofbrothers00ambr_0}}
* {{cite book| last = Brotherton| first = Marcus| title = Shifty's War: The Authorized Biography of Sergeant Darrell 'Shifty' Powers, the Legendary Sharpshooter from the Band of Brothers| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Gf3jjwEACAAJ| year = 2011| publisher = Berkley Caliber| isbn = 978-0-425-24097-7 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Portal|Biography}}
* [http://www.valorstudios.com/BandOfBrothersTour.htm Photos of Shifty Powers as he returns to Bastogne & Germany for the first time since World War II] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022063704/http://www.valorstudios.com/BandOfBrothersTour.htm |date=22 October 2013 }}
* [http://www.tricities.com/news/article_f5f37644-2a19-5190-9d7d-b7868016b2d6.html TriCities report on death]
* {{Find a Grave|39433467|Darrell C. "Shifty" Powers}}

{{Band of Brothers (miniseries)}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powers, Darrell}}
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Band of Brothers characters]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Virginia]]
[[Category:People from Dickenson County, Virginia]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Virginia]]
[[Category:Wikipedia articles containing unlinked shortened footnotes]]

Darrell Powers - Revision history

imported>Peaceray: added Category:Wikipedia articles containing unlinked shortened footnotes using HotCat