William Wingett

William T Bill Wingett July 3 1922 October 1 2020 was an American Army soldier and World War II veteran He was one of the original members of Easy Company 2nd Battalion 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment 101st Airborne Division and trained with the company at Camp Toccoa Georgia before being transferred to Headquarters Company shortly before DDay Born in Spokane Washington Wingett enlisted in the US Army in August 1942 after recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident He volunteered for the airborne forces and was assigned to Easy Company training with the unit at Camp Toccoa and later at Fort Benning before deploying to England Five days before the DDay invasion Wingett was transferred from Easy Company to the 2nd Battalion Headquarters Company for reasons he never learned He nevertheless parachuted into Normandy on June 6 1944 with Headquarters Company His landing near Utah Beach was particularly hazardous as he came down in deep water and had to free himself from his equipment He subsequently participated in the Normandy campaign Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands and the Battle of the Bulge He was wounded during his wartime service and received three Purple Hearts After the war Wingett returned to the United States and later rejoined the 82nd Airborne Division serving for approximately three years as a maintenance man at Fort Bragg Airfield He remained closely connected with his former Easy Company comrades and became a regular participant in reunions and commemorative events He also contributed his recollections to Easy Company 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment In Photographs a history of the company created with the participation of its surviving veterans Wingett died on October 1 2020 in Salem Oregon at the age of 98