Frank Perconte

Frank J Perco Perconte March 10 1917 October 24 2013 was an American Army noncommissioned officer and World War II veteran He served as a Technician Fourth Grade with Easy Company 2nd Battalion 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment 101st Airborne Division and was one of the first soldiers assigned to the company Born and raised in Joliet Illinois Perconte graduated from Joliet Central High School in 1935 During the Great Depression he moved to Gary Indiana where he worked at a steel mill He enlisted in the US Army in August 1942 and volunteered for the airborne forces before joining Easy Company Perconte parachuted into Normandy on DDay June 6 1944 and participated in the Normandy campaign He subsequently fought during Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands and the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium During the assault on Foy in January 1945 he was wounded by a German sniper but later returned to the company In April 1945 Perconte was among the Easy Company soldiers who discovered the Kaufering concentration camp near Landsberg Germany and reported the discovery to Major Richard Winters After the war Perconte returned to Joliet and worked as a postal employee He remained involved with his fellow Easy Company veterans and contributed his recollections to Marcus Brothertons 2009 book We Who Are Alive and Remain Untold Stories from the Band of Brothers He was also featured in accounts and interviews about the experiences of Easy Company veterans Percontes wartime experiences were featured in Stephen E Ambroses 1992 book Band of Brothers and its 2001 HBO miniseries adaptation in which he was portrayed by James Madio He died on October 24 2013 in Joliet Illinois at the age of 96