Band of Brothers Hero John McGrath dies at 92

Soldier depicted in 'Band of Brothers' dies at 92
By JAY LEVIN
The Record
(Hackensack N.J.)
Published: April 26, 2012

John McGrath, a reluctant World War II hero whose derring-do became well known after his depiction in the HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers,” died on Tuesday. He was 92.

For decades, McGrath’s local claim to fame was his service to the Elmwood Park Fire Department in New Jersey, which he joined in 1952. He was chief in 1970 and 1971, when the borough was called East Paterson. After retiring as a truck driver, he worked as the borough’s part-time fire code official.

True to the Greatest Generation, the humorously gruff McGrath, who was known as Jack, seldom spoke about what he did in the war.

Stephen E. Ambrose blew his cover.

The historian and biographer immortalized the soldiers of Easy Company, the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, in his 1992 book “Band of Brothers.” McGrath belonged to the legendary company, whose successes stretched from D-Day to the capture of Hitler’s Bavarian outpost. The Carlstadt-born soldier had his moment on page 100, where Ambrose describes how McGrath blew up a German tank with a bazooka shot — “the critical moment,” Ambrose writes, in the Allied forces’ taking of Carentan, France, during the invasion of Normandy.

“Band of Brothers” became a critically acclaimed miniseries in 2001, and McGrath’s exploits were officially out in the open.

“I had no idea of his war record until the miniseries — he never said anything,” said Richard Mola, a longtime friend and Elmwood Park’s mayor since 1972.
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