A half hour later, at 0830, Gordon brewed himself a cup of coffee. He kept coffee grounds in his hand grenade canister, “and I’d melted the snow with my little gas stove, and I’d brewed up this lovely cup of coffee.” As he started to sip it, the outposts came in with word that a German force was attempting to infiltrate Easy’s lines. His squad leader, Sgt. Buck Taylor, told him to “get on that machine-gun.”
Gordon brushed snow from his weapon and the ammo box adjacent to the gun, telling his assistant, Pvt. Stephen Grodzki, to look sharp, pay attention to detail. A shot from a German rifleman rang out. The bullet [hit] Gordon in the left shoulder and exited from the right shoulder. It had brushed his spinal column; he was paralyzed from the neck down.
He slid to the bottom of his foxhole. “The canteen cup followed me and the hot liquid spilled in my lap. I can see the [steam] rising upward to this very day.”
Note:
I’m sure many readers will be curious as to whether Gordon ended up paralyzed for life or recovered. I’m pleased to report a (mostly) happy ending:
In spring 1945, Gordon was sent back to the States and to Lawson General Hospital. One day when he was recuperating, a doctor named Dr. Stadium turned to the nurse and said, "Keep an eye on this one, he's goldbricking." Gordon was infuriated, and only later he realized that the doctor was trying to rile him up to help reconnect nerves and keep a fighting spirit in him. He remained in touch with Dr. Stadium for years after the war. The Army decided not to release Gordon, although he was improving, possibly because they might have to pay Gordon for a full disability if they released him at that point. Gordon was discharged from the Army with a 90% disability after his father threatened to "drive him down to the US Capitol Building, march him down onto the Senate floor, strip him down to his skivvies and let someone besides the Army make a determination."
Gordon eventually fully regained all bodily movements but would suffer from severe back pain for the remainder of his life. People who did not know of his condition would always give him big hugs and pats on the back and knowledgeable ones could always tell it caused him extreme pain but he would never show the person any sign that it bothered him at all.
Gordon later moved to Lafayette, Louisiana, where he became employed as an independent oil and gas lease broker.[6] In 1946, he and others began organizing Easy Company reunions. In 1951, he married Elizabeth Ball Ludeau and the couple had five children including one son and 4 daughters. Gordon was a faithful Episcopalian, but stopped being so after his beloved twin sister Cleta died in her early thirties of breast cancer.
Gordon died in Pass Christian, Mississippi after suffering a stroke in his sleep. He is survived by his own five children and his 5 grandchildren among them.
Source:
Ambrose, Stephen Edward. “They Got Us Surrounded – the Poor Bastards.” Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2004. 187-88. Print.
Further Reading:
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