Sergeant Robert "Popeye" Wynn was a soldier in Easy Company, an original Toccoa soldier.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Robert Wynn was born on 10 July 1921, in South Hill, VA. He grew up in his hometown, and after graduating high school, he worked in the Norfolk Naval Yard in 1939.
WWII[]
Wynn then enlisted in the Army in 1942, volunteering for the Paratroopers. He was assigned to Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th PIR at Camp Toccoa. He trained under Captain Herbert Sobel, who harrased him and the rest of the Company during training. After training, Wynn jump-qualified at Fort Benning, and trained more through Camps Mackall and Shanks, before heading to England.
Wynn jumped into Normandy on 6 June 1944. He grouped with fellow E Company troops Corporal Joe Toye, Private Donald Malarkey, Sergeant William "Wild Bill" Guarnere, Lieutenant Richard Winters, and Sergeant C. Carwood Lipton, along with two men from the 82nd Airborne named Private McDowell, and Private Olsen, and an A Company trooper named Private John D. Hall.
After reaching his DZ at Ste. Marie-du-Monte, Wynn was assigned to participate in the Battalion's assault on Brecourt Manor. During the assault, Wynn was charging the trenches when a bullet hit him in the buttocks. He apologized for getting hit, thinking he had let his comrades down. He was shoved out of the trench, and was covered by his fellow troopers. Wynn was treated by Lipton and Mike Ranney, and then carried to a hospital in England. After hearing that his Company was moving out, Wynn left the hospital without authority and rejoined his Company because he didn't want to be sent to another outfit. However, his wound wasn't treated properly and he had trouble sitting down, but he eventually recovered.
Wynn then participated in Operation Market Garden on 19 September. He helped in the "Island" charge on 5 October, where he and Easy Company took out two German SS companies.
After leaving in November, Wynn and his unit then fought in the Battle of the Bulge (Bastogne) on 18 December. During the battle, a new replacment named Harold Webb was being shown the many wounded of the Company: Wynn was one of the men shown, being described as having his "scrawny little butt" being shot. He then fought in the attacks on Foy, Noville, and Rachamps.
Wynn and the Company then headed to occupy Germany on 2 April, 1945. There, fighting subsided, and actually got along with the German residents. However, they did discover a Nazi concentration camp filled with dead and dying Jewish prisoners, which showed them why they were fighting.
Later life[]
After the war ended on 8 May, Wynn returned to the US, married and had a daughter named Dawn. He eventually moved to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in the Outer Banks in 1971, where he enjoyed fishing with his family and friends.
He was the first person of E Company that was interviewed for the HBO Miniseries Band of Brothers. He died in 2000, before the series aired.
Trivia[]
- Wynn was shown given a ride by Captain Sobel to rejoin Easy Company before Operation Market Garden. It was not accurate. It was Roderick Strohl who went AWOL from the hospital that took Sobel's ride. Wynn rejoined the Company a few weeks before jumping into Holland.