Sgt William "Bill" Francis Kiehn (October 10, 1921 - February 10, 1945) was a soldier with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army during World War II. He was one of the original 140 Toccoa men.[1]
Kiehn was portrayed in a minor, uncredited role in the 8th episode of the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. In it, he is introduced holding a sack of potatoes, making his way along the repeatedly shelled streets of Haguenau.
Later, he is depicted as having been killed in an artillery barrage, struck by an incoming shell as he was carrying the potatoes between two buildings. In reality, however, he was killed in the barrage while taking a nap in a basement of one of the buildings, when the building was hit by an artillery shell and the ceiling collapsed. Both in the show and in reality, Kiehn was dead before Eugene "Doc" Roe even heard the call for a medic.[1]