World War II

Technician Fourth Grade Frank J. Perconte (March 10, 1917 – October 24, 2013)[2][3] was a non-commissioned officer during World War II with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division in the United States Army. He was portrayed by James Madio in the HBO/BBC miniseries Band of Brothers.

Perconte was born and raised in Joliet, Illinois. His parents were Joseph Perconte, who died in 1929, and Mary Carbone.[2] He was raised Catholic and attended parochial schools.[2] He graduated Joliet Central High School in 1935.[2] During Great Depression, he and some of his friends moved to Gary, Indiana and worked in a steel mill.[2] He enlisted on August 17, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois[4] with childhood friend Herman Hanson, and, along with Wayne Sisk and Carwood Lipton, they were the first four soldiers assigned to Easy Company

Perconte was a non-commissioned officer in 1st Platoon. In 1942, while on leave from Toccoa, he married Evelyn and had a son named Richard.[5] He participated in the division's airborne assault on France on D-Day, and saw action during Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. On Easy's assault on the town of Foy on January 13, 1945, he was shot in the thigh by a German sniper.[6] Frank was out for a couple of days before re-joining Easy at the town of Haguenau.

In late April 1945, Perconte along with Denver Randleman, and a few others were patrolling an area outside of Company E's headquarters, and along the way they discovered the Kaufering concentration camp in Landsberg, Germany.[7][8] Perconte ran back to headquarters and alerted Major Richard Winters.[7][8] Perconte and Winters were joined by the rest of Easy company on the trip back to the camp.[7][8]

Perconte survived the war and returned home to become a postman. He demobilized earlier than most of his counterparts as he was married and had a child.[9] Until his death, he lived in Joliet, Illinois. His nephew, Jack Perconte, played major league baseball during the 1980s with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, and Chicago White Sox.[2]

Perconte was one of 20 contributors to the 2009 book We Who Are Alive and Remain: Untold Stories from the Band of Brothers, published by Penguin / Berkley-Caliber. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living member of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion 506 PIR. He died on October 24, 2013 and is survived by his son Richard and two grandchildren.[10]