I clipped an article from my mother's Fargo Forum last Sunday in Lisbon with the headline: Ransom County was home of war hero. It wasn't much of an article; it didn't mention once the town where Myron Ranney and his family lived - Sheldon. He was a member of the now famous Easy Company of Band of Brothers fame.
The article did serve to jog my memory a bit and made me go back and read some of that history. Ranney's parents were buried in the Sheldon Cemetery and the stone above bears witness to that.
In his army role as a sergeant, Ranney was characterized by Stephen Ambrose as a "mutineer" when a rebellion took place against an intensely disliked officer, an event that caused Ranney to be busted to a private. He went on to quickly earn his stripes back, however, after he landed and fought in Normandy.
Ambrose related to Ranney's being one of a squad that destroyed a German gun emplacement aimed at Utah Beach. They all received medals for bravery, Ranney's being the Bronze Star.
In the Sheldon Community History book published in 1981 Ranney wrote an interesting article, but he mentioned little of his wartime experiences.
The last paragraph of Ambrose's book Band of Brothers is a quote from Ranney. "In one of his last newsletters, Mike Ranney wrote: In thinking back on the days of Easy Company, I'm treasuring my remark to a grandson who asked, 'Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?'
"'No,' I answered, 'but I served in a company of heroes.'"
