Donald Malarkey (31 July 1921 – 30 September 2017) was a US Army technical sergeant who served with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, US 506th Infantry Regiment during World War II.
Biography[]
Donald Malarkey was born in Astoria, Oregon on 31 July 1921, and he worked as a volunteer firefighter before attending the University of Oregon. He was drafted into the US Army in July 1942, having been rejected from the US Air Force due to mathematics problems and from the US Marine Corps due to dental problems. Malarkey was trained at Camp Toccoa in Georgia, and he received his jump certification in 1942, serving with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, US 506th Infantry Regiment. He parachuted into France during Operation Overlord, and he fought at the Battle of Sainte-Mere-Eglise and the Brecourt Manor Assault on 6 June 1944. He fought for 23 days in Normandy, 80 days in the Netherlands, 39 in the Siege of Bastogne, 30 days around Haguenau, France, and the Ruhr Pocket. He returned to the University of Oregon in 1946, and he married in 1948. In 1954, he was elected County Commissioner of Clatsop County, Oregon, and he became an insurance and real estate agent in Portland. After the death of Paul Rogers in 2015, he became the oldest surviving member of Easy Company. He died in 2017 at the age of 96.