Obituary for JOSEPH J. TOYE

Joe Toye was a parachute infantryman in World War II, serving at the Invasion of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge. His story was featured in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and in Marcus Brotherton’s A Company of Heroes: Personal Memories about the Real Band of Brothers and the Legacy They Left Us.

Toye dropped out of high school in his junior year, and after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor he enlisted in the Army.

Looking for a higher salary, Toye volunteered as a paratrooper, and joined the Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. His first combat jump was into Normandy on D-Day as part of Operation Overlord. Toye was injured on his parachute drop into Normandy, but still assisted in disabling four large cannons that were firing at the soldiers on the beach.

Toye was wounded many times in battle and earned a total of four purple hearts, but like many from the Easy Company, he would often run right back into combat. He earned his third and fourth purple hearts in the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne, Belgium. During one of Germanys last large bombing runs of the war, Toye was hit with a piece of shrapnel in his arm. His fourth purple heart was earned just days later in an incident that was portrayed in the Band of Brothers episode The Breaking Point. While fighting on the front line, Toye lost his leg during heavy artillery fire. Toye’s Pennsylvania friend William “Wild Bill” Guarnere also lost his own leg while trying to drag Toye to safety. Guarnere quoted Toye as saying “What do I have to do to die around here!,” referring to his repeated wounds.

After returning from the war, Toye was unable to continue his prior work as a miner and mill worker due to his injuries. He finished his career as a drill bit grinder, retiring from Bethlehem Steel.