Bain, Roderick George “Rod”, born 13-05-1922, in Portland, Clackamas County, Oregon, United States 
, to Roderick Mathieson Bain (1893–1957)
and his wife Sophia, born Simpson Basin (1895–1933). 
He had one sister Janet Sophia Bain Jacobson 
. Rod was married in 1950 with Donelle L.born Mosier Bain 
and the couple had two sons, Roy Elsworth Bain (1954–1957) 
and Alan Lee Bain (1960–2010). 
Rod was raised in Long Beach, Washington, graduating from Illwaco High School 
in 1940. He was in his freshman year at the University of Washington in Seattle when the attack on Pearl Harbor 
occurred, and he enlisted the following summer at Fort Lewis, Washington. He volunteered for the 101st Airborne Division, 
and trained for two years, by the very unpopular Captain Sobel Sr, Herbert Maxwell. 
with Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment 
before making combat parachute jumps into Normandy on D-Day and in Holland for Operation Market Garden, and surviving the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne, Belgium. When the war ended, Rod continued his education at Western Washington Teacher’s College (now Western Washington University) and commercially fished during the summers in Ketchikan, Alaska with the Cunningham family. After graduation, he married his classmate, Donelle Mosier. The newlyweds took a steamship to the Territory of Alaska in 1951, where they taught school in Kake, Petersburg, and Anchorage. Rod Bain taught sixth grade at North Star, Inlet View, and O’Malley, retiring from the Anchorage School District in 1976.
Each summer, from 1965, he skippered his own drift gillnetter in Bristol Bay, finally retiring in 1997 at age 75.Surprising him in retirement was the fame that came to his Airborne unit when HBO produced the 10-part mini-series Easy Company “Band of Brothers,” based on the Stephen Ambrose book of the same name.
Easy Company was activated in 1942 at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, 
as a part of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. It was an experimental airborne unit consisting of volunteers trained to jump from C-47 transport planes into hostile territory. The company consisted of a headquarters section and three platoons. Each platoon consisted of two 12-man rifle squads (later changed to three) with a machine gun team and a 6-man mortar squad. Easy Company’s initial commander was 1st Lieutenant Herbert Sobel, 
with 2nd Lieutenant. Clarence Hester 
serving as his executive officer. Lieutenanants. Salve Hugo “Matt”. Matheson, 
Richard “Dick” Winters,
and Walter William Moore 
were the original leaders of the three platoons. Lewis Nixon 
would eventually join Easy Company as an assistant to Winters in 2nd Platoon. Hester survived the war and died of kidney failure 26-12-2000 (age 84) in Sacramento, Sacramento County, California, United States.
Bain made his first combat jump into Normandy on D-Day. He landed about three miles from Ste. Mere Eglise. 
He linked up with another paratrooper and headed toward the beaches. They came upon 20 to 30 paratroopers at a crossroads, and helped check the surrounded Germans for weapons. Bain arrived at Utah Beach when the area was secure. He survived D-Day without firing a single shot. Bain also participated in the ill-fated Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands. Easy Company liberated my hometown of Eindhoven. 
When Easy Company was sent to defend the Island, Bain was chosen for a reconnaissance mission with Donald George “Don” Malarkey 
and Eugene Edward Jackson. 
A group of 8 Germans, not knowing that there were only three of them, surrendered to them. Easy Company commander Winters, Richard Davis “Dick” wanted the prisoners back for interrogation, and the group had to run back to Division at a full gallop to avoid getting fired by the Germans. Malarkey thought Bain, running with the radio, would have a heart attack, but knew that he would be fine as he recalled how Bain could run up the Currahee 
with ease during the training in Camp Toccoa. Fortunately, the three were able to take the prisoners back to the Division without incident. Bain also fought in the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne, Belgium. There he shared a foxhole with Malarkey and Guarnere, William Joseph ”Wild Bill”.
Rod survived the war and fought with Easy Company until the end of the war.
Despite his participation in all the major operations of Easy Company, Rod Bain was so lucky to servive the war unscathed and returned home safely after joining the Easy group in the capture of Hitler’s Berghof.
In the spring of 1945, Easy Company captured Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest just as the German army was collapsing. Bain recalls riding around with his comrades in the limousines of the former German Nazi bonzes. They also confiscated Hitler’s vast stash of champagne, cognac and schnapps at virtually the same time they captured a warehouse full of motorcycles. “Between the booze and the motorcycles, it was very ‘heavy’ for a short time,” Bain says.
Rod Bain travelled with his family to Paris in 2001 for the HBO world premiere, and spent his remaining years travelling with his war buddies to visit today’s generation of soldiers on morale tours and in hospitals.
Death and burial ground of Bain, Roderick George “Rod”.
The last photo is from Easy Company’s European reunion in June 2005. The photo was taken around 2000. Rod has 3 daughters, 1 son, 3 sons-in-law and 4 grandchildren. His survivors on the photo include his wife of 63 years, Donelle, their daughters Ella (Fred) Eaton, Ann (Bruce) Winegarden, and Donna Bain; his sister Janet Bain Jacobson; and grandchildren Thomas Winegarden, Douglas Winegarden, Tiana Farquhar, and Roderick Farquhar; as well as many loving nieces, nephews and friends. He is preceded in death by his sister Jeriann Peterson, brother Glenn Spriggs, and by his sons Roy Ellison Bain and Alan Lee Bain. Graveside interment with full military honors will be conducted on Fort. Richardson 13-02-2014.
Last spring he was made the honorary First Sergeant of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion (Airborne) 143rd Infantry Regiment. Although he was a decorated veteran and Bronze Star 
recipient, Rod Bain was most proud of his 157-yard Hole in One Award from Moose Run golf course. Cognizant to the end, he died on 05-02-2014 (aged 91) reassured that his Seattle Seahawks had won their first Super Bowl championship. Rod Bain is buried at Fort Richardson National Cemetery Fort Richardson, Anchorage, Alaska, Section lN 931. 58-512 Davis Hwy POB 5498, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, AK 99505, USA.
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