Of the original 117 members of E Company, 506th Paratroop Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne -- better known these days as the Band of Brothers -- who gathered at Fort Bragg for a group photograph before they were shipped overseas to participate in the D-Day invasion, only 33 were still with the unit at the end of the war.

When E Company gathered last year for its 59th reunion, only 19 of the old vets were present, including replacements who had joined the unit after D-Day.

"Some of them just can't travel any more," says Marie Lipton, wife of the late Carwood Lipton, "but the widows came, and lots and lots of their children were there."

It's been almost five years since Carwood Lipton died, but his memory is preserved in the award-winning HBO mini-series "Band of Brothers," which continues in reruns on the History Channel, and in Stephen Ambrose's best-selling book by the same title.

But no one preserves Carwood's memory with more love than his widow, Marie, who still lives in Southern Pines.

"After the movie came out, I got lots of mail and a whole lot of phone calls," she says. "Just look at all these letters!"

An eight-inch-thick sheath of letters rests on the countertop in the Liptons' basement, where Carwood's many military awards and medals are also on display.

"The letters are all sweet," Marie says, "and I answered every letter to let people know that Carwood couldn't respond."

On top of the pile is a letter dated March 2006: "I basically want to write to you to say thank you to you and the other brave men who selflessly served in World War II. … People who have never been in the service have no idea how it is to have a brother next to you. … Thank you for defeating Nazi Germany."

And there are messages from younger people, including a recent letter from a college student in northwest Arkansas: "I want to be a high school history teacher with an emphasis on World War II. … When 'Band of Brothers' came out, I became even more amazed with Easy Company. The things you guys went through and endured at my age to win the war is just mind blowing. … Being able to wake up in the free world is a blessing."

Since Carwood's death, Marie has remained active in her church. She plays bridge each week and practices reading and speaking French with friends. And she's carefully sorting through her late husband's writings.

"A lot of what he wrote was intended for Stephen Ambrose's book," says Marie. "But I'm saving it all for his children. Here's a description of Carwood's life during the Depression. "If you want to know how we lived during that time, read this. I've given copies to the museum in Fayetteville and to Hugh Ambrose, who said he wanted copies for his museum. He was pretty low-key about his writing and kept it all in the bottom drawer of his desk."

And there are black-and-white photographs of wartime comrades in rumpled khaki and steel helmets and modern views of old battlegrounds, the scars of war long since vanished -- the Normandy hedgerows that have surrendered to the bulldozers, the French field where the men of Easy Company disabled German artillery, a restored house in the Alsatian town of Haguenau near a once-wide canal diminished now to a gentle stream.

But Marie's favorite memories are of the many reunions she and Carwood attended. Her scrapbooks are stuffed with photos of the smiling members of Easy Company and their families, the passage of time fading the colors and gently aging the smiles of men who were bound together by terrible happenstance.

One of her most precious keepsakes is an onionskin list denoting the status of Easy Company's men after the Battle of the Bulge.

"KIA is for killed in action," Marie says. "SW is severely wounded; LW is for lightly wounded; AS is for absence sick. Carwood probably just stuffed this paper in his pocket after the Battle of the Bulge and then mailed it home."

Marie Lipton is looking forward to attending the 60th reunion this fall in Atlanta. "I don't know how many members of Easy Company will be there," she says. "It might be the last reunion."