Bill Guarnere, 81, salutes as he participates in the Veterans Day parade in Media, Pa. in this 2004, file photo. Guarnere was a member of the famed World War II Easy Company unit known as "The Band of Brothers."PHILADELPHIA - William "Wild Bill" Guarnere, one of the World War II veterans whose exploits were dramatized in the TV miniseries "Band of Brothers," has died at the age of 90.
Guarnere's son, William Guarnere Jr., confirmed Sunday that his father died at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. Guarnere was rushed to the hospital early Saturday and died of a ruptured aneurysm early Saturday night.
The HBO miniseries was based on a book by Stephen Ambrose and followed the members of Easy Company from training in Georgia in 1942 through the war's end in 1945. Guarnere's combat exploits earned him the nickname Wild Bill and he lost a leg trying to help a wounded solider.
Funeral arrangements were incomplete.