Richard Winters
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| Richard D. Winters | |
|---|---|
| born 21 January 1918 | |
| Nickname | Dick |
| Place of birth | Lancaster, Pennsylvania |
| Allegiance | U.S. Army |
| Years of service | 1942-1945, 1950-1953 |
| Rank | Major |
| Unit | Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Normandy Operation Market Garden Battle of the Bulge |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Cross Bronze Star Purple Heart American Defense Service Medal European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal Army of Occupation Medal World War II Victory Medal National Defense Service Medal Presidential Unit Citation (OLC) Orange Lanyard of the Royal Netherlands Army |
| Other work | Nixon Nitration Works United States Military Academy lecturer |
Major Richard D. Winters (born January 21, 1918) is a retired officer of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), part of the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army during the Second World War. Major Winters was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by British actor Damian Lewis.
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[edit] Early life
Winters was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and grew up in nearby Ephrata. He graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1941 with a degree in business; while in college, Winters painted electrical towers for extra money. In his autobiography Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters, he is shown atop one of the towers.
[edit] During WWII
Winters enlisted in the Army in 1941 in order to shorten his time in service. Upon graduation from basic training, he was selected to attend Army Officer Candidate School. It was there that he met his friend Lewis Nixon, with whom he would spend the duration of the war in the 101st Airborne Division. An original member of Company E ("Easy Company") of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Winters began his service as a platoon leader after graduating the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School (OCS) program at Fort Benning, Georgia. During initial paratrooper training at Camp Toccoa in northeastern Georgia Winters was appointed Company Executive Officer (XO) and received a promotion to 1st Lieutenant while under the company's original commander, Captain Herbert Sobel.
After the 101st Airborne Division was deployed to England, simmering grievances of the Easy Company NCOs erupted into what Winters later called a "mutiny." Captain Sobel was replaced as Easy Company CO by First Lieutenant Thomas Meehan III shortly before the invasion of German-occupied France. On June 6, 1944, at approximately 1:15 A.M., the lead C-47 of jump stick 66 carrying Meehan and the Headquarters section of E Company paratroopers was shot down by German anti-aircraft fire killing everyone on board. Without knowing the fate of his comrades, Winters was left as the de facto company commander of Easy. He remained so for the duration of the Normandy Campaign.
After landing off-course near Sainte-Mère-Église and having lost his weapon during the drop, Lieutenant Winters was able to figure out where he was, collect a few lost paratroopers, and march toward the unit's assigned objective near Sainte-Marie-du-Mont.
Lieutenant Winters was recommended for the Medal of Honor for leading an assault that destroyed a battery of German 105 mm howitzers which were situated to fire onto the causeways that served as the principal exits from Utah Beach during the D-Day assault. The guns were defended by at least one platoon of Germans; Winters had only 12 men. The assault occurred south of Le Grand-Chemin, and is often referred to as the Brécourt Manor Assault. In addition to taking out the battery Winters also obtained a map detailing all German defenses in the Utah Beach area. The recommendation was later downgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross, the U.S. military's second highest award for combat valor, due to the policy of only one Medal of Honor awarded per division (Lieutenant Colonel Robert G. Cole was the 101st Airborne soldier to receive the Medal of Honor for the Normandy Campaign). A letter-writing campaign after the release of the Band of Brothers television mini-series with the purpose of having the CMOH retroactively awarded has yet to emerge from House Armed Services Committee. The assault itself is still studied at military academies the world over as a classic example of small unit tactics.
During the course of Operation Market Garden in Holland in September 1944, Winters assumed duties as 2nd Battalion, 506th PIR, Executive Officer. Although normally a major's command, Winters filled the position while still a captain. During the campaign in Holland, Captain Winters led a successful attack with 20 members of Easy Company against a force of 200 German soldiers.
On December 16, 1944, the Germans launched a counter-offensive against the Allies in Belgium. After the 101st Airborne was moved to the Bastogne, Belgium area on December 18, Captain Winters (as 2nd Battalion XO) and Easy Company held the line northwest of Bastogne near the small town of Foy during what became known as the Battle of the Bulge. The entire 101st Airborne and elements of the 10th Armored Division held off several elite German Divisions for nearly a week before elements of the US 3rd Army broke through the German lines surrounding Bastogne.
He was promoted to the rank of Major following the Battle of the Bulge.
[edit] After WWII
Following the war, Winters worked briefly for his close wartime friend Lewis Nixon at Nixon's family business before being reactivated during the Korean War to train infantrymen and Rangers with the U.S. Army.
After his second period of military service, Winters went into business for himself, selling animal feed products to farmers throughout Pennsylvania. He and his wife Ethel bought a small farm where Winters built their farmhouse stone-by-stone and ultimately raised two children.
Retiring to Hershey, Pennsylvania, near Harrisburg, Winters would become an icon of "The Greatest Generation" through exposure from Stephen Ambrose's 1992 book Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest and the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, based on the book.
Winters was the subject of the book Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led the Band of Brothers, written by Larry Alexander and published in 2005. Winters's own memoirs, Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters, co-written by military historian and retired U.S. Army Colonel Cole C. Kingseed, were published in early 2006.
[edit] Medals and Decorations
- Distinguished Service Cross
- Bronze Star Medal
- Purple Heart
- American Defense Service Medal
- European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
- Army of Occupation Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
- National Defense Service Medal
- Presidential Unit Citation (OLC)
- Orange Lanyard of the Royal Netherlands Army
- Medal of the City of Eindhoven (2006)
[edit] References
- Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, Stephen Ambrose, Simon & Schuster, 1992. ISBN 0-7434-6411-7
- D-Day, June 6, 1944, The Battle For The Normandy Beaches, Steven Ambrose, Simon & Schuster, 1994. ISBN 0-7434-4974-6
- Beyond Band of Brothers : The war memoirs of Major Dick Winters , Major Dick Winters (with Cole C. Kingseed), Berkley Hardcover, 2006. ISBN 0-425-20813-3
- Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led the Band of Brothers, Larry Alexander, NAL Hardcover, 2005, ISBN 0-451-21510-9
