Richard Winters

Richard D. Winters
Winters in 2004
Nickname(s)	Dick
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1941-1945
Rank	Major
Unit	Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division
Battles/wars	World War II *Battle of Normandy *Operation Market Garden *Battle of the Bulge
Awards	Distinguished Service Cross Bronze Star (2) Purple Heart
Other work	Businessman West Point lecturer

Richard D. Winters (born January 21 1918) is a former United States Army officer, decorated war hero, and one of the most well known soldiers in history. He commanded Company "E" of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, during World War II. The unit - also known as "Easy Company" per the contemporary Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet - parachuted into Normandy in the early hours of D-Day, and fought across France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and eventually into Germany.

Winters was portrayed in the 2001 HBO mini-series Band of Brothers by British actor Damian Lewis.

Early life

Richard Winters was born in JessicaLancaster, Pennsylvania and grew up in nearby Ephrata. 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 on top of one such tower. He graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1941 with a degree in business.

World War II

Winters enlisted in the army on August 25th, 1941, in order to shorten his time in service. Upon graduation from basic training, he was selected to attend the Army Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Benning, Georgia. It was there that he met his friend Lewis Nixon, with whom he would serve throughout the war in the 101st Airborne Division. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant after graduation from OCS.

Winters volunteered for paratrooper training at Camp Toccoa in northeastern Georgia, and was an original member of Company "E", of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, initially serving as a platoon leader. During his training at Camp Toccoa, Winters was appointed Company Executive Officer (XO) and received a promotion to first lieutenant, under the company's original commander, Captain Herbert Sobel.

After the 101st Airborne Division (to which the 506th was now attached) was deployed to England in September 1943, the simmering competition between Winters (who had the respect of the men) and Sobel (who held the command) led to Winters being moved out of Easy and into the position of Regimental Mess Officer. For the NCOs of Easy this was the final straw, combined with their concerns of Sobel's ability to command in combat and erupted into what Winters later called a "mutiny". Although outraged at the NCOs actions Regiment CO Colonel Robert Sink replaced Captain Sobel with First Lieutenant Thomas Meehan III shortly before the Normandy invasion, with Winters returning to the company as a platoon commander. However, at approximately 1:15 a.m. on June 6, 1944, the C-47 Skytrain transport carrying Meehan and the headquarters section of Easy Company was shot down by German anti-aircraft fire, killing everyone on board.

Winters jumped that night and landed safely near Sainte-Mère-Église. After having lost his weapon during the drop, he was able to orient himself, collect several paratroopers, including members of the 82nd Airborne, and proceed toward the unit's assigned objective near Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. Without knowing the fate of Lieutenant Meehan, Winters became the de facto commanding officer of Easy Company for the duration of the Normandy campaign.

Later that day, Winters led an attack that destroyed a battery of German 105 mm howitzers which were firing onto the causeways that served as the principal exits from Utah Beach. The guns were defended by approximately one platoon of German troops, while Winters had only thirteen men. This action south of the village of Le Grand-Chemin is often referred to as the Brécourt Manor Assault. The attack is still taught at the military academy at West Point as an example of a text book assault on a fixed position. In addition to destroying the battery, Winters also obtained a map detailing all German defenses in the Utah Beach area.

During Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands in September 1944, Winters became the XO of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Unit. Although this position was normally a major's billet, Winters filled it while still a captain. During the campaign in the Netherlands, 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 by truck to the Bastogne area on December 18, Captain Winters (as 2nd Battalion XO) and Easy Company held the line northeast of Bastogne near the 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 U.S. Third Army broke through the German lines surrounding Bastogne. After being relieved, Easy Company then led an attack on Foy, during which Winters ordered Ronald Speirs to relieve Easy Company's inept commander, Norman Dike. After the assault on Foy, 2nd battalion's CO Lt. Colonel Strayer was elevated to the regimental staff, and Winters was made acting CO of 2nd Battalion. He was promoted to major following the battalions move to holding the line at Haguenau and ended the war at this rank after leading Allied forces into Berchtesgaden and overseeing the surrender of German forces at Zell Am See. He remained in Europe until October/November 1945.

Winters was recommended for the Medal of Honor for his leadership at Brécourt Manor, but the recommendation was downgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross, the U.S. Army's second highest award for combat valor, due to the policy of awarding only one Medal of Honor per division (Lieutenant Colonel Robert G. Cole was the 101st Airborne Division's soldier to receive the Medal of Honor for the Normandy Campaign). After the release of the Band of Brothers television miniseries, a letter-writing campaign to have Winters awarded the Medal of Honor retroactively was started, but so far without success.

Postwar activities

Following the war, Winters worked for his close wartime friend Lewis Nixon at Nixon's family business, Nixon Nitration Works of Edison, New Jersey, before being reactivated during the Korean War to train infantrymen and Rangers.

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 and raised two children.

Retiring to Hershey, Pennsylvania, Winters became an icon of "The Greatest Generation" through exposure from Stephen Ambrose's 1992 book Band of Brothers: Easy 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' own memoir, 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, was published in early 2006.

Medals and decorations

Major Winters' ribbons

	Distinguished Service Cross
	Bronze Star with one Oak Leaf Cluster
	Purple Heart
	Presidential Unit Citation with one Oak Leaf Cluster
	American Defense Service Medal
	European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 3 service stars and arrow device
	World War II Victory Medal
	Army of Occupation Medal
	National Defense Service Medal
	Combat Infantryman Badge
	Parachutist Badge with 2 jump stars
	Medal of the City of Eindhoven (2006)

References

• Ambrose, Stephen E. (1992). Band of Brothers: Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780743464116.
• Ambrose, Stephen E. (1994). D-Day, June 6, 1944, The Climactic Battle of World War II. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780743449748.
• Winters, Major Dick, with Cole C. Kingseed (2006). Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters. Berkley Hardcover. ISBN 9780425208137.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Alexander, Larry (2005). Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led the Band of Brothers. NAL Hardcover. ISBN 9780451215109.

External links

• Campaign for Winters' Congressional Medal of Honor
• Artwork designed with Major Dick Winters
• Richard Winters at IMDb
• Anderson, Christopher J. (2004). "Dick Winters: Reflections on the Band of Brothers, D-Day and Leadership (interview)". American History Magazine. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
• Beyond Band of Brothers : The war memoirs of Major Dick Winters
• Winters' military records, courtesy of the national Archives
• Medal of Honor Recipients and Nominees Depicted on Film
• Website about E-Company and liberation of Eindhoven with lots of photos