Richard Winters
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Infobox military person Richard Davis Winters (January 21, 1918Template:Spaced ndashJanuary 2, 2011) was a United States Army officer who served as a paratrooper in "Easy Company" of the 506th Infantry Regiment within the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. Winters was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his successful command of the assault on Brécourt Manor during the invasion of Normandy.
His exploits were featured within numerous books and in the 2001 HBO mini-series Band of Brothers, in which he was portrayed by actor Damian Lewis.
Early life and educationEdit
Template:Moresources Winters was born in New Holland, Pennsylvania,<ref name=Beyond>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp to Richard and Edith Winters on January 21, 1918.<ref name=bio>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The family soon moved to nearby Ephrata, and then to Lancaster when he was eight years old.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp He graduated from Lancaster Boys High School in 1937 and attended Franklin and Marshall College.<ref name=bio/><ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp
At Franklin and Marshall, Winters was a member of the Upsilon chapter of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity and participated in intramural football and basketball. He had to give up wrestling, his favorite sport, and most of his social activities in favor of his studies and the part-time jobs that paid his way through college. He graduated in June 1941 with a bachelor's degree in economics, earning the highest academic standing in the business college.
Military serviceEdit
The Second World WarEdit
TrainingEdit
Winters wrote in his memoirs that he chose to volunteer for induction under Selective Service after graduating college and complete the required one year of service rather than waiting for a conventional call-up at a later date that might "interrupt a promising business career," subsequently availing himself of any future service commitment should the United States remain neutral; though Winters "felt a strong sense of duty," he "had no desire to get into the war." Winters was inducted into the Army on August 25, 1941, at the New Cumberland Reception Center near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.<ref>Lancaster New Era (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), August 7, 1941</ref><ref>Lancaster New Era (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), August 25, 1941</ref><ref>WWII Army Enlistment Records</ref> In September, he was assigned to Camp Croft, South Carolina, for basic training.<ref name="Beyond" />Template:Rp While the rest of his fellow trainees were deployed to units stationed in the Panama Canal Zone in early December, Winters remained at Camp Croft to help train draftees and other volunteers. In April 1942, four months after the United States entered World War II, he was selected to attend Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Benning, Georgia.<ref name="Beyond" />Template:Rp There he became friends with Lewis Nixon, with whom he would serve throughout the war.<ref name="Beyond" />Template:Rp He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry after graduating from OCS on July 2, 1942.<ref name="Beyond" />Template:Rp
During his officer training, Winters decided to join the parachute infantry, part of the U.S. Army's new airborne forces.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp Upon completing training, he returned to Camp Croft to train another class of draftees as there were no positions available in the paratroopers at that time. After five weeks, he received orders to join the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (506th PIR) at Camp Toccoa in Georgia.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp The 506th was commanded by Colonel Robert Sink.
Winters arrived at Toccoa in mid-August 1942 and was assigned to Company E, 2nd Battalion, 506th PIR,<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp which later became better known as "Easy Company" in accordance with the contemporaneous Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet. Serving under First Lieutenant Herbert Sobel, Winters was made platoon leader of 2nd Platoon, earning a promotion to first lieutenant in October 1942<ref name=Band>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp and made acting company executive officer,<ref name=bio/> although this was not made official until May 1943.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp The 506th PIR was an experimental unit, the first regiment to undertake airborne training as a formed unit.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp The training at Toccoa was very tough. Of the 500 officers who had volunteered, only 148 completed the course; of 5,000 enlisted volunteers, only 1,800 were ultimately selected for duty as paratroopers.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp
On June 10, 1943, after more tactical training at Camp Mackall, North Carolina, the 506th PIR was attached to Major General William Lee's 101st "Screaming Eagles" Airborne Division.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp Later in the year, they embarked on the Samaria, and arrived in Liverpool on September 15, 1943.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp They proceeded to Aldbourne, Wiltshire, where they began intense training for the Allied invasion of Europe planned for spring 1944.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp
In November and December 1943, while Easy Company was at Aldbourne, the tension that had been brewing between Winters and Sobel came to a head.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp For some time, Winters had privately held concerns over Sobel's ability to lead the company in combat. Many of the enlisted men in the company had come to respect Winters for his competence and had also developed their own concerns about Sobel's leadership.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp Winters later said that he never wanted to compete with Sobel for command of Easy Company; still, Sobel attempted to bring Winters up on trumped-up charges for "failure to carry out a lawful order".<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp Feeling that his punishment was unjust, Winters requested that the charge be reviewed by court-martial. After Winters' punishment was set aside by the battalion commander, Major Robert L. Strayer, Sobel brought Winters up on another charge the following day. During the investigation, Winters was transferred to the Headquarters Company and appointed as the battalion mess officer.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp
In the wake of this incident, several of the company's non-commissioned officers (NCOs) delivered an ultimatum to the regimental commander, Colonel Sink, threatening to surrender their stripes unless Sobel was replaced. Winters tried unsuccessfully to talk them out of taking this step.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp Sink was not impressed by the threat, and several of the NCOs were subsequently demoted or transferred out of the company. Nevertheless, he realized that something had to be done and decided<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp to transfer Sobel out of Easy Company, giving him command of a new parachute training school at Chilton Foliat.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp Winters' court-martial was set aside and he returned to Easy Company as leader of 1st Platoon. Winters later said he felt that despite his differences with Sobel, at least part of Easy Company's success had been due to Sobel's strenuous training and high expectations.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp In February 1944, First Lieutenant Thomas Meehan was given command of Easy Company.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp
Summer 1944Edit
Meehan remained in command of the company until the invasion of Normandy, when at about 1:15 a.m. on June 6, 1944, D-Day, the C-47 Skytrain transporting most of the company Headquarters Section was shot down by German anti-aircraft fire, killing everyone on board.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp Winters jumped that night and landed safely near Sainte-Mère-Église.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp Losing his weapon during the drop, he nevertheless oriented himself, assembled several paratroopers, including members of the 82nd Airborne Division, and proceeded toward the unit's assigned objective near Sainte-Marie-du-Mont.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp With Meehan's fate unknown, Winters became the de facto commanding officer (CO) of Easy Company, which he remained for the duration of the Normandy campaign.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp
Later that day, Winters led the Brécourt Manor Assault which successfully destroyed a battery of German 105mm howitzers,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which were firing onto the causeways that served as the principal exits from Utah Beach.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp The Americans estimated that the guns, which were south of the village of Le Grand-Chemin, were defended by about a platoon of 50 German troops, while Winters had 13 men.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp The attack has since been taught at West Point as a textbook example of an assault on a fixed position by a numerically inferior force. In addition to destroying the battery, Winters also obtained a map that showed German gun emplacements near Utah Beach.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp
On July 1, 1944, Winters was told that he had been promoted to captain.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp The next day, he was presented with the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) by Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, then the commander of the U.S. First Army.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp Shortly after, the 506th Parachute Infantry was withdrawn from France and returned to Aldbourne, England, for reorganization.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp The citation for his DSC reads as follows:
Autumn 1944Edit
In September 1944, the 506th PIR parachuted into the Netherlands, near the village of Son, north of Eindhoven, as part of Operation Market Garden, a combined airborne and armored operation. On 5 October 1944, a German force attacked the 2nd Battalion's flank and threatened to break through the American lines. At the same time, four men in an Easy Company patrol were wounded.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp Returning to headquarters, they reported that they had encountered a large group of Germans at a crossroads about Template:Convert to the east of the company command post.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Winters took one squad from 1st Platoon, and moved off toward the crossroads, where they observed a German machine gun firing to the south, toward the battalion headquarters, from a long distance.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp After surveying the position, Winters led the squad in an assault on the gun crew.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp Soon after taking the position, the squad took fire from a German position opposite them. Estimating that this position was held by at least a platoon, Winters called for reinforcements from the rest of the 1st Platoon and led them, and a platoon from Fox Company in a successful assault. Later it was discovered there had been at least 300 Germans.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp
On October 9, Winters became the battalion executive officer (XO), following the death of the battalion's former XO, Major Oliver Horton.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp Although this position was normally held by a major, Winters filled it as a captain. The 101st Airborne Division was withdrawn to France soon afterward.
Winter 1944–45 and spring 1945Edit
On December 16, 1944, German forces launched a counter-offensive against the Western Allies in Belgium, starting the Battle of the Bulge. The 101st Airborne Division was trucked to the Bastogne area two days later. Still serving as XO of the 2nd Battalion, Winters helped defend the line northeast of Bastogne near the town of Foy.<ref name="Band" />Template:Rp The entire 101st Airborne and elements of the 10th Armored Division battled about 15 German divisions, supported by heavy artillery and armor, for nearly a week before Lieutenant General George Patton's U.S. Third Army broke through the German lines surrounding Bastogne, reopening ground supply lines.<ref name="Band" />Template:Rp
After being relieved by Patton, the 2nd Battalion attacked Foy on January 9, 1945.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp On March 8, 1945, the 2nd Battalion was moved to Haguenau in Alsace, after which Winters was promoted to major.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp Shortly afterwards, Robert Strayer, now a lieutenant colonel, was elevated to the regimental staff and Winters took over as acting commander of the 2nd Battalion.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp
In April, the battalion carried out defensive duties along the Rhine before moving to Bavaria later in the month.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp In early May, the 101st Airborne Division received orders to capture Berchtesgaden.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp The 2nd Battalion set out from the town of Thale through streams of surrendering German soldiers and reached the alpine retreat at noon on 5 May 1945.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp Three days later, the war in Europe ended.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp
Post-war assignmentsEdit
After the end of hostilities, Winters remained in Europe as the process of occupation and demobilization began. Even though he had enough points to return to the United States, he was told that he was needed in Germany.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp Later, he was offered a regular (non-reserve) commission, but declined it.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp He finally embarked from Marseille aboard the Wooster Victory on 4 November 1945.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp He was separated from the Army on November 29, 1945,<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp although he was not officially discharged until January 22, 1946, and he remained on terminal leave until then.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp
Winters was recommended for the Medal of Honor for his leadership at Brécourt Manor, but instead received the U.S. Army's second-highest award for combat valor, the Distinguished Service Cross.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp After the release of the Band of Brothers television miniseries, Representative Tim Holden (D-PA) introduced a bill asking the President to grant the Medal, but the bill died in the House Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Military Personnel in 2007.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Korean WarEdit
After his discharge from the Army, Winters worked as a production supervisor for his close wartime friend Captain Lewis Nixon at Nixon's family business, Nixon Nitration Works of Nixon, New Jersey (now Edison Township),<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp rising to become general manager in 1950.<ref name=Band/>Template:Rp On May 16, 1948, Winters married Ethel Estoppey<ref name=bio/><ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp and continued to pursue his education through the GI Bill, attending a number of business and personnel management courses at Rutgers University.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp
In 1951, he and his wife bought a small farm where later they built a home and raised two children. In June 1951, Winters was recalled to active duty in the Army during the Korean War.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp He was ordered to join the 11th Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, but he was given six months to report and in this time he traveled to Washington, D.C., to speak to General Anthony McAuliffe, in the hope that he could convince the Army not to send him to Korea.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp He explained to McAuliffe that he had seen enough of war and apparently McAuliffe understood his position, but explained that he was needed because of his command experience. Winters then reported to Fort Dix, New Jersey, where he was assigned as a regimental planning and training officer.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp
While at Fort Dix, Winters became disillusioned with his job, finding that he had little enthusiasm for training officers who lacked discipline and did not attend their scheduled classes. As a result, he volunteered to attend Ranger School, where he passed and became a Ranger.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp He then received orders to deploy to Korea and traveled to Seattle, where, during pre-deployment administration, he was offered the option of resigning his commission, which he accepted.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp
Later lifeEdit
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In 1972, Winters went into business for himself, starting his own company and selling animal feed products to farmers throughout Pennsylvania.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp Soon afterward, he moved his family to Hershey, Pennsylvania.<ref name=bio/> He retired in 1997, aged 79.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp
During the 1990s, Winters was featured in a number of books and television series about his experiences and those of the men in Easy Company. In 1992, Stephen Ambrose wrote the book Band of Brothers: Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, which was subsequently turned into an HBO mini-series Band of Brothers, with Damian Lewis portraying Winters.<ref name=bio/>
Winters also attended the 54th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 22, 2002 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles when the Band of Brothers miniseries was nominated in multiple categories. When it won Outstanding Miniseries (one of seven wins), Winters spoke at co-creator and executive producer Steven Spielberg's invitation on behalf of Easy Company while other surviving members of the company watched from the Los Angeles St. Regis Hotel.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Quote
Winters was the subject of the 2005 book Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led the Band of Brothers, written by Larry Alexander. His 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. He also gave a number of lectures on leadership to cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
On May 16, 2009, Franklin and Marshall College conferred an honorary doctorate in humane letters upon Winters.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Despite the many accolades he had received, Winters remained humble about his service.<ref name=Beyond/>Template:Rp During an interview for Band of Brothers that was both the miniseries' final scene and included in the official HBO companion documentary We Stand Alone Together, Winters quoted a passage from a letter he received from Sergeant Myron "Mike" Ranney: Template:Quote
DeathEdit
Winters died on January 2, 2011,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> at an assisted living facility in Campbelltown, Pennsylvania, aged 92. He had suffered from Parkinson's disease for several years.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Winters was buried in a private funeral service, which was held on January 8, 2011. He was buried in the Bergstrasse Evangelical Lutheran Church cemetery in Ephrata, Pennsylvania,<ref name=hpn>Template:Cite news</ref> next to his parents in the Winters' family plot. His grave is marked "Richard D. Winters, World War II 101st Airborne". His wife Ethel died on April 11, 2012 at Country Meadows, Hershey. She was 89 years old.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
MemorialsEdit
On June 6, 2012, the 68th anniversary of the D-Day landings, the Richard D. Winters Leadership Monument, featuring a Template:Convert bronze statue of Winters by sculptor Stephen C. Spears<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> was unveiled near the village of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, France Template:Coord.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Winters agreed for the statue to bear his resemblance on the condition that the monument would be dedicated to all junior officers who served and died during the Normandy landings.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Among the attendees were World War II veterans, former Pennsylvania governor and first Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and Maj. Gen. Jim McConville, the 101st Airborne's commanding officer.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the landings in 2014, a party including Lewis, fellow Band of Brothers cast members Ross McCall (Technician 5th Grade Joseph Liebgott) and James Madio (Technician 4th Grade Frank Perconte) and Private 1st Class Jim "Pee Wee" Martin of G Company, 3rd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment laid a wreath there.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
A cast of the sculpture was placed in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, in a plaza on the Ephrata-to-Warwick linear trail park near Railroad Avenue and East Fulton Street, where Winters lived with his family from ages two to eight.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That statue was dedicated on May 25, 2015.<ref name=":0" />
Some of Winters' World War II uniforms and memorabilia are on display at two museums:
- December 44 Museum (Battle of the Bulge – La Gleize, Belgium)
- Gettysburg Museum of History (Gettysburg Pennsylvania)
In 2019, a US merchant vessel owned by Sealift Incorporated, was renamed the M/V Maj Richard Winters.
Medals and decorationsEdit
| Badge | Combat Infantryman Badge | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Badge | Parachutist Badge with two Combat Jump Stars | ||
| Badge | Ranger Tab | ||
| 1st Row Awards | Distinguished Service Cross | ||
| 2nd Row Awards | Bronze Star with one Oak Leaf Cluster | Purple Heart | American Defense Service Medal |
| 3rd Row Awards | American Campaign Medal | European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with four Service Stars and Arrowhead Device | World War II Victory Medal |
| 4th Row Awards | Army of Occupation Medal | National Defense Service Medal | French Croix de Guerre with palm |
| 5th Row Awards | French Liberation Medal | Belgian Croix de guerre with palm | Belgian Commemorative Medal of the 1940–1945 War |
| 6th Row Awards | Presidential Unit Citation w/ 1 Oak Leaf Cluster | ||
File:ASU overseas service bar.jpg Five Overseas Service Bars for serving 2½ years overseas in Europe.
In 2001, Winters, as a representative on behalf of the U.S. Army, was one of five World War II veterans to be awarded the Freedom Medal & Freedom from Fear Medal from the Roosevelt Institute.
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
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- Beyond Band of Brothers : The war memoirs of Major Dick Winters
- Winters' military records, courtesy of the national Archives
- Presentation by authors Erik Dorr and Jared Frederick on Hang Tough: The WWII Letters and Artifacts of Major Dick Winters, July 2, 2021, C-SPAN