It’s a sad day in America with the news that retired U.S. Army Major Richard “Dick” Winters, known for his combat experiences as told in the HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers,” passed away at the age of 92.
Major Winters was originally a platoon leader in Easy Company in the U.S. Army’s 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry, 101st Airborne Division.
During the night of June 5, 1944 when Winters parachuted into Normandy as part of the D-Day invasion, little did he know that he would soon take over as company commander after Easy Company’s commanding officer had been killed.
During the morning hours of June 6, then Lieutenant Winters and a makeshift group of scattered parachutists attacked a German battery emplacement firing on Utah Beach as the U.S. 4th Infantry Division attempted to come ashore.
Winters was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, our nation’s second highest military honor, for his leadership of that attack.
As U.S. and Allied forces began to make their push inland from the beachheads established at Normandy, Major Winters and Easy Company would see action in every campaign.
The men of the 506th Parachute Infantry would serve in Operation Market-Garden in Holland, the brainchild of British Commander Bernard Law Montgomery that was destined to fail.
Major Winters and the men of the 101st Airborne Division would eventually be called upon to hold the town of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, a last ditch effort by the German army to retake western Europe.
Despite being without proper winter clothing and suffering from severe shortages of food and ammunition, the 101st held on to Bastogne until General George S. Patton led three divisions more than 100 miles to help end the siege.
Major Winters and the men of Easy Company would find themselves in Germany by late April 1945, taking over Hitler’s fabled Bavarian retreat, The Eagle’s Nest.
After the war Major Winters worked for his friend, fellow Easy Company officer Captain Lewis Nixon, at the Nixon Nitration Works in Nixon, New Jersey.
Major Winters retired and lead a quiet life on his farm outside of Hershey, PA where he was frequently approached about his insights on what it took to be a successful leader.
Major Winters was part of this nation’s greatest generation, men that fought bravely to help rid the world of tyranny. His leadership, courage, devotion to duty and bravery are sterling examples of what makes America great.
He may have passed but he will never be forgotten. Rest in peace Dick Winters.
