In memoriam: Major Richard Winters

Major Richard 'Dick' Winters died last week. At his request, his death was not announced until after his private funeral service.

Major Winters during World War II, and in 2004

He was the storied commanding officer of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, US Army, on and following D-Day in 1944, and subsequently Commanding Officer of the Battalion in 1945. He, and the men of Easy Company, became famous following the publication in 1992 of Stephen Ambrose's book 'Band Of Brothers', which was subsequently made into a world-class television series, possibly the best depiction of combat that I've ever seen on screen. (Other combat veterans of my acquaintance share that opinion.) Following the success of the book and TV series, Winters wrote his own book about his wartime experiences, 'Beyond Band Of Brothers'. All three sources are in my personal library. I recommend them very highly.

For his valor in action and leadership during action against German forces on and following D-Day, Winters was recommended for the Medal of Honor, the USA's highest award for valor in action. Regrettably, due to a quota system then in operation for this decoration, only one could be awarded per division for a given action or campaign. Since another officer of the 101st Airborne Division had been awarded the MoH, Winters' citation was downgraded. He received the Distinguished Service Cross, the US Army's second-highest award for valor in action. A campaign was begun in the 1990's, and continues to this day, to obtain the MoH for him: but despite widespread support, it had not borne fruit by the time of his death.

Major Winters' actions on and following D-Day, for which he was nominated for the MoH, have been described as follows.

For those soldiers, sailors and airmen who participated in D-Day, June 6 was unlike any day in history. And it was on D-Day that Dick Winters had his rendezvous with destiny. Easy Company's mission, as with the other units within the 101st Airborne Division, was to seize the causeways behind Utah Beach to facilitate the expansion of the beachhead. Jumping from a C-47 Dakota at 150 miles per hour and at 500 feet and less, the Division's drop was scattered across the Cotentin Peninsula. Winters came down near the town of Ste. Mere-Eglise, several kilometers from the intended drop zone. Rallying a couple of troopers, he soon was en route to Ste. Marie-du-Mont, destined to be the Division's headquarters for most of D-Day. En route, Winters stumbled across the battalion staff and 40 men of D Company. By 7:00 a.m., E Company consisted of two light machine guns, one bazooka with no ammunition, one 60 mm mortar, nine riflemen and two officers. No one knew the whereabouts of the company commander, so Winters took command.

Three kilometers from Ste. Marie-du-Mont, the column encountered sustained enemy fire, and Winters was summoned to the front. The battalion commander informed Winters that there was a four-gun battery of German 105 mm cannons, a few hundred meters to the front across an open field opposite a French farmhouse called Brécourt Manor. The battery was set up in a hedgerow and defended by a 50-man German platoon. The guns were firing directly down a causeway leading to Utah Beach. The battalion operations officer directed Winters to take the battery. Taking his company, Winters made a careful reconnaissance and then issued orders for an assault. The attack would consist of a frontal assault led by Winters with covering fire from several directions to pin down the Germans. Winters selected three soldiers for the assault: Pvt. Gerald Lorraine, Pvt. Popeye Wynn and Cpl. Joe Toye. Asked later why he selected these three, Winters recalled, "In combat you look for killers.' Many thought they were killers and wanted to prove it. They are, however, few and far between."

Winters saw the impending attack as a "high risk opportunity." The key was "initiative, an immediate appraisal of situation, the use of terrain to get into the connecting trench and taking one gun at a time." Crawling on their bellies, Winters and his men got close enough and knocked out the first gun. Mowing down the retreating Germans, Winters then placed a machine gun to fire down the trench. He had also noticed that as soon as he got close enough to assault the first gun, the Germans in an adjacent hedgerow temporary lifted their fire so that they would not inflict friendly casualties. That was enough for Winters, who had a "sixth sense" that such a respite shifted the advantage to him.

With the first gun out of action, Winters grabbed two other soldiers and charged the second gun. Throwing hand grenades and firing their rifles, they took the second howitzer. Next to the gun was a case with a map that showed all the German artillery in the Cotentin Peninsula. Winters sent the map back to battalion headquarters and then directed another assault which rapidly captured the third gun. Reinforcements led by an officer from D Company soon arrived. Winters briefly outlined the situation and then watched D Company capture the last gun. With the mission complete, Winters ordered a withdrawal. It was 11:30 a.m., roughly three hours since Winters had received the order to take the battery. In summarizing Easy's action, historian Stephen Ambrose notes that with 12 men, what amounted to a squad, later reinforced by elements of D Company, Winters had destroyed a German battery, killed 15 Germans, wounded many more, and taken 12 prisoners. It would be a gross exaggeration to say that Easy Company saved the day at Utah Beach, but reasonable to say that it had made an important contribution to the success of the invasion.

Winters' action at Brécourt Manor was a textbook infantry assault, frequently studied at the U.S. Military Academy. Ever the self-effacing leader, Winters described the action to combat historian S.L.A. Marshall simply as laying down a base of fire to cover the assault. Left unsaid was his leadership by example. At every turn he had made the correct decision, from selecting the right men for each task, to making an accurate reconnaissance of the enemy position, to leading the maneuver element in person. In his own analysis, Winters credited his training and preparing for D-Day, his "apogee" in command. When the day was finally over, he wrote in his diary that if he survived the war, he would find an isolated farm somewhere and spend the rest of his life in peace.

For Winters' heroic leadership under fire during the attack at Brécourt Manor, Col. Robert Sink, the 506th PIR commander, recommended Winters receive the Medal of Honor, but only one man in the 101st Airborne Division was to be given that medal. Instead, Winters was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, with Silver and Bronze Stars awarded to the men of Easy Company who participated in the assault. Winters also formally received command of Easy when it was determined that the company commander had been killed in the airborne assault. Promotion to captain followed on July 2, but not before Winters led the company in another attack to capture Carentan, a small town at the base of the peninsula.

There's more at the link, covering the rest of his wartime career. It's quite a story.

The men of Easy Company expressed their admiration for their late commanding officer after learning of his death.

William Guarnere, 88, said what he remembers about Winters was "great leadership."

"When he said 'Let's go,' he was right in the front," Guarnere, who was called "Wild Bill" by his comrades, said. "He was never in the back. A leader personified."

"He was a good man, a very good man," Guarnere added. "I would follow him to hell and back. So would the men from E Company."

Another member of the unit living in Philadelphia, Edward Heffron, 87, said he got choked up thinking of his former commander.

"He was one hell of a guy, one of the greatest soldiers I was ever under," said Heffron, who was nicknamed Babe. "He was a wonderful officer, a wonderful leader. He had what you needed, guts and brains. He took care of his men, that's very important."

There's more at the link.

Here's a video clip taken from the HBO miniseries 'Band Of Brothers', in which Major Winters (speaking first) and other surviving members of Easy Company talk about leadership.

As General George S. Patton Jr. said of fallen warriors:

It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died.
Rather we should thank God that such men lived.

I can think of no better epitaph for Major Richard Winters. May his soul rest in peace.

Peter