Richard D. Winters

Richard Miller

Richard D. Winters was a man born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on January 21, 1918. He is World War II veteran who has gone through something that no person should ever have to go through but unfortunately they do. Mr. Winters was a United States Army officer of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He commanded Easy Company. But he didn't start out that high. He went to basic training in 1941 hoping that maybe he could shorten his time in the service. When he graduated from basic training he was selected to go to (OCS) or Army Officer Candidate School in Fort Benning, Georgia. While there, he met his good friend through the entire war and even after that, Lewis Nixon.

He volunteered for paratrooper training at Camp Toccoa also in Georgia. He was a platoon leader originally until he received a promotion to first lieutenant. A mutiny occurred when some of the E Company men refused to go fight under their CO Captain Herbert Sobel. Luckily they were not thrown out of the airborne and in jail. They were only that lucky because they were on the eve of the biggest invasion ever. Thomas Meehan III replaced Sobel. During the invasion about 1:15 in the morning on June 6th a C-47 carrying Meehan and some other men was shot down by anti-aircraft guns and Meehan was killed. So upon landing Richard Winters, though he may not have known it, was the new CO of Easy Company.

Winters survived the jump into Normandy even though not in the right place nor was anyone else in the right place. The new leader of E Company later that same day took a group of men and took out some German 105mm howitzers that were firing onto the beach landings at Utah beach. He was successful and also found a map that showed all the locations of German guns. He was recommended for the Medal of Honor but was later downgraded to Distinguished Service Cross due to the fact that there could only be one person per division who could receive the Medal of Honor, and that was already taken.

He would later be involved in some important events such as Operation Market Garden which could have possibly ended the war by Christmas if the allies were able to hold onto key bridges. But the operation failed, and they had to pull back and some had to surrender. Luckily, Winters made it out of there and would later be involved in the Battle of the Bulge. He and his men were cut off and surrounded when the Germans counter-attacked in the Ardennes forest. They were able to hold off the attacking Germans despite the fact they had little ammo, food and winter clothing. Patton's 3rd Army broke through and helped the entrenched paratroopers. Although no one in the 101st would say that they needed to be rescued.

Richard Miller

This is just a little taste of who Richard D. Winters was. If you would like to find out more of Mr. Winters there are a few books out about him that are very good. I recommend the book "Band of Brothers" by Stephen Ambrose, although it is not all about Winters it is about the entire E company. I would also recommend the T.V. miniseries "Band of Brothers" which is also very good. Richard Winters has been a hero of mine because I think he is a very brave noble man who has gone through and seen a lot. Although I do not know him personally, nor am I related to him, I just admire him a lot for what he has done. He is a very cool guy and I have a lot of respect for him. He has inspired me to look up the past and learn about what happened during World War II, and I thank him for that because I now have a lot of respect for those who fought.