Tuesday, October 23, 2007

The Man I Admire, the most

The man I admire the most has got to be, Major Richard "Dick" Winters. He was an American Soldier. An Officer in the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Easy Company. In Easy Company he was not some west pointer, or some cocky S.O.B. He was a kind, forgiving, caring, passionate, strict but fair Officer. Who could size up situations in an instant, and make the proper calls. He could lead his men and direct with great results. A quick thinker. A man who had been the Easy Company X/O behind both Captain Herbert M. Sobel and then 1st LT Thomas Meehan who was killed in action on June 6th 1944 over Normandy in his plane which was hit, and then failed an emergency landing. Plane #66 crashed and burned with Meehan inside. Winters in another plane, was able to jump with all of his men. Even though they were all scattered. He hooked up with a young man named, John Halls. In the mini-series it was John Hall. John Halls was from Able Company. The following day he joined Winters in taking out 4 German artillery batteries at Brecourt Manor. With only one loss, John Halls. Halls took a round to the head, not by explosives. That day, Winters was given full command of Easy Company. From there, they headed to Carentan, also known as Hell's Highway. Later they moved out to Son. And then onto Nuenen. And then off the front lines they went for a 2 month breather. After a few missions got canceled, they finally had to make their second frogdown into Holland. Arriving in Eindhoven. Later on they had to go to a few different towns in Holland. One spot is referred to as, The Crossroads, where the river, meets the dyke. This was probably his bravest feat. He lead a night patrol to take out a German Garrison along the dyke. He told each man, which German to hit. Each man got his target. Seven Germans killed in about 10 seconds of action. They quietly retreated down into the dyke. Fortunately the Germans did not, and surprisingly were not familiar with that area. If they had known that Winters and his men were in a ditch along side a road/dyke. They would have been out flanked and probably Winters and his men would have met their fate. Winters was very brave, doing things like these all the time. Taking calculated risks, and making the right calls in doing so. Knowing where to put each man according to their training, and strengths. The following day, he lead the charge, 100 yards in front of his men. A smoke grenade went off, red smoke, and each of his men began sprinting 100 yards behind him. Maybe 50 yards. Not sure. Winters got to the road first, looked and saw hundreds of German SS Troops, laying down in front of him, relaxing and chatting it up - taking a break I guess - and he bravely, opened fire on each one. With his M1 Rifle and Bayonet. He lived through it and afterwards was put in command of the Battalion. Later on, he lead the Battalion into Belgium, or Bastogne. Battle of the Bulge. After the Bulge the company went into Foy, and then Hageneau. Then onto Landsberg. In Landsberg he and his Battalion were staying, and doing patrols. Easy Company's patrol unearthed a grave scene, a death camp for Jew's. Needless to say, if you have watched Band of Brothers, or read any of the books that followed you would know that Major Winters is a hero. He is my hero. Major Winters, you have my undying respects. Thank you.

1 comment:

bastognegirl said...

Hi!
I found this blog via a Google Alert and couldn't resist to leave a short comment here...have you ever been or are you on the Major Dick Winters forum?
If not, you're welcome anytime :-)

Linda
Forum Admin
MajorDickWinters.com