Major Dick Winters Passes Away

[PIMking]

Thank you Major Winters!!! One great warrior and soldier for freedom. You're not just a hero to me, you're a hero to millions of oppressed Europeans.

[TheyCallMeBruce]

If there's a memorial or a grave I would like to visit, I would say it is his and Ronald Speirs. Easy company sure had some badass soldiers.

RIP Major Winters...and CURRAHEE!!

[CaptainCrunch]

There are a lot of war hero's that have been kind of forgotten over time. Not that I'm taking away from Dick Winters, but he's certainly joined good company.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by TheyCallMeBruce

If there's a memorial or a grave I would like to visit, I would say it is his and Ronald Speirs. Easy company sure had some badass soldiers.

RIP Major Winters...and CURRAHEE!!

I stood in front of Audie Murphy's in Arlington National Cemetary (the most decorated U.S. Soldier during World War II). One of the more impressive ones in a sea of heroes.

Loved the mini series. My favourite parts were the storys when told by the real men. Dick Winters was an amazing person. Happy he lived a long life.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by Locke

That is sad, he was a great man. Anyone who is willing to go the extra mile to make David Schwimmer's life more difficult is a friend of mine.

RIP Dick.

"You salute the rank, not the person."

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Locke

That is sad, he was a great man. Anyone who is willing to go the extra mile to make David Schwimmer's life more difficult is a friend of mine.

RIP Dick.

i'll give Schwimmer some credit, he's excellent at portraying a total prick

[worth]

Obituary: Richard 'Dick' Winters, courageous WWII officer portrayed in 'Band of Brothers'



Richard "Dick" Winters, 92, a decorated Army officer whose courageous leadership through some of the fiercest combat of World War II was featured in the best-selling book and HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers," died Jan. 2. He had Parkinson's disease.
The Patriot-News in central Pennsylvania reported that Maj. Winters, a longtime Hershey resident, died at an assisted-living facility in nearby Campbelltown.
Stephen Ambrose's 1992 book "Band of Brothers" followed the men of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. The group came to be known as Easy Company.
One of Easy Company's officers was Maj. Winters, a charismatic and compassionate leader who entered Army service as a private and returned home after World War II as a major.
He and his men jumped into combat on June 6, 1944, above Normandy and later fought together through Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands and the Battle of the Bulge.
The unit experienced heavy turnover because of battlefield casualties. One Easy Company soldier later wrote that among his colleagues, the Purple Heart "was not a decoration but a badge of office."
Maj. Winters graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in 1941 before enlisting in the Army. He was selected to attend officer candidates' school, earned a commission in the summer of 1942 and then - drawn by the promise of extra pay for hazardous duty - volunteered to join a newly formed paratrooper unit.
Of about 500 officers who volunteered to join the elite unit, only 148 made the cut.
Maj. Winters excelled as a infantry leader and a paratrooper and became a hallowed figure among his men for his "follow me" attitude.
He received the military's second-highest decoration for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross, for his actions on D-Day.
That morning, after landing and untangling from his parachute, Maj. Winters gathered a small group of men for a raid on German cannon emplacements near Brecourt Manor.
Guarded by a platoon of 50 German sentries, the heavily fortified battery had been firing on Utah Beach, causing significant casualties and slowing the Allied advance.

Read more:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...011006268.html

RIP

[mikey_the_redneck]

This guy had balls of iron that would make a bull blush in embarrassment.

R.I.P. Mr. Winters

[T@T]

Not sure why everyone is so sad, the man was 92 friken years old.Chances are he was ready to kick it a few years ago..just celebrate his life and what he did with it.

[metallicat]

Just imagine going to war as a private, and coming home as a major. That is just incredible to think of.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

Just imagine going to war as a private, and coming home as a major. That is just incredible to think of.

As an officer, he started as a 2Lt, not a private, but that's still pretty incredible. IIRC, he was promoted to 1Lt during training before they left for England.

[worth]

In the article it says he originally signed up as an enlisted man, and then was selected to attend OCS. So basically he went from Private > 2Lt and then up.

[worth]

RIP

http://www.marcusbrotherton.com/know...923-2014-love/

[habernac]

damn, who is left? Out of the main characters, just Malarkey at age 92. Heffron died in December, Perconte in October.

[metallicat]

It's amazing how much of a connection I seem to have to these characters. Band of Brothers re-watch is long overdue.

[btimbit]

Definitely rewatching BOB this week. RIP