Bill Text: IN SCR0023 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Memorializing Major Richard "Dick" Winters.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2011-02-03 - Returned to the Senate [SCR0023 Detail]
Download: Indiana-2011-SCR0023-Introduced.html
RESOLUTION No. _____
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION memorializing Major Richard
"Dick" Winters, commending him as a hero to all Hoosiers, and to all
Americans.
, read first time and referred to Committee on
RESOLUTION No. _____
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION memorializing Major Richard
"Dick" Winters, commending him as a hero to all Hoosiers, and to all
Americans.
Whereas, Major Richard "Dick" Winters, a revered and
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," passed away on January 2, 2011 at the age of
92;
Whereas, Richard Davis Winters was born in Ephrata,
Pennsylvania to Richard and Edith Winters on January 21,
1918. When Winters was eight, he moved to nearby
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Lancaster
Boys High School in 1937;
Whereas, Winters went on to college, where he graduated
from Franklin and Marshall College in June 1941 with a
degree in business;
Whereas, Winters enlisted in the Army on August 25, 1941. He took a series of tests to determine where he would best fit the army. He scored high enough that he qualified for Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Benning, Georgia. While in OCS, Winters met Lewis Nixon, a close friend with whom he would serve throughout the war in the
101st Airborne Division;
Whereas, Looking for a new challenge, wanting to serve
with the best, and having a strong inclination toward sports
and physical activity, prompted Winters to volunteer for the
airborne. After completing the training, he was ordered to
join the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment at Camp Toccoa,
in Georgia;
Whereas, Upon arriving at Camp Toccoa in August 1942,
Winters was assigned to Company E (famously known as
"Easy Company"), 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry
Regiment, serving under First Lieutenant (later Captain)
Herbert Sobel;
Whereas, The 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment was an
experimental unit that was the first regiment to undertake
airborne training as a formed unit. The training was
extremely tough - most notably Currahee Mountain, from
which both officers and enlisted men consistently had to run
up and down. As a result, of the 500 officers who had
volunteered, only 148 of them, including Winters,
successfully completed the training;
Whereas, Winters was deployed with his Easy Company
cohorts to England in September 1943 to prepare for the
eventual invasion of Europe;
Whereas, On D-Day (June 6, 1944), Easy Company
played a vital role in the invasion of Europe, as their
objective was to secure Causeway #2, which linked to Utah
Beach. The Germans had flooded the fields in between and
the planned night-time capture of the causeways was vital to
ensuring the success of the amphibious landings;
Whereas, The operation started off treacherously as Allied aircraft, desperate to evade the incoming fire from German anti-aircraft guns, dropped troops far from the designated drop zone. Additionally, the aircraft carrying
Easy Company's Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Meehan,
and First Sergeant, William Evans, was shot down during the
invasion, making Lieutenant Winters commander of Easy
Company;
Whereas, Making things more difficult, Winters had lost
his weapon during the drop, and 90 percent of his men were
unaccounted for. Nevertheless, Winters and 13 members of
Easy Company did manage to set up headquarters in a
farmhouse, where at daybreak they received intelligence that
four German 105mm Howitzers, manned by a full platoon,
were firing on Utah Beach. They were ordered to destroy the
guns;
Whereas, In the ensuing attack, Winters ordered half of
his men to unleash an enveloping hail of machine gun fire,
while another section of his squad, led by Lieutenant Lynn
"Buck" Compton, took the left flank and threw grenades at
the first gun. Sergeant Lipton and Private First Class Myron
Ranney took the right flank. This base-of-fire technique
would become a textbook case for assault on a fixed position,
and is still taught at West Point Academy today.
Whereas, When the Germans at the first gun were
eliminated, Easy Company made a full assault on the
German trenches, spiking the guns with TNT and completing
their objective with the aid of Dog Company, led by
Lieutenant Ronald Speirs, who would later become the last
commanding officer of Easy Company;
Whereas, Winters received the Distinguished Service
Cross for taking out the artillery pieces. It would not be the
last time Winters's leadership skills earned him a
commendation or promotion, as he eventually was promoted
to major before the end of the war;
Whereas, Beyond D-Day, Easy Company fought together through Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands, the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium, and ended their European
campaign while occupying Adolf Hitler's mountainside
retreat, the Eagle's Nest, nestled in the Alps above
Berchtesgarden. Easy Company celebrated Victory in
Europe Day (May 8, 1945) by drinking champagne from the
Fuhrer's 10,000 bottle cellar;
Whereas, The reverence for Winters never wavered. Late
in the war, one of Winter's soldiers, Floyd Talbert, wrote him
a letter from an Indiana hospital, thanking him for his loyalty
and leadership. "You are loved and will never be forgotten
by any soldier that ever served," Talbert wrote. "I would
follow you into hell";
Whereas, Following the war, Winters worked for his
close friend Captain Lewis Nixon at Nixon's family business,
Nixon Nitration Works of Edison, New Jersey, becoming
general manager in 1950;
Whereas, Winters furthered his education through the GI
Bill, taking a variety of business and personnel management
courses at Rutgers University;
Whereas, Winters was recalled to active duty in the Army
in 1951 during the Korean War, serving as a training officer
at Fort Dix, New Jersey;
Whereas, Winters military career resulted in an abundant
number of awards, including the Distinguished Service
Cross, Bronze Star (2), Purple Heart, Presidential Unit
Citation, American Defense Service Medal, National Defense
Service Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign
Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Army of Occupation
Medal, Croix de guerre, French Liberation Medal,
Oorlogskruis, Belgian World War II Service Medal, Good
Conduct Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, and a Parachutist
Badge;
Whereas, For the rest of his career, Winters owned a farm in rural Pennsylvania and sold animal nutrition
products to animal-feed companies. He married Ethel
Estoppey in 1948 and had two children. He lived the quiet
and peaceful life he had promised himself after surviving the
war;
Whereas, Winters war story went untold for nearly a
half-century until Stephen Ambrose came calling in the hopes
of documenting Easy Company's role in winning the war.
Winters said he honored Ambrose's request because he felt
it important for future generations to learn about the war, its
consequences, and the sacrifices made by soldiers.
Ambrose's book, "Band of Brothers," was released in 1992
and became a national bestseller;
Whereas, In 2001, a television miniseries adapted from
Ambrose's work was released on HBO. The series, co-
produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, won six
Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe. It starred English actor
Damian Lewis as Winters and brought his story of heroism
and fortitude to a global audience;
Whereas, Winters published his own memoir in 2006,
"Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick
Winters";
Whereas, The reverence for Winters continued upon news
of his passing. William Guarnere said what he remembers
about Winters was his "great leadership. When he said 'Let's
go,' he was right in the front. He was never in the back. A
leader personified";
Whereas, Edward Heffron said thinking about Winters
brought a tear to his eye. "He was one hell of a guy, one of
the greatest soldiers I was ever under. 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";
Whereas, When Winters was asked whether he was a hero, he echoed the words of his World War II buddy, Mike
Ranney, whose grandson asked, "Grandpa, were you a hero
in the war?" Grandpa (Mike Ranney) answered, "No, but I
served in a company of heroes"; and
Whereas, Major Richard "Dick" Winters was an amazing
leader of men, a true hero personified, and his service to our
country is to be commended: Therefore,
SECTION 1. The Indiana General Assembly memorializes Major
Richard "Dick" Winters, commending him as a hero to all Hoosiers,
and to all Americans.
SECTION 2. The Secretary of the Senate is hereby directed to
transmit a copy of this Resolution to the wife of Major Winters, Ethel
Winters; his son, Richard T. Winters and his wife, Diana; his daughter,
Jill Peckelun and her husband, Ed; and his grandson, Jake Winters.
