Captain Richard "Dick" Winters

He is the prototype of the protagonist of "Band of Brothers"

Richard Winters( Richard Winters (January 21, 1918 - January 2, 2011) was a retired officer of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, 101st Airborne Division, United States Army during World War II. Major Winters is played by British actor Damian Lewis in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. ?

Winters graduated from the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Benning, Georgia, and became the platoon leader and one of the original members of Company E, Later, after receiving paratrooper training at Tacoya Army Camp in northwest Georgia, Winters was promoted to lieutenant and became the Executive Officer (XO) of E Company. His boss was Captain Herb Sober, the company commander. ?

When the 101st Airborne Division was about to depart from the United Kingdom and prepare to enter France occupied by Germany, due to the tension between Captain Herb Sober and the non-commissioned officers of the company, the position of company commander was replaced by Thomas Sober. Lieutenant Meehan III replaced. On June 6, 1944, at about 01:15, Lieutenant Meehan and some of his E Company paratroopers were riding a C-47 lead plane named Jump Stick 66 when they were hit by German anti-aircraft fire. The machine was killed. At that time, Winters did not know the news of the death of the company commander. After the airborne landing in Normandy, he still deviated from the target location of Saint-Mer-Eglise and lost most of his weapons. Lieutenant Winters, who was good at reading maps, gathered at After several lost paratroopers quickly figured out their position, the command team advanced to a place close to Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. ?

After landing on D-Day, Winters led the paratroopers to assault and destroy four German 105mm howitzers and their positions that were bombarding the Utah beachhead landing force. The assault occurred at Le Grand-Chemin to the south, hence the name Bricot's Raid. In addition, Winters obtained a map showing the German defense facilities in the Utah beachhead area at the howitzer position during the assault. Therefore, after the assault, Lieutenant Winters was recommended for the Medal of Honor, but it was later downgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross. (the second highest combat decoration in the U.S. Army), because the division's policy is to award only one Medal of Honor in a battle (the winner of the Medal of Honor of the 101st Airborne Division in the Battle of Normandy was Robert G. Cole school). ?And the fixed-position assault of Brickett's assault is still the teaching example of West Point Military Academy. ?

During Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands in September 1944, ? Winters became the executive officer of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Regiment. Although it was usually a major who held the position, Winters filled the position while he was a captain. During a mission in the Netherlands, Captain Winters led 20 members of E Company to successfully fight against 200 German SS soldiers. ?

On December 16, 1944, the German army sneaked into Belgium to raid the Allied forces. Later, the 101st Airborne Division entered the Bastogne area of ??Belgium on December 18. Captain Winters, who served as the executive officer of the 2nd Battalion, and Company E defended the line of defense northwest of Bastogne near the town called Foy. , which was later known as the Battle of the Bulge. The entire 101st Airborne Division and the 10th Armored Division held off a few elite German divisions for nearly a week until George Patton's U.S. 3rd Army broke through the German encirclement of Bastogne. ?

Winters was promoted to major after the Battle of the Bulge. ?

After the war, Winters worked in the family company of his wartime friend Nickerson until he was drafted back into the Army during the Korean War, where he was responsible for training infantry and rangers. ?

After two tours of duty, Winters returned to Pennsylvania and started his own business, which mainly sold animal feed to local farmers. Winters and his wife bought a small farm.

They have two children. ?

Winters, who lives retired in Hershey, Pennsylvania, near Harrisburg, was the author of Stephen Ambrose's 1992 book Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest) and the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers based on the book were launched and were portrayed as "America's Strongest Generation". ?

Books with Winters as the theme include Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led the Band of Brothers , authored by Larry Alexander and published in 2005. Winters' personal memoir, Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoris of Major Dick Winters, was ghostwritten by military historian and retired U.S. Army Colonel Cole C. Kingseed and published in Published in 2006. ?

On January 2, 2011, Winters passed away on the eve of his 93rd birthday. ?

Honors awarded:?

World War II Victory Medal?

Distinguished Service Cross?

Bronze Star Medal?

Order of Wilhelm (Netherlands)?

Purple Heart?

The President awarded the Medal of Honor to the Team (2OLC)