Maj. Dick Winters statue unveiled in France [2012]

YouTube ^ | Jun 6, 2012 | 1ApolloOne

[1rudeboy]

On June 6, 2012—the 68th anniversary of D-Day—a statue of Maj. Dick Winters was unveiled in the Normandy village of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. Winters was the commander of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division after they parachuted into Normandy on June 6, 1944. His heroism and leadership was documented in the Stephen Ambrose book and mini-series "Band of Brothers". A young student named Jordan Brown—who lives just a few miles from Winters' Pennsylvania home—raised $99,000 selling armbands stamped with a phrase Winters used: "Hang Tough." The money was used to help pay for the statue of the late Mr. Winters that now looks over the Normandy countryside.

[txnativegop]

It is nice to see that some of the youngsters in this country honor our veterans.

[dfwgator]

I went to Normandy last year.

You see a heck of a lot more US flags flying there than in many parts of the US.

[txnativegop]

That is an utterly disheartening statement.

[SkyPilot]

He should have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was only denied one because another troop from the 101st was awarded one for his heroic actions on the same day, and the Army had a policy to avoid the appearance that they were playing unit favorites.

[dfwgator]

Winters didn’t seem to be the kind of guy who particularly worried about such things.

[concentric circles]

[GrouchoTex]

I am very happy to hear this news.
Major Winters take down of an artillery battery is now taught at West Point and undoubtedly saved many lives.

[God luvs America]

yup- i was there in 2000 on my honeymoon...i drove from the American cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer to Point du Hoc and on the way i saw one of the biggest American flags i’ve ever witnessed from a private residence flying on a barn,....

[God luvs America]

Bill Gueniere (spell?) passed a few years ago...

[volunbeer]

I don’t know that he meant it that way, but our cemeteries in France are incredible. They maintain them like Augusta National Golf Course - they are beautiful and the rows of crosses and stars perfectly aligned place a lump in your throat that will never leave you. It is the most humbling ground I have ever walked upon.

Dick Winters was a great man and every generation prays they have men like him when needed. A tremendous leader who is still studied at Infantry Officer Basic for the Army.

[SkyDancer]

Be nice to have France reinstate Sgt. (couldn’t find his name)Day, the first US soldier to enter Paris. He was honored with a special day that De Gaulle ended when he became President. He hated both the US and England.

[Rockpile]

My wife’s uncle is buried at Epinal Cemetery. He was killed near the end of the Battle of the Bulge.

[libertylover]

I went to Normandy last year...You see a heck of a lot more US flags flying there than in many parts of the US.

I was there on June 7, 1994, D-Day + 50 years and a day, and there were a lot of US flags then but I thought it was just for the +50 year celebration. Glad to know it's more than just that.

P.S. You could still see the yellow streaks on the grass where Clinton had walked the day before.

[azcap]

I was in Normandy last fall with my wife. Our rental car broke down in St-Lo - actually i broke by hitting a curb in a SmartCar and blowing the tire (no spare in a smartcar by by the way.) We walked from the tire shop to the rental car shop and walked past the local McDonald’s. The windows were hand painted with a beach scene from the invasion - American soldiers, american flags all through the windows. And this was no where near the anniversary time. They do this all year long.

[Charles Martel]

i drove from the American cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer to Point du Hoc and on the way i saw one of the biggest American flags i've ever witnessed from a private residence flying on a barn,….

Yep, I saw the same thing in 2011. Point du Hoc is doubly impressive - for the Rangers' assault and Reagan's wonderful speech there 40 years later. Really makes you tight in the throat.

[Retain Mike]

My favorite line from the Band of Brothers TV series was said by Winters to the jeep driver who brought them the last ammo they got from a dump as they were going into Bastogne. He said they were going to be surrounded. Winters replied, "We are paratroopers. We are always surrounded."

[Dr. Pritchett]

Uh oh. I can see how this statue might be offensive to Nazis one day. I hope we can leave it up for a while.

[SunkenCiv]

what GrouchTex said up there:

[snip] Three kilometers from Ste. Marie-du-Mont, the column encountered sustained enemy fire, and Winters was summoned to the front. The battalion commander informed Winters that there was a four-gun battery of German 105 mm cannons, a few hundred meters to the front across an open field opposite a French farmhouse called Brecourt Manor. The battery was set up in a hedgerow and defended by a 50-man German platoon. The guns were firing directly down a causeway leading to Utah Beach. The battalion operations officer directed Winters to take the battery. Taking his company, Winters made a careful reconnaissance and then issued orders for an assault. The attack would consist of a frontal assault led by Winters with covering fire from several directions to pin down the Germans. Winters selected three soldiers for the assault: Pvt. Gerald Lorraine, Pvt. Popeye Wynn and Cpl. Joe Toye. Asked later why he selected these three, Winters recalled, “In combat you look for killers.’ Many thought they were killers and wanted to prove it. They are, however, few and far between.”

Winters saw the impending attack as a “high risk opportunity.” The key was “initiative, an immediate appraisal of situation, the use of terrain to get into the connecting trench and taking one gun at a time.” Crawling on their bellies, Winters and his men got close enough and knocked out the first gun. Mowing down the retreating Germans, Winters then placed a machine gun to fire down the trench. He had also noticed that as soon as he got close enough to assault the first gun, the Germans in an adjacent hedgerow temporary lifted their fire so that they would not inflict friendly casualties. That was enough for Winters, who had a “sixth sense” that such a respite shifted the advantage to him.

With the first gun out of action, Winters grabbed two other soldiers and charged the second gun. Throwing hand grenades and firing their rifles, they took the second howitzer. Next to the gun was a case with a map that showed all the German artillery in the Cotentin Peninsula. Winters sent the map back to battalion headquarters and then directed another assault which rapidly captured the third gun. Reinforcements led by an officer from D Company soon arrived. Winters briefly outlined the situation and then watched D Company capture the last gun. With the mission complete, Winters ordered a withdrawal. It was 11:30 a.m., roughly three hours since Winters had received the order to take the battery. In summarizing Easy’s action, historian Stephen Ambrose notes that with 12 men, what amounted to a squad, later reinforced by elements of D Company, Winters had destroyed a German battery, killed 15 Germans, wounded many more, and taken 12 prisoners. It would be a gross exaggeration to say that Easy Company saved the day at Utah Beach, but reasonable to say that it had made an important contribution to the success of the invasion. [/snip]

http://www.majordickwinters.com/courageous.html

more:

http://www.majordickwinters.com/malarkey_affidavit.html

[tumblindice]

To this day you won’t see the word “rescued” in any 101st history of the battle.
I believe there was some entry along the lines, “General Patton’s 3rd finally caught up with us when they got some air cover”.