#kingseeds

[evidenceof]

From Harry Welsh's file: Presenting Dick Winters turning to Lewis Nixon in breakneck speed

One of the things that never fails to make my stomach do goddamn backflips are instances post-war when people remember Dick and Nix as a pair, whether consciously or unconsciously. Like a verbal/written representation of Dick saying, "He [Nix] always walked on my left side, one or two steps behind me." Many such cases:

Second Lieutenant Thomas Gibson in a letter to Harry Welsh (Feb 1980) after mentioning Dick he asks, "Oh by the way how's that Nixon guy?"

I do remember Dick Winters quite well. I almost hope he doesn't remember me. About the last time we met eyeball to eyeball was when we were in Germany or Austria toward the end of the war. [...] I do hope you give him my best wishes when you can. By the way, whatever became of Lewis Nixon? As I remember it Cap. Lewis J. Nixon III got letters from his father whose return address was Lewis J. Nixon II. Nixon Nitrate 00., Nixon, New Jersey. Is that right or do I just remember it that way? Tom L. Gibson in a letter to Harry Welsh dated 6 Feb. 1980

When Cole Kingseed's daughter, who spoke a lot to Dick when her father was writing out the two memoirs, hears about Dick's passing she says immediately,

“He was such a good friend to you, to us. I hope Major Winters is reuniting with his good buddy Nixon up in heaven right now, sharing their old glory stories.” - Conversations with Major Dick Winters, Cole C. Kingseed

Don Malarkey goes into a Nixon tangent in a 2007 panel when asked by an audience member, "Why did you guys respect Winters so much?"

He was a guy you admired for his personal habits... He didn't drink. He didn't smoke. I don't think he cussed. And there was a question on whether he went out with girls or not. So I think Winters' personal habits reflected on a feeling of a mentor. His best friend was a severe alcoholic—Nixon. How do you figure that out? Nixon, uh, Winters went to work for Nixon at Nixon Nitrate Company in New Jersey. [...] Band of Brothers Panel, American Veterans Center Conference 2007

[pfctipper]

Kind of fascinated by this little section in one of Dick’s books:

Our OCS class graduated on July 2, 1942 […] Following lunch at the officers club, we were free to go our own way, though few of us had actual assignments. Nixon was assigned duty at Fort Ord, California, and attached to the military police unit on post. With no immediate openings in the paratroopers, I returned to Camp Croft to train another contingent that had recently arrived. As an officer I didn’t last long at Croft: about five weeks to be exact, before receiving orders to report to the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, at Camp Toombs, Georgia […] Following a brief leave, I arrived in Toccoa in mid-August. Disembarking from the Southern Railway train adjacent to the Toccoa Coffin Factory, Lewis Nixon and I were directed to board an army truck for “Camp Toombs” - Richard Winters and Cole C. Kingseed, Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters (2006)

Camp Croft is in South Carolina and Fort Ord is in California. I don’t know much about the USA rail system, or how involved the army would have been in coordinating their travel, but regardless of whether Dick was travelling from South Carolina or wherever he was on leave - how likely is it that they’d end up on the exact same train into Toccoa? Maybe something they’d either planned themselves, or they’d departed from the same place (maybe Nix had leave too?)- or a coincidental train/station reunion after five weeks apart? Who knows, but very sweet that he makes a point of highlighting that the two of them (and only the two of them?) arrived together anyway.

[shelyue99]

I came across BoB only last year (thanks Netflix the best thing you have done to me) hence 22 years late. I wish I had done it earlier (I definitely heard about the title, maybe in the 2000s, but I was too young at the time to take interests in it and I forgot about it), but because of it there are already a lot of resources and materials (and numerous fanfics) to dig into. I love research and meta and here are something I found interesting and relevant to BoB (with a focus on Winters and Nixon) :

Documentary:

Ron Livingston's Band of Brothers Video Diary

We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company

He Has Seen War

Book:

Band of Brothers, by Stephen E. Ambrose

Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoir of Major Dick Winters, by Dick Winters, Cole C. Kingseed

Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led the Band of Brothers, by Larry Alexander

Conversation with Major Dick Winters: Life Lessons from the Commander of the Band of Brothers, by Cole C. Kingseed

Hang Tough: The WWII Letters and Artifacts of Major Dick Winters, by Erik Dorr, Jared Frederick

Parachute Infantry: An American Paratrooper's Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich, by David Kenyon Webster

Tinderbox: HBO's Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers, By James Andrew Miller

Podcast:

HBO's official Band of Brothers 20th Anniversary Podcast

The Ross Owen Show, this blog has all the BoB cast interview recordings.

Dead Eyes

Other Materials:

"Band of Brothers" 20th Anniversary Symposium, the video can be found here.

Re the symposium, I love some of the trivia stories the cast shared, like when some replacement guy (I remembered it's Rene Moreno who played Ramirez but my memory could be fuzzy) were having dinner with the OG Easy men at this posh restaurant after shooting. Someone asked Moreno what he did today and he said he cut his hair and got to shoot the gun something like that, and Neal McDonough (Compton) asked him to drop and gave him 20, Moreno looked at Ron Livingston for help, who he thought was the only normal person at the table, but Ron was like yeah you had to do it, and so he dropped and did 20 push-ups and startled the waitress and other customers.

The other interesting episode is that when they were shooting for the river crossing scene in Ep 8, a replacement guy (Ramirez or Hashey?) who wasn't in the bootcamp and wasn't that immersed, jokingly told Dexter Fletcher (Martin) to fuck off, everyone went quiet like how dare you say to that to the officer, and Ross McCall (Liebgott) asked, "Permission to throw him off the boat, sir," Fletcher said let him think about it. They didn't throw him off the boat but I find the comparison between those who went to the bootcamp vs. those didn't and thus didn't have a clue is so interesting. Oh, and Matthew Settle still scared the other cast and staff because Speirs is so scary lol.

[roseslaces]

"I’m thinking of the letter that Talbert sent you shortly before he died. He said, ‘Dick, you are loved and will never be forgotten by any soldier who ever served under you. You are the best friend I ever had. . . . You were my ideal, and motor in combat. . . . You are to me the greatest soldier I could ever hope to meet.’” “The feeling was certainly mutual. Floyd Talbert will always be special to me. I have said this more than once. If I had to pick out just one man to be with me on a mission in combat, it would be Talbert.”

Conversations with Major Dick Winters -  Cole C. Kingseed

[lightthewaybackhome]

This is my second time through this book. It was one of the first Band of Brothers books I read when I first started collecting their stories. This time through, I read it with a lot more hooks in place to hang information on. I have a better feel for the war and who the man are now. I also loved reading it after reading Conversations with Dick Winters also by Kingseed. It brought a new layer to this book, reading them back to back.

Again, Winters remains my top earthly hero. I admire his character and his love for his men. I love his straightforwardness, his privacy about himself, and his obvious pride in the men who made up Easy Company. They were special indeed.

Winters talking about Nixon: What greater trust, what greater honor could I ask for than to be trusted with his precious inventory of Vat 69?

[siriusist]

Just so you know, I’ve been listening to the audiobook “Conversations with Major Dick Winters: Life Lessons from the Commander of the Band of Brothers,” and written by Dick Winters’ friend retired Colonel Cole Kingseed, and basically besides being a reflection on leadership skills, important people in Dick Winters’ life, and the follies of people attempting to profit off of people who would become important historical figures, it also has some piping hot tea about the series and the actual Lewis Nixon so hear me out.

So firstly, together with Damian Lewis’ 20th Anniversary podcast reflections last year, the book mirrors a lot of what Cole basically saw in the hiring of Damian Lewis to play Dick Winters. 

So from what Damian Lewis said about the hiring process initially in the 20th anniversary podcast, when he entered the studios when he initially came from England, there was a guy who had just left who was a Canadian actor who looked EXACTLY like Dick Winters. As in, blonde hair, built like a brick shithouse, passably could pass as American, etc. Damian said himself on the podcast that he thought that was basically it for him, because he was very much a redhead, not built like a brick shithouse, and English. 

What he politely left out of that entire story was the tea that fucking Cole Kingseed spilled which was that apparently after they had the final guys coming in to be cast to play Winters, Damian Lewis went out with Ron Livingston and partied till 4am in the morning.

What I’m loving about this is if we piece together both narratives, it’s basically Damian presuming he wasn’t going to get cast, going “fuck it” and deciding to go out with the boys anyhow, getting shitfaced drunk until 4am the next morning because he assumed he could just sleep it off and catch a flight back to England later that week, but no.

What ended up happening is Damian got back to the hotel at 4am, got a phone call three hours later at 7am, saying that Tom Hanks wanted to meet with him for 10am at the studio.

DAMIAN DRANK SIX CUPS OF COFFEE IN THE REMAINING THREE HOURS BEFORE MEETING UP WITH TOM HANKS AND GOT THE JOB.

The next tea that was spilled was about the real Lewis Nixon, and jfc I shouldn’t find this funny but I do.

So basically Dick Winters was telling Cole Kingseed that one of the reasons he didn’t commit himself to someone when he was in the war/overseas was because he noticed that men who were in love basically or had a wife and children basically fell apart quicker in battle, because they had something outside of themselves that they were worried about dying about and basically couldn’t effectively function as a soldier is supposed to.

Basically, Dick literally quoted Sherlock Holmes and was basically going on about having a “cold efficient brain” in battle.

DOESN’T THIS MOTHERFUCKER BRING UP THAT “THAT’S WHY LEWIS NIXON AND I GOT ALONG SO WELL EVEN THOUGH WE WERE TWO VASTLY DIFFERENT PEOPLE” BECAUSE BASICALLY LEW HAD A SHIT MARRIAGE AND HE SAW FIRSTHAND THAT “THERE WAS NO LOVE IN THAT HOUSE.”

NOW.

WHAT THIS PRESUMES IS THAT:

A) At some point before Lewis Nixon divorced his wife, Dick Winters was invited to his home.

B) He saw firsthand in his own polite way that Lew and his wife both fucking hated each other.

C) LEWIS NIXON HAD THE GALL TO ASK HIS TECHNICALLY COMMANDING OFFICER TO ACT AS A BUFFER FOR HIM AT AN AWKWARD DINNER HE PROBABLY HAD TO RETURN TO

D) LEWIS NIXON HATED HIS WIFE SO MUCH THAT BY INSINUATION HE DID NOT CARE IF HE LIVED OR DIED; AND 

E) COULD YOU FUCKING IMAGINE THOSE CONVERSATIONS DICK WINTERS WAS FORCED INTO.

“... This is delicious salmon, thank you for inviting me to your lovely home.”

“SEE, LEWIS- DICK DOESN’T THINK MY SALMON’S TOO DRY.”

“He’s being polite. You’re the only dried-out thing around here, sweetheart-”

“OOPS WOULD YOU LOOK AT THE TIME-”

“IT’S ONLY 6:40-”

“Well, the Pennsylvania Dutch turn into pumpkins around seven, sooooo-”

[searchingforacircuitbreaker]

Photos of Richard Winters and Herbert Sobel. You can see the hand-drawn mustache on Sobel, to the right.

Dick told me that long after the war, one of his children discovered a photograph of Sobel taken in 1942. Someone had drawn a “Hitler mustache” on the thirty year-old company commander. When asked who had done such a thing, Dick proudly owned up to his crime. “I did. That’s exactly how we felt about him.” He continued, “Captain Sobel commanded through fear and intimidation. That is not how a leader should conduct himself. Sobel was not just unfair; he was mean-spirited….  I lost all respect for our commander the day he announced to the officers, ‘In Easy Company we will lead through fear, not by example.' It made such an impression on me that I recorded his words in my diary.

- Conversations with Major Dick Winters by Cole C. Kingseed

[justforbooks]

Richard Davis Winters, usually known simply as Dick Winters,  was born on January 21, 1918. He was an officer of the United States Army and a decorated war veteran. He is best known for having commanded Easy Company of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Division, during World War II. He was eventually promoted to major and put in command of the 2nd Battalion.

As a first lieutenant, Winters parachuted into Normandy in the early hours of D-Day, June 6, 1944, and later fought across France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and eventually Germany. After the German surrender in May 1945, he left the 506th and was stationed in France, where senior officers were needed to oversee the return home. In 1951, during the Korean War, Winters was recalled to the Army from the inactive list and briefly served as a regimental planning and training officer on staff at Fort Dix, New Jersey. After volunteering and completing training to become a Ranger, Winters was issued orders for deployment and was preparing to depart for Korea, but instead left the Army under a provision that allowed officers who had served in World War II but had been inactive since to resign their commission.

Winters was discharged from the Army and returned to civilian life, working first in New Jersey and later in Pennsylvania, where he set up his own company selling chocolate byproducts from The Hershey Company to producers of animal feed. He was a regular guest lecturer at the United States Military Academy at West Point until his retirement in 1997.

During the 1990s, Winters was featured in a number of books and television series about his experiences and those of the men in Easy Company. In 1992, Stephen Ambrose wrote the book Band of Brothers: Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, which was subsequently turned into an HBO mini-series Band of Brothers with Damian Lewis portraying Winters. When the miniseries won Primetime Emmy awards, Winters attended the ceremony to accept on behalf of Easy Company while other surviving members of the company watched from the St. Regis Hotel in Los Angeles.

Winters was also the subject of the 2005 book Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led the Band of Brothers, written by Larry Alexander. His own memoir, Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters, co-written by military historian and retired U.S. Army Colonel Cole C. Kingseed, was published in early 2006. He also gave a number of lectures on leadership to cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

On May 16, 2009, Franklin and Marshall College conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters upon Winters.

Despite the many accolades he had received, Winters remained humble about his service. During the interview segment of the miniseries Band of Brothers, Winters quoted a passage from a letter he received from Sergeant Myron "Mike" Ranney, "I cherish the memories of a question my grandson asked me the other day when he said, 'Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?' Grandpa said 'No...but I served in a company of heroes'."

Awards

Combat Infantryman Badge

Parachutist Badge (2 combat jump stars)

Distinguished Service Cross

Bronze Star (2)

Purple Heart

Distinguished Unit Citation (2)

American Defense Service Medal

European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (3 campaigns and arrowhead device)

World War II Victory Medal

Army of Occupation Medal

National Defense Service Medal

French Croix de Guerre with palm

French Liberation Medal

Belgian Croix de Guerre with palm

Belgian Commemorative Medal of the 1940–1945 War

Winters died on January 2, 2011, at an assisted living facility in Campbelltown, Pennsylvania, 19 days before his 93rd birthday. He had suffered from Parkinson's disease for several years. Winters was buried in a private funeral service, which was held on 8 January 2011. He was buried in the Bergstrasse Evangelical Lutheran Church cemetery in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, next to his parents in the Winters' family plot. His grave is marked "Richard D. Winters, World War II 101st Airborne". His wife Ethel died in 2012, at age 89.

*Photo Above: Richard Winters in Holland, October 1944

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[lightthewaybackhome]

"Lewis has always been quick to point out that he merely represented Major Winters in the miniseries, he didn't portray him."

-Conversations with Major Dick Winters by Cole Kingseed

He represented him very well.

DAMIAN LEWIS as RICHARD WINTERS in Band of Brothers 2001 | created by Steven Spielberg & Tom Hanks

[evidenceof]

just letting you know that your tags abt yearning Winters made me burst into tears at work and no one was more surprised than me. Never have I ever lost it like this lmao. Are those quotes from his book?

OMG. I am holding your hand, my friend because I Felt That Right Here. Yes, they're from several books/collections actually (I am screaming with you) and they're all burned into my prefrontal cortex. :') Presenting co-dependency as told by Dick Winters, as inflicted by one Lewis Nixon III.

To address said tags and their corresponding quotes: 1. #dick “didnt want to see anyone but the moment nix called he answered” winters

“Winters was not only separating from DeEtta, but people in general. When friends came to visit, he refused to see them. This included the wife of fellow F&M graduate Rick Burgess, the army friend Winters loaned $125 while at Camp Croft so he could get married. The new Mrs. Burgess stopped at the house to welcome him home, but he would not go downstairs to greet her. “Naturally I hurt her feelings, but I didn’t want to see her,” he said. “I didn’t want to see anybody.” But the offer from Nixon was still in Winters’ mind. At about the same time the man from New Holland Supply made his offer, Nixon again called his army buddy. “Job’s still open, Dick,” he said. “Let’s get together and talk about it.” Winters liked the idea of seeing Nixon again, and agreed.” From "Biggest Brother" by Larry Alexander

2. #dick “Capt. Nixon left this week...im as lonesome as a lovesick swab” winters (One of my personal favorites. Makes me chew on my arm)

September 16, 1945, Letter to DeEtta (on Lew's departure from Europe) "Capt. Nixon left this week, which makes everything just dandy. I am about as lonesome as a lovesick swab who married a Wave on an eight hour pass." From Hang Tough: The WWII Letters and Artifacts of Major Dick Winters

3. #richard “Dick's eyes shone as he recalled his old friend” winters

"You seem to have been polar opposites. You didn't drink, nor did you swear. Nixon did both and in huge quantities. He would have been the last man whom I think you would have befriended. What was the foundation of your friendship with Nixon?” Dick's eyes shone as he recalled his old friend. "It is hard to explain. I had first met Nix when we were at Fort Benning, Georgia, in officer candidate school. Later we served as platoon leaders under Sobel's command. A special bond always exists among the platoon commanders in any military com-pany, particularly when they perceive their own commander as 'the enemy.

There is no question in my mind that Nixon was the best combat soldier in 2nd Battalion. By the time we jumped into Holland, I was so lonely that I needed someone in whom I could confide my inner thoughts. That someone was Nix. Whenever the bullets began to fly, I could turn and there stood Nix. From “Conversations with Major Dick Winters.” by Colonel Cole Kingseed

Once again, I am holding your hand so we can both scream together and marinate in this Winnix brainrot. I'm so sorry to have caused you distress in the WORKPLACE!!

[shiftyskip]

What did Nix do after the war?

Hey! 

Sorry anon but I do not have my books with me so I could do more research but according to Wikipedia: 

“ Richard Winters served as the best man at the wedding. Nixon got his life back together and overcame his alcoholism during their marriage. They had no children. “ 

and 

After the war, Nixon worked at his family's Nixon Nitration Works in Edison (then Raritan Township), New Jersey, alongside his father, Stanhope, and longtime friend, Dick Winters. (Ambrose, Stephen E. (1992). Band of Brothers: Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7434-6411-6. page 306)

 Lewis Nixon died of complications from diabetes in Los Angeles, California, on January 11, 1995. Dick Winters gave the eulogy at Grace's request. (Winters, Major Dick; Kingseed, Cole C. (2006). Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters. Berkley Hardcover. ISBN 978-0-425-20813-7. page 276)

In other books/memoirs/records

According to ancestry: 

Lewis Nixon married Grace Umezawa, who was of Japanese descent. She had, unfortunately and unfairly, been relocated to an internment camp during World War II. 

(Source Information Title U.S., Final Accountability Rosters of Evacuees at Relocation Centers, 1942-1946 Author: Ancestry.com Publisher: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Publisher Date: 2013. Publisher Location: Provo, UT, USA Repository I)

His parents divorced in 1945. 

Nix’s mother died on June 24, 1948. 

Source for above: (Date: 1948-06-24Source Information. California Death Index, 1940-1997. Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.State of California. California Death Index, 1940-1997. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics.)

His sister, Blanche, died on November 4, 1955.  She had committed suicide and was found by Nix’s wife at the time. (This is not to bring any shame to the family, but to raise awareness that just because this family was wealthy did not mean they were okay)

Source:  (Date: 1955-11-04, California Death Index, 1940-1997AuthorAncestry.comPublisherOnline publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.Original data - State of California. California Death Index, 1940-1997. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics)

His father would die in 1958. 

According to Grace’s obituary from 2016:

“ In 1956, Grace married Lewis Nixon. In marriage, Grace and Lewis had a wonderful, loving life. They happily travelled the world, listened to music, supported charitable causes, and raised pets—among them Anubis the cat, Nicholas the one-eyed dog, and Peter the rabbit—as well as feeding a neighborhood family of raccoons and the annually migrating Mr. and Mrs. Duck. Grace and Lewis often spent time with their nieces and nephews, teaching them cards and backgammon and playing for keeps over the children’s allowance money.” 

One can assume that Nixon had a son with someone, as it is stated in her obituary, it is stated: “Grace is survived by her brother George and sister Dorothy, her stepson Michael and grandsons Miguel and Will, fourteen nieces and nephews, numerous grand- and great grandnieces and grandnephews, and by her devoted cat, Binky.”

Key word: Stepson Michael. Grace had not married someone else, as far as records go, so this must be Nix’s kid. 

To go even farther and possibly enter creep level, in will and estate appellete court case, after Nix’s father died. It talks about the estate of  Stanhope Lewis, it mentions Nix and his only child “a son, Michael, aged 14 when decedent died.”

 Nix’s father died in 1958. So doing the math, Michael was born in 1944 although I do not know when. 

I have no idea legal terms but I’ll attach some legal stuff here, “... remaindermen of the decedent's estate, of a life interest in a portion of the estate bequeathed to decedent's son, Lewis Nixon, which was renounced by the latter. “

Dick Winters states that Nix had several failed marriages until 1956, when he married Grace and found as Winters called it, “true happiness” and “peace within himself”. (Richard Winters, Beyond Band of Brothers, 276) 

He died in January of 1995 and Winters was asked to give the eulogy at his funeral and he did so.  (Richard Winters, Beyond Band of Brothers, 276)

It is known he attended at least one reunion, since Malarkey tells a story in his memoir about Nix and Compton at one in Dallas (Malarkey, Easy Company Soldier, 247) 

So there you have it, Nix’s life after the war was extremely rough. He lost nearly all of his family within a few short years but did manage to find love and happiness with his wife Grace. 

[isabellesoares101]

Dia 7: Major Richard Winters

Richard Davis Winters (New Holland, 21 de janeiro de 1918 - Hershey, 2 de janeiro de 2011) foi um militar estadunidense que serviu na Companhia Easy, 2º Batalhão, 506º Regimento de Infantaria de Paraquedistas da 101ª Divisão Aerotransportada do exército norte-americano durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial.

Winters alistou-se no Exército em 1941. Após a graduação do treinamento básico ele foi selecionado para frequentar a Escola de Oficiais do Exército norte-americano. Ali conheceu seu amigo Lewis Nixon, com o qual ele passaria toda a Segunda Guerra Mundial, na 101ª Divisão Aerotransportada. Como membro inicial da Companhia E ("Easy Company"), Winters começou a trabalhar como líder de pelotão após graduar-se no programa da Escola de Oficiais do Exército norte-americano em Fort Benning, Georgia, EUA.

Durante o treinamento inicial de paraquedismo no Campo militar de Toccoa, no estado da Geórgia, Winters engajou-se na Companhia E como Oficial e foi promovido a Primeiro Tenente enquanto o comandante inicial ainda era o Capitão Herbert Sobel.

Após o envio da 101ª Divisão Aerotransportada para a Inglaterra, surgiram reclamações dos sub-oficiais da Easy Company naquilo que o próprio Winters mais tarde chamaria de "motim". O capitão Sobel foi substituído pelo primeiro-tenente Thomas Meehan III no comando da Easy Company pouco antes do Dia D.

Em 6 de junho de 1944, aproximadamente às 01:15h, o C-47 que carregava a equipe de paraquedistas número 66, levando Meehan e o quartel-general da Easy Company, foi abatido pela bateria antiaérea alemã matando todos a bordo da aeronave. Desconhecendo o destino de seus companheiros, Winters assumiu o comando da Easy Company. Ele permaneceu como comandante da Easy Company durante toda a Batalha da Normandia.

Após pousar seu paraquedas fora da rota prevista, perto de Sainte-Mère-Église e tendo perdido sua arma durante o salto, o tenente Winters conseguiu identificar a sua localização, agrupou alguns paraquedistas, que também pousaram fora da área prevista, e marchou na direção do seu objetivo perto de Sainte-Marie-du-Mont.

O tenente Winters foi indicado para receber a Medalha de Honra (condecoração mais alta dos EUA) por liderar o pelotão que destruiu uma bateria de canhões Obus alemães de 105 mm que disparavam nas vias de acesso que serviam como saídas principais da praia de Utah durante a invasão do Dia D. As armas eram defendidas por, pelo menos uma guarnição de 50 alemães. Winters tinha somente 12 homens. A tomada dos canhões alemães ocorreu ao sul de Le Grand-Chemin e frequentemente é lembrada como Operação Brécourt Manor. Além de ter tomado a bateria de canhões, Winters também encontrou um mapa detalhando todas as posições da defesa alemã na área da praia de Utah. A condecoração foi rebaixada para Distinguished Service Cross, a segunda maior condecoração militar por combate, em função de uma política de premiação de somente uma Medalha de Honra por Divisão. O tenente-coronel Robert G. Cole fora o soldado da 101ª Divisão Aerotransportada premiado com a Medalha de Honra pela Batalha da Normandia.

Após o lançamento da minissérie Band of Brothers, foi lançado um abaixo-assinado visando a premiação da Medalha de Honra retroativamente, ao major Winters.

A própria Operação Brécourt Manor ainda é estudada em academias militares ao redor do mundo com um exemplo clássico de tática de pequenas unidades. Em julho de 1944, Winters foi promovido a Capitão.

Durante o decorrer da Operação Market Garden na Holanda, em setembro de 1944, Winters recebeu tarefas de oficial executivo no 2º Batalhão, 506º Regimento de Infantaria de Paraquedistas. Apesar de tais tarefas serem de responsabilidade de um major, ele assumiu as responsabilidades enquanto ainda era capitão. Durante a Campanha na Holanda, o capitão Winters liderou um ataque bem sucedido com 20 membros da Easy Company contra uma força de 200 soldados alemães.

Em 16 de dezembro de 1944 os alemães lançaram uma contra-ofensiva contra os Aliados na Bélgica. Após a transferência da 101ª Divisão para Bastogne, na Bélgica, em 18 de dezembro, o capitão Winters (como comandante executivo do 2º Batalhão e da Easy Company) manteve as linhas de batalha a nordeste, próximo à pequena cidade de Foy durante o que tornou-se conhecido como a Batalha das Ardenas.

Toda a 101ª Divisão Aerotransportada e partes da 10ª Divisão blindada americana detiveram diversas Divisões de elite alemãs por quase uma semana, antes que parte do 3º Exército norte-americano cruzasse as linhas de defesa alemãs ao redor de Bastogne. Ele foi promovido a Major logo após a Batalha das Ardenas. Winters e a Companhia E continuaram a marchar Europa a dentro até que em abril de 1945, o 2º Batalhão entrou na Baviera. Em maio, ele e seus homens capturavam o Berchtesgaden, também chamado de O ninho da Águia. Logo depois, a Companhia Easy tomava a cidade de Thalham, no interior da Alemanha. Em 8 de maio de 1945, Winters e a 101ª Divisão Aerotransportada foram notificados oficialmente da rendição da Alemanha Nazista. Em 29 de novembro de 1945, Richard Winters deu baixa no exército.

Winters trabalhou por algum tempo com seu amigo dos tempos de guerra Lewis Nixon nos negócios da família de Nixon. Voltou a ser convocado durante a Guerra da Coreia para treinar a infantaria e os Rangers do exército americano entre 1950 e 1953. Após este segundo período de serviço militar, Winters administrou seus próprios negócios, vendendo ração animal para fazendeiros no estado da Pennsylvania. Ele e sua esposa Ethel compraram uma pequena fazenda onde Winters construiu sua casa, pedra sobre pedra e criou seus filhos, Tim e Jill. Aposentou-se em Hershey, na Pennsylvania, perto da cidade de Harrisburg. Winters tornou-se um ícone de sua geração com o livro de Stephen Ambrose, Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest de 1992 e com a mini-série da HBO Band of Brothers (onde é interpretado pelo ator Damian Lewis), baseada no livro.

Winters foi matéria do livro Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led the Band of Brothers, escrito por Larry Alexander e publicado em 2005. Também escreveu suas próprias memórias: Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters a duas mãos com o historiador militar e coronel aposentado do exército, Cole C. Kingseed, publicado no início de 2006.

Apesar de sempre ser muito elogiado, Winters permaneceu humilde sobre o papel que desempenhou. Em um dos episódios da série Band of Brothers, Winters citou um trecho de uma carta que recebeu do Sargento Mike Ranney, "Eu guardo as lembranças de uma pergunta que o meu neto me fez outro dia quando me disse: "Vovô, você foi um herói na guerra?" Vovô disse "não ... mas eu servi em uma companhia de heróis."

Winters residiu em Hershey, Pensilvânia, e morreu em 2 de janeiro de 2011 num asilo na cidade de Campbelltown, Pensilvânia. Ele foi enterrado no cemitério da Igreja Evangélica Luterana Bergstrasse em Ephrata, Pensilvânia, em uma cerimônia particular. Há vários anos sofria da doença de Parkinson. Está enterrado ao lado de seus pais na sepultura da família Winters onde esta escrito Richard D. Winters WW II 101st Airborne.

Fonte: Wikipédia.

[lyselkatzhappynerding]

Band of Brothers bibliography

Non-exhaustive list, only my 506th PIR Easy Co/101st Airborne related readings so far:

🦅 Stephen Ambrose - Band of brothers

Only kinda mandatory because the show is based on it but to be taken with a pinch of salt.

🦅 Dick Winters - Beyond Band of brothers

Very interesting to read Winters' own words. Although not my fav because it's (unsurprisingly) very factual and analytical. Good for historical/chronological reference.

🦅 Cole Kingseed - Conversations with Major Dick Winters

Interesting, mostly focused on Winters' leadership qualities

🦅 Larry Alexander - Biggest Brother

❤ A fave! The approach is more personal and human (also most of the nuggets about Nixon are from this book).

🦅 Don Malarkey/Bob Welsh - Easy company soldier

❤ A fave!!! Little warning, it's pretty melancholic, I always cry a lot rereading. (If I loved TV!Skip before, I totally fell in love with he real guy after that, second hand feels and all)

🦅 William Guarnere/Edward Heffon/ Robyn Post - Brothers in battle, best of friends:

❤ A fave!!! This one is both hilarious and devastating -because war is hell. (I usually reread a chapter after Malarkey's to soothe my poor little heart.)

🦅 Marcus Brotherton - Shifty's war

❤A fave!!! Biography written with 1st person POV, Shifty's voice is beautifully captured. (It's so heartwarming, I'm in perpetual beaming "Awwwwww" mood)

🦅 Marcus Brotherton - A company of heroes (anthology):

❤A fave. Individual focus on a selection of biographies with testimonials from their family. (I totally fell in love with Smokey reading this one)

🦅 Marcus Brotherton - We who are alive and remain (anthology): Global retelling of the whole story with multiple accounts.

🦅 Larry Alexander - In the footsteps of the Band of brothers, Return to Easy Company's Battlefields with Sgt. Forrest Guth

What the title promises! Prepare the travel bucket list!

🦅 David Kenyon Webster- Parachute infantry

I was a little refractory at first, because it looks like it was a big referencee in the writing of BoB and I'm still salty about Ambrose's work.

That being said, it's interesting as an individual's experience of the war and gives little details on the sceneries and every day activities of a private.

🦅 Chris Langlois - How Easy Company Became A Band of Brothers

❤ A lovely book for younger audiences from Doc Roe's grandson. Beautifully illustrated by Anneke Helleman.

🦅 Ed Shames/Ian Gardner - Airborn, the combat story of Ed Shames,Easy company

(Quite salty) POV from the (at some point) 3rd platoon leader (A little mention of Nixon, whom Shames found difficult to work with, in S2)

🦅 Marcus Brotherton/Lynn Compton - Call of duty: I've tried to read that one several time but it just doesn't speak to me

🦅 Donald Burgett - Currahee/The road to Arnhem/Seven Roads to Hell/Beyond the Rhine

Easy reading, the whole ride from an Able company paratrooper's POV, same kind of personal memoirs packed with interesting details like Webster's (with less complaining 😂).

🦅 Ian Gardner - Tonight We Die As Men/ Deliver Us From Darkness/ No Victory in Valhalla

Following the 506 PIR 3rd battalion. A bit heavy but interesting for a larger view of the actions (from the battalion Doc Roe couldn't find in Bastogne, lost his way)

*The short documentary film "Seize and hold Carentan" by N3DLand follows this battalion.

🦅 George Koskimaki - D-Day with the Screaming Eagles/ Hell's Highway/Battered Bastards of Bastogne 

Very information packed collection of personnal recollections. A bit confusing if you are not already familiar with the subject.

(I only picked bits of each book so far, wanting to find out what happened to the 326 airborne medical unit. Also interesting for Lipton and other vets' recollections)

🦅 Charles Whiting - American Eagle

Very interesting, from an non American POV. I learnt about some stuffs only mentioned in passing or not at all, like the disaster of operation tiger in Slapton sand, or that the higher command wasn't exactly confident about the efficiency of such airborne units until Bastogne.

🦅🏥 Paul Woodadge - Angels of Mercy: Two Screaming Eagle Medics in Angoville-au-Plain on D-Day

❤ Medics!! The title says it all. Beautiful story. The medics are from the 501st PIR

*There's a WWII Foundation documentary "Eagles of Mercy" about this.

🦅 Robert Bowen - Fighting with the Screaming Eagles

Interesting personnal account from a glider's pov (401st glider infantry regiment) and life as a POW captured in the Battle of the Bulge.

🏥 Martin King - Searching for Augusta: the forgotten angel of Bastogne

❤ Remember the black nurse "Anna" in Bastogne? Her real name is Augusta Chiwy and that's her amazing story. (Just be aware that the author is a bit "salty" towards Renée Lemaire, more likely about the spotlight she received while Augusta was forgotten for so long)

*The book has a documentary counterpart.

🦈David Kenyon Webster - Myth and maneater: The story of the shark

❤ Don't mind the sensationalist cover choice from the publisher who finally accepted to publish it (posthumously), profiting from the cinematic success of Jaws.

It's beautifully and humorously written, very interesting and surprisingly ahead of its time (1960s) viewing sharks as much more than bloodthirsty monster.

[roseslaces]

Dick smiled when he mentioned the next NCO. “And then there was Floyd Talbert. He had it all. We developed a personal friendship dating back to Toccoa. He was athletic and dedicated. You knew if your life were on the line, he would come through. At Toccoa, he was in 3rd Platoon, not mine. On the march to Atlanta, Talbert was slugging along with a machine gun. Behind him was Walter Gordon, who was supposed to carry the gun. I can still see the determination on Talbert’s face. I promoted him to sergeant in Normandy. During the counterattack at Carentan, he held the right flank along the railroad. After Normandy, I promoted him to platoon sergeant when Carwood Lipton took over as company first sergeant. When Lipton received a battlefield commission later in the war, Talbert became first sergeant. He couldn’t work with Captain Speirs—you will have to read his letter to see why he turned in his stripes. Talbert claimed that he was always comparing Speirs to me. We simply had different leadership styles, but I guess I should be flattered. I wrote to DeEtta about Talbert after the war. I told her that I was going deer hunting with an old sergeant of mine from Easy Company. That sergeant was Talbert. It wasn’t the hunt as much as I just enjoyed being around this guy. We didn’t have to talk to enjoy each other’s company, nor did we have to talk in combat or during a battle. A word or two, or a wave of the hand, and we knew precisely what the other guy was thinking. That makes working just lovely. Of the enlisted soldiers in E Company, Talbert is the only one whom I would classify as a friend. These are the ones you always remember. The men who do their best, you never forget them.”

Conversations with Major Dick Winters -  Cole C. Kingseed

[lightthewaybackhome]

My favorite books this year were:

•Conversations with Major Dick Winters by Cole C. Kingseed

•Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

•Crazy Horse and Custer by Stephen E. Ambrose

•A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

•The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

•Winter Rose by Patricia A McKillip

•To Hell and Back by Audie Murphy

•Indianapolis by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic

2022 Reading Challenge

I have read 95 of 100 books for the 2022 Reading Challenge! http://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/31193749

[wecomrades]

Master List War Material

Hello everyone!

I decided to make my own list about war stuff and share it with you lots. These are all of the movies and TV shows that I've ever watched and books that I read; it's going to be WWI, WWII (with Holocaust as well), Vietnam War and Iraq War related. What can I say, I'm a slut when it comes to matters of war and soldiers, mostly. I'll keep updating it with new stuff every now and then. 

I really hope you find this interesting and useful! If you have any suggestions or questions or whatever, my DMs are always open ❤️

MOVIES:

WWI

1917

War Horse

Testament of Youth

1918

All quiet at the Western front

The Eagle and the Hawk

WWII

Dunkirk

Hacksaw Ridge

Midway

Inglourious Basterds

Fury

Flags of Our Fathers

Unbroken

Saving Private Ryan

Schindler's List (Holocaust)

The Thin Red Line

Pearl Harbour

The Longest Day

The Dirty Dozen

The Pianist (Holocaust)

Anthropoid

Train de vie

The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) (Holocaust)

Hurricane

Black Book

Saints and Soldiers

The Darkest Hour

The Monuments Men

T-34

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Holocaust)

Life is Beautiful (Holocaust)

Elle s'appelait Sarah (Holocaust)

Jakob the Liar (Holocaust)

The Zookeeper's Wife (Holocaust)

Sobibor (Holocaust)

The Photographer of Mauthausen (Holocaust)

At War with Love

Jojo Rabbit

Kapò (Holocaust)

Perlasca: the Courage of a Just Man (Holocaust)

A Bag of Marbles

Where Hands Touch (War/Holocaust)

Naked Among Wolves (Holocaust)

Company of Heroes

From Hell to Victory

The Big Red One

Son of Saul (Holocaust)

U-Boot 96

Uprising

Downfall

A Bridge Too Far

Defiance

The Resistance Banker

Greyhound

My Honor Was Loyalty – Leibstandarte

Ghosts of War

Goodbye Children

Jonah Who Lived in the Whale

Atonement

The Sound of Music

Another Mother’s Son

Sophie Scholl – The Final Days

Into the White

Nancy Wake: Gestapo’s Most Wanted

Resistance (2020)

Lancaster Skies

POST WWII

Reunion

Operation Finale

The Truce

Sophie's Choice (Holocaust)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Denial

The Windermere Children

VIETNAM

Hamburger Hill

Good Morning, Vietnam

The Last Full Measure

Danger Close: the Battle of Long Tan

We Were Soldiers

Apocalypse Now

Full Metal Jacket

Platoon

The Deer Hunter

Da 5 Bloods

Tunnel Rats

Rescue Dawn

IRAQ

12 Strong

The Hurt Locker

Sand Castle

American Sniper

Jarhead

The Yellow Birds

OTHER

Triple Frontier

War Machine

Black Hawk Down

The Siege of Jadotville

TV SHOWS:

WWI

Birdsong (2 episodes)

WWII

Band of Brothers (10 episodes)

The Pacific (10 episodes)

Catch-22 (6 episodes)

Generation War (3 episodes)

Colditz 2005 (2 episodses)

The Liberator (4 episodes)

AU

The Man in the High Castle (4 seasons/40 episodes)

SS GB (5 episodes)

POST WWII

Close to the Enemy (7 episodes)

Restless (2 episodes)

IRAQ WAR

Generation Kill (7 episodes)

BOOKS:

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

La banalità del bene di Enrico Deaglio (for my italian fellas)

L'impostore di Giorgio Perlasca (same as before)

Reunion by Fred Uhlman

D-Day by Larry Collins

The May Beetles by Baba Schwartz

Village of Secrets: Defying the Nazis in Vichy France by Caroline Moorehead

The Diary by Anne Frank

Lilac Girls: A Novel by Martha Hall Kelly

The Big Break: The Greatest American WWII POW Escape Story Never Told by S. Dando-Collins

If This is a Man by Primo Levi

The Periodic Table by Primo Levi

If Not Now, When? by Primo Levi

The Truce by Primo Levi

A Bag of Marbles by Joseph Joffo

Dunkirk by Robert Jackson

Dunkirk by Joshua Levine

Unbroken by Laura Hillembrand

Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose

The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters by Dick Winters and Cole Kingseed

Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends by Edward Heffron, Robyn Post, and William Guarnere

Easy Company Soldier: The Legendary Battles of a Sergeant from World War II's "Band of Brothers" by Don Malarkey

Parachute Infantry: An American Paratrooper's Memoir of D-Day and the Fall of the Third Reich by David Webster

Un anno sull'altipiano di Emilio Lussu (sadly this one is only in italian)

Generation Kill by Evan Wright

Commandant of Auschwitz by Rudolf Hoss

The Sergeant in the Snow by Mario Rigoni Stern

Shifty's War: The Authorized Biography of Sergeant Darrell "Shifty" Powers, the Legendary Sharpshooter from the Band of Brothers by Marcus Brotherton

Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, the Man Who Led the Band of Brothers by Larry Alexander

Searching for Augusta: The Forgotten Angel of Bastogne by Martin King

A Company of Heroes: Personal Memories about the Real Band of Brothers and the Legacy They Left Us by Marcus Brotherton

The Combat Story of Ed Shames of Easy Company by Ian Gardner

Liberation by Imogen Kealey

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

How Easy Company Became a Band of Brothers by Chris Langlois