Major Dick Winters on the D-Day Assault of Brécourt Manor (Band of Brothers)
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- Major Dick Winters has been a personal hero of mine ever since I've seen the show "Band of Brothers" as a young man. Here are some clips from an interview of Dick Winters done by Rep. John Payne, which was recorded in the early 2000's. Thank you Rep. John Payne for sharing this interview with the world.
Here's the links to his interviews:
Part 1: • A Tribute to Maj. Dick...
Part 2: • Rep. Payne's Legislati...
Part 3: • A Tribute to Major Win...
Part 4: • A Tribute to Maj. Dick...
Part 5: • A Tribute to Maj. Dick...
There's something I need to say. One theme in the comment section is "we don't have people like this anymore." or "We need more men like him." or "This is why they call them The Greatest Generation." But that's wrong. There are people like him now. And they're everywhere. They do small things and big things. They're smart. They're brave. They're humble. They're there when you need them. Always remember that.
You’re so right. Every war is as heinous as the last. and death of your brothers that you experience is equally as painful as the man before. The actions of men in each war are just as gallant as the ones preceding it, yes these men are some of the bravest men to walk the earth, but so are the men from the civil war, ww1, Korea, Vietnam, even the men in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yes the times are different and war has significantly changed, but I’ve heard countless stories of combat stories and heroism in all of them. Never taking away the credit of these men and the miserable conditions they fought in, but all those other men in different generations absolutely deserve the same recognition! Thank you to all who laid down their lives for the freedoms we all profit from.
We need more men like him.
We should strive to be that person.
Not many at the top any more. After a certain rank, you get promoted for your politics, your political correctness or worse, your willingness to kiss the ring of your political masters.
Most peacetime generals dont survive the first year of war. WW2 is a good example. Look in the late 30's at the chain of command, England or the US. Very few generals survived their first engagements. In peacetime, they get too enamoured with dressing up, hobknobbing with celebrities and apple polishing and forget their function is to lead men in war and win, not dress pretty and stand out at cocktail parties in Washington.
Always humble, giving credit to his men, his trainers, and even a bit of luck. Dick Winters is leadership, personified.
My definition of a perfect leader.
I wish I could have had the chance to even just shake his hand , and thank him . Special person
It's quite amazing his ability to recall the events with such clarity 50 years on.
Amazingly sharp in his age. It only speaks to how sharp he must have been in his prime.
when you're constantly staring down the barrel of a gun, you tend to remember very clearly
you never forget the worst days of your life
I had a few bad experiences when I was younger. My older brother got his right leg caught in an auger on my uncle's farm 1977. I didn't see it happen but I did see my Grandpa and uncle pull in the driveway and tell me to call an ambulance. I was 10. I called for my dad. Mom was shopping. Long story short he's still alive, missed a year of school. Nothing like what Dick went through but a traumatic event like that is burned into my memory forever, I'm sure it was the same for him. I will never forget seeing my brothers right thigh basically filleted down to the bone. Dick Winters is a true USA BADASS. I'm just trying to tell you how a traumatizing event gets burned into your head. I remember the name of the cop that showed up first, then the ambulance, basically a station wagon back then. That whole week is burned into my head. I wish I could forget it but after 45 years I cant. So much respect for Him and all the other soldiers, the shit they saw and want to forget.
He has probably thought about the events in the war every day since it ended, so no wonder he remembers it very clearly
He doesnt have vices and he exercise alot keeping him on top shape.
That "one Medal of Honor per division" thing is absolutely ridiculous.
If someone deserves it, they should get it. No exceptions!
The Army is not perfect...
I have been reading other books, from authors like Mark Bando, et al. There were at least 3-5 more soldiers in the 101st who deserved the MoH in Normandy
Medal of Honor recipients get a nice retirement package after they retire. The Army bean counters were probably worried about too many people being rewarded with it. It All boils down to Money...
That rule shows just how serious the MoH really is. The military does not believe in participation trophies. Just because you were a part of the same heroic act, the military strives for excellency and that is defined by being the best. There is no room for second place. Especially for awards like the MoH. They only select the one most deserving even if the others probably deserved one too
Get this man his Medal of Honor
He is just one of many
@@JohnSmith-gb5vg yeah but clearly a 1 in a million natural leader and soldier
Proper man he picked up slack n got them to be best unit in the army sure he should receive it 200%
He was nominated for one. IIRC, he didn't get it because they had already awarded one to someone else in his regiment, some rule about only one per regiment...something like that. Kinda chicken shit if ya ask me.
@@rockstarmemes6378he has a distinguished cross, one below a medal of honor
Major Winter is a hell of a combat leader and tactician. His attack on the Brecourt Manor is still being taught at West Point by an infantry attacking a entrench position.
Just a legend. Full stop. And the guys with him. Lipton, Ranney, Compton, Malarkey, Guarnere. Wynne, Spiers etc. Salute to you all...
What a humble man. The world would be so much better if we had more men like him.
Whats amazing is that this was these soldiers first 24 hours in combat up against Germans who had been fighting since 1939. Excellent training excellent leadership excellent men.
Worth remembering that the German advance through Europe was mostly unopposed. Vast swathes of the German army, despite having been in service since the start of the war, hadn't seen any actual combat themselves.
This makes me sad to watch this now, knowing what these men went through and now they have passed on. It really makes me sad that I never met this man too because I only live like 30 minutes from Hershey PA where he retired, and I feel it's a shame that any of their stories went untold. My Grandfather fought in the Pacific and Philippines and said almost NOTHING about it, and he was changed for life. My Uncle, his brother, was killed on July 27th 1944 near Normandy - he was a young 2nd LT and was at the head of his company/platoon. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for valor and of course the Purple Heart.
This action is taught to this day at West Point and the War College as an ideal small-unit action.
On D-Day, the bombers were ineffective, the naval gunfire in preparation of the landings were ineffective, the air drops were all over the place. D-Day succeeded because of Dick Winters, Easy Company, an many many men like them, and because this kind of heroism happened over and over and over on D-day and beyond.
So true. The weather didn't help them. Men like Winters and the fact the Allieds threw everything and the kitchen sink at the Germans that day. It was attrition on the beaches and smart tactics by the Allieds, but a huge egotistical move by Hitler not allowing his people to wake him up at a certain time plus not leaving his panzer divisions closer to the beaches because the Allieds tricked them into where they were landing. A whole pile of luck & heroism. True heroes.
certainly, but they also hit the coast at a time it wasn't nearly as well defended as it had been in the past...if they hadn't planned it as well as they did, or if any information leaked, it could have been a disaster. I suspect the Dieppe Raid that failed taught them much about planning amphibious landings.
Invaded on Rommels Wife’s Birthday.
Love it. Not his birthday, his wife’s. Hahahahahahaggsgsgsgsgsgs
@@bobslobbins2864 inflated faux units and flew empty planes in loads of directions into Europe also.
Remarkable story. Such humility, such willingness to sacrifice your well being to defend and help the wellbeing of others. He shows what being a true leader is all about.
I continue to be so impressed with both Maj. Winters, as well as all of the troops in his command under the 506th PIR. As many have said previously, he was a humble man with humility and grace as he always gave credit to the training they all had and to everyone except himself. May he continue to RIP.
Literally nobody asked.🤦♂️
He will forever Rest In Peace
@@spanqueluv9er its a sincere comment, maybe you could learn some.
This man was a master tactician and yet so very humble. We are in desperate need of men like him today.
🙄🤦♂️💩
Lipton has said if he was hardened to war and it wasn't his 1st day he wouldn't have climbed the tree.
the crazy thing about true storys to the person who tells them is that it comes back as a video in your head. and as you watch him tell his parts and you can see his eyes kinda gaze out. and thats when you know he replaying it in his mind as he did it. crazy i would have loved to meet this man and hear his stories
As a retired officer with 21 years of practial experience, I completely understand Dick's humility and deference to his training and the skill of his men. Sure, he did an outstanding job, but it was the training, preparation, and teamwork that created the success. Dick deserves huge credit for employing his soldiers like a finely tuned machine and creating success based on their morale and individual contributions.
This is what an effective combat leader looks like.
Seen Band of Brothers and after researching how it was made it amazes me how accurate they portrayed the battles and history. Even down to how several of those on the 101st were injured or were killed. Without a doubt the greatest generation.
Till you get to blithe, they did him dirty
@@ashleyjennings5691 yea would have been funny if the real blithe was alive when they released the series
I put this guy on the same level as Hal Moore. Both great leaders who loved their men and would do anything to support them.
La Drang was the worst of the worst.. There are a number of big names throughout the years but you are right, these two stand out. Must be hollywood.
Definitely cut from the same cloth, I would agree.
It isn’t false crediting others to appear humble, he is correct about training and he is humble. We all stand on the shoulders of others and need those around us to pull in the same direction to succeed.
Such a humble leader. As a leader you always give success to your crew and if failure you took that on yourself. I believe this style was born from Dick Winters.
Oh Jesus Christ, stop.🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
@@spanqueluv9er Huh?
Well the "I believe this style was born from Dick Winters" bit was pretty ridiculous, but the rest is 👍!
"it was 7,8 or 9 guys for every one of our guys"..said like it was no big deal.
Probably accredited to Paratrooper training, and real talk. When being told, you will be surrounded by Nazi Germany... I'm sure with the training, 7,8,9, 10, was scary, but smaller in number, and achievable, compared to surround by hundreds of thousands in back of the mind.
In a country so divided. I have to remind myself, some people transcend partisanship. Such class,humility and selflessness. We could sure use people like that now.
There still are people like Maj Dick Winters out there. They just get increasingly hard to find.
Sadly a massive amount of people will only see a white, cis-gendered male. That number will only grow as CRT is taught in our schools.
Major Winters and E company are top notch no doubt of it but can I just praise the interviewer for a moment? Interesting and knowledgeable questions and comments throughout.
He is as good a listener as he is at his questions.
The first man who winters see when he landed was hall and hall died in brecourt, that day winters was so devastated
My favorite anecdote about this assault is that it’s still taught at West Point today as an example of effective small-unit tactics
In Band of Brothers Ambrose writes that Winters was put in for the Medal of Honor, but during the requisite hearing in England he gave credit to the other paratroopers under his command and downplayed his role. He "only" received the Silver Star.
He received the Distinguished Service Cross not the silver star for his actions that day
The Order for only 1 MoH award per Division has never been shown to be as ridiculous than in this instance.
that's not a standing policy it was only instituted for the invasion of Normandy, why I don't know but Robert Cole certainly did enough to earn his
I agree, it is just as ridiculous as the Marine who was denied his 3rd MoH because he already been awarded two. Sure they gave them out more easily in his time, but if someone earns it with the standards of the time, that should be the only criteria involved. If you earn it, you get it. PERIOD.
@@thomasfrench2012 Yes that was SGM Daly who's commander I believe said something like "I didnt recommend him because nobody needs 3"
Keep in mind though there were far less awards back in those days and as you said the criteria was not as stringent
That said if you read Daly's citations for both of his Medals of Honor and Navy Cross(which was the award meant to be his 3rd) you will probably agree he should have had 3
@@TacticalHistory I thought it was less stringent with more awards, but if there were fewer given, that makes it even more absurd. Just like only one per division, even if it was only for a limited time. As for SGM Daly, I think we all know why the third one was denied and it had nothing to do with him not deserving it.
@@thomasfrench2012 I worded this a little weird yes, your intuition was correct the criteria wasn't really set for the Medal of Honor and there were far more awards than there have been since the end of WW1. What i meant by less awards was that the MoH was really the only award from the Civil War until the beginning of the 20th century and then in WW1 it was only the medal of honor and service crosses.
literally less types of awards
“‘it was a young tree” jesus christ this guy is like some elder philosopher
Yes, yes. It's absolutely dependent on the team and the character of the people on that team. But the character and preparation and commitment of the members of that team are highly, highly influenced by and dependent on the leader of that team. Major Winters is speaking the truth, but he's also understating his role in developing that truth.
We were blessed to have these heroes of the greatest generation. Wow. Great interview.
Anyone else wish that you could be this man, looked on with such admiration and awe. As a scotsman its people like Maj Winters that makes me wish Id been a paratrooper for the US in Easy company. I honestly feel like as much as it would be terrifying it would be an honour to fight along side the men of easy.
True. But most of those who did, died. Just saying.. I admire this man too. But a lot of the untold stories are stories of the valiant soldiers who got shot.
..different time/society, things were kept simpler. I respect this man, but I would not be able to handle, what he, or others have seen, back then, or now. The amount of mental pain, loss, and anguish, he has pushed back, and endured for social "honor", or "hero"...no way I would willingly take that honor, knowing what the cost was. I get what you are saying though.
His humility is a beautiful compliment to his profuse intellect and diligence.
Thank you for these great videos and even more so, for them being brief. Much easier to watch a 5 min video than a 20-30 min...obviously.
A lesser man would sit back and just let the interviewer give him all the laurels and glowing praise in the world. I'm not saying Winters doesn't deserve praise, he certainly does, I just think his honesty and humility here is very impressive.
The miniseries makes it seem like the assault took about half an hour when it actually took many hours.
Thanks for posting these, Patrick!
This man would tumble in his grave if he could see what is happening in this country today.
😂
Dont attempt to speak for the dead, its disrespectful.
And this was their first action.... incredible
Still deserves the MEDAL OF HONOR, even if posthumously
How did this man not get the medal of honour ? 🙏
What a giga Chad. Took on a unit with a 10-1 disadvantage, won with minimal losses, in doing so directly saved potentially hundreds-thousands and indirectly uncountable, and then completely downplays everything he did (which was insane on its own, scouting the enemy position on his own) and credits his men and his trainers, which would include Sobel, instead of keeping any for himself.
One MOH per Division? God Almighty what in the world did the man in Winter's Division do to earn it?!!!
Reading a few other comments, something occurred to me. These men were heroes, no question about it. But there are and were many men just like this that fought in the last 20 years we were at war. I was in the army and I knew lots of people that were the most amazing people I've ever met. And I know there were so many more that were nothing if not heroes. The problem is our society doesn't care about these things. We criticize and put down masculine and brave men. We discourage our sons from being like this. We teach them masculinity is "toxic" and should be punished. So many would be heroes and good men shamed into being cowards and sheep. Our society has truly become perverse and disgusting. While this was the greatest generation, one of the greatest things about it was the recognition of the men that brought that about. Never be ashamed to be masculine or feminine as God made you. This world is evil, and in this day and age, those who stand up for what is right are treated as monsters. I pray for a time when men and women like this aren't needed, but are everywhere. Just in case
What a great man, thank God for men like him.
Funny, I can attest to the shadow or outline comment. I could tell who in my platoon was walking around by how they looked when walking at a distant or in the dark.
Edit: I knew my buddies pretty well. Miss and love those guys.
God Bless Mr. Winters...I would have liked to have known him...
Great humility and shows the advantages of keeping a clear head.
What an incredible man. Thank God for Dick Winters.
A true leader who loved his men.
What about it? You gonna finish your sentence?
Wow, so unselfish individual!!!!! My father-in-law also WWII vet loved this guy!!
He doesn't want to be told how great you/we think he is.
Articulate, factual, humble - an amazing man.
This guy is my idol! Brave and yet humble.
Thanks for sharing this,
To everyone sayin “we sure could use some men and people like him these days”.
You’re those people, just act the part and be genuine. Lol like wtf
EXACTLY
This man deserved the MOH. Just my opinion.
Go look up who got it instead. You’ll be like ok ok lol
@@noobovsky420 Winters has a quote in the book about that. He said “If I had x (I forget if it was a platoon or a full company), I could’ve taken Normandy!” It’s obviously a joke, but I think he was still kind of mad he didn’t get one. They top brass only gave out one per division in Overlord which makes no sense to me
I also thought that some years ago, but then I started to think of what he really did. Yes he did an amazing job but it wasn't really "heroic" he didn't really put himself beyond the call of duty. He did exactly what the orders where and did it almost perfect, but it wasn't like he did all of that alone and saved a bunch of men at the same time. If that was the case I think he'd won it. I think that the distinguished service cross is actually the right medal for him. But then again I wouldn't have been mad if he'd got the MOH.
@@kapten-awesome Being in a textbook is an honour in itself. The study of this assault will save lives as long as there is infantry.
@@kapten-awesome exactly. He obeyed orders and executed a plan he based off of the training he had received. A flawless plan and strategy against that type of position. That’s why he got a silver star
My word . Is he a hero? , No. He is a member of the special generation. We salute you sir!
The amazing thing is I believe they still use his assault as a training aid.
I'm an Australian & am in awe of this quite humble war hero. Don't make em like him anymore. Mores the pity
Winters was a true leader who looked out for his men!
Truly the last of a proud and hardworking generation..
If there was ever a man to call a true hero, Maj. Dick Winters is one. He is my hero, the men that gave their lives in WWII are my heroes! I wish I could have met Maj. Winters, shook his hand, gave him a hug and told him thank you. Thank you for what he and his brothers did in WWII.
Those that survive are not the heros, dummy.🙄🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️💩👎
The assault on the gun positions and the clips from the show are still shown to this day at the Marine Corps Basic School for Officers to illustrate how to property employ a support by fire and maneuver assault.
What he described is still in the Infantrymans manual, put there after this assault...
An incredible man all around!! He mentions a movie in this part, is there another film as well as the series?
Band of brothers still till this day 2024 the greatest tv series ever made
If our military had more Major Winters within their ranks, the USA would rule the world.
That man was a born leader.
I want to follow him into battle.
You watched this but the message never got thru. Major Winters fought not so American would rule the world but to prevent an evil regime from doing so.
Major Dick Winters was a military genius. Just a brilliant man, and god bless America we had him to fight for our freedom.
(From Pakistan) This man is our collective hero. It is sad to see even in US Heroes are not given the appreciation they deserve. He deserves many medals of honor.
A perfect action, with no KIA (i think), 10x as many German casualties as he had soldiers, and he credits his training and his men. That is modesty and integrity. One of the best sayings i have heard about the Greatest Generation is that free men from free societies came together to defeat totalitarianism and tyranny. Well said. Doesn't include the Soviets of course- not a free society. But i have great respect for the Soviet soldiers- despite what they had to deal with from their own side, they still gave Germany a tremendous beatdown in the east.
We are better because men like him lived among us 🇺🇸
I’d follow this man anywhere.
One of our greatest heroes
Dick winters
A man who listened in the classroom
I would say, what I'd give to for 30 minutes of his time just to talk about anything, but thankfully we have the book, series, and interviews like this. I was allowed 22 years with my Grandpa, who missed WW2, but was in Korea and 4 years of Vietnam. He looked up to men who served in WW2 and considered himself lucky to serve in the other two wars, conflicts, policing actions, (whatever we're calling them today) compared to WW2.
he need to get the medal of honor !
Two thoughts.
One, why doesn't the military have you fight with the people you trained with anymore? It seems like the modern equivalent would be AIT, but you'd be split up after that. Is it because the military is so much smaller now? Would they do it this way if they were raising and sending whole units out specifically for war?
Two, Winters says how this is in the training. Yet clearly it was an exceptional feat to have recalled and properly implemented this training. Why didn't D-company use it, for instance, instead of their failed attempt? Was tactical training not emphasised enough, for whatever reason, or was it something else?
first rule of combat, RECON! know where you are and where they are!
Took on the flank, genius. Who won the medal of honor if not him? 1 per division.
SO humble, just the training and his men... maybe it was but 10 or so men vs 60+ ? taking the flank and the whole battery ! MOH business !
What a great man .
These incredibly brave were given a mission and just did it without concern to the odds. American heroes.
Colonel Robert Sink, the commander of the 506th PIR, recommended Winters for the Medal of Honor, but the award was downgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross due to the policy of only one Medal of Honor awarded per division, which was awarded to Lieutenant Colonel Robert G. Cole
Eleven dislikes....WTF. Major Winters and easy company were fanatical heroes!
D Company attempted a frontal assault against an entrenched enemy [defilade] and failed. E Company then attacked from the flank [enfilade], thus minimizing the enemy's superior numbers and firepower.
All too often, tactics will be successful based upon resolve, training and tactics rather than comparitive numbers.
He needs the MOH now, retroactively. No telling how many lives he saved.
Just give him the MoH already! It's messed up that it has to be posthumous, but he deserves it.
This is brilliant. Oh my.
He credits his training. But a lot of people ignore, forget, or don’t properly execute.
You can see the look in his eyes when he said D company couldn’t handle it. 😎
I know this will ruffle some feathers. The CMH is not a participation trophy. I keep hearing people say Winters should have gotten it for this or that. Maybe BOB didn't depict events as they happened. Maybe they toned it down instead of sensationalizing it for dramatic effect. Not likely.
Maj. Winters lead his men brilliantly, taking objectives with very few casualties. That was his job!
When you get down to it, the only thing I can recall that stood out was when Speirs ran through the enemy position to connect with supporting troops and then back again. Even that wasn't worthy of the CMH.
The humility that Winters demonstrates is a testimony to men of that generation.
What year are these interviews from?
2003 I think.
Dick Winters is my HERO !!
A classic lesson in tactics.a small number of well trained men can roll up a much larger number entrenched, by a flank attack in enfilade with suppressing fire from machine guns. only the enemy directly facing you can engage, as all the others cannot fire through their own positions, and with aggressive fire and grenades while advancing, you can roll up the whole line, one position at a time.
There is a great scene in the show the west wing. A secret service agent protecting a staff member who had death threats. They are at a shooting range and the agent puts 5 rounds and leaving3 holes.
The protectee is astounded. “How can you shoot like that?”
“They give us lessons”.
I think WW2 was one of those wars where your survival rate was very low due to the fact that both sides, the Americans and the Germans were well trained and well equipped.