Richard Winters Richard D . " Dick " Winters ( January 21 , 1918January 2 , 2011 ) was a United States Army officer and decorated war veteran . He commanded Company " E " , 2nd Battalion , 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment , 101st Airborne Division , during World War II . Winters parachuted into Normandy in the early hours of D - Day , and fought across France , the Netherlands , Belgium , and eventually Germany . Later in the war , Winters rose to command the 2nd Battalion . Following the German surrender , he left the 506th and was then stationed in France where senior officers were needed to oversee the return home . In 1951 , during the Korean War , Winters was recalled to the U . S . Army from the inactive list and briefly served as a regimental planning and training officer on staff at Fort Dix , New Jersey . 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 U . S . 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 . Winters was featured in a number of books and was portrayed in the 2001 HBO mini - series " Band of Brothers " by Damian Lewis . He was a regular guest lecturer at the United States Military Academy at West Point until his retirement in 1997 . He was the last surviving Easy Company commander . Biography . Early life and education . Richard Winters was born in Ephrata , Pennsylvania to Richard and Edith Winters on January 21 , 1918 . He moved to nearby Lancaster when he was eight years old . He graduated from Lancaster Boys High School in 1937 and matriculated to Franklin and Marshall College . At Franklin and Marshall , Winters was a member of the Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity and participated in intramural football and basketball as a member of Upsilon Chapter . He had to give up wrestling , his favorite sport , and most of his social activities for his studies and the part - time jobs that paid his way through college . He graduated in 1941 with the highest academic standing in the business college . The war had broken out in Europe , and he enlisted in the Army . Military service . World War II . Winters enlisted in the army on August 25 , 1941 , in order to shorten his time in service . In September he underwent basic training at Camp Croft , South Carolina . Afterwards he remained at Camp Croft to help train draftees and other volunteers , while the rest of his battalion was deployed to Panama . In April 1942 he was selected to attend Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning , Georgia . It was there he met his friend Lewis Nixon , with whom he served throughout the war in the 101st Airborne Division . He was commissioned as a second lieutenant after graduation from OCS on July 2 , 1942 . During the course of his officer training , Winters reached the decision that he wanted to join the parachute infantry . Upon completing training he returned to Camp Croft to train another draft as there were no positions available in the paratroopers at that time . After five weeks he received orders to join the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment at Camp Toccoa ( formerly Camp Toombs ) in Georgia . He arrived at Toccoa in mid - August 1942 and was assigned to Company E , 2nd Battalion , 506th PIR , serving under First Lieutenant ( later Captain ) Herbert Sobel . Company E was also known as " Easy Company " per the contemporaneous Joint Army / Navy Phonetic Alphabet . Initially he served as a platoon leader in charge of 2nd Platoon , but later , in October 1942 , he was promoted to first lieutenant and became the acting company executive officer , although this was not made official until May 1943 . The 506th PIR was an experimental unit , being the first regiment to undertake airborne training as a formed unit . As many of the men had very little previous military experience the training at Toccoa was necessarily very tough and as a consequence there was a high level of personnel wastage . Indeed , of the 500 officers who had volunteered , only 148 successfully completed the course . The enlisted men had it equally tough , with only 1 , 800 men being selected out of 5 , 300 volunteers . On June 10 , 1943 , the 506th PIR was officially attached to the 101st Airborne Division . Later in the year they embarked on the " Samaria " bound for England , arriving there on September 15 , 1943 , and disembarking in Liverpool . They then proceeded to Aldbourne , in Wiltshire where they began an intense training program designed to make the regiment ready for the invasion of Europe that was planned for 1944 . It was while Easy Company was based at Aldbourne that the tension and competition that had been brewing between Winters and Sobel came to a head in November – December 1943 . Winters had privately held concerns over Sobel ' s ability to lead the company in combat for some time before this . Many of the enlisted men in the company had come to respect Winters for his competence and had also developed their own concerns about Sobel ' s leadership . Winters stated that he never wanted to compete with Sobel for command of Easy Company . However , the situation became out of hand when Sobel attempted to bring Winters up on charges for failure to carry out a lawful order . Feeling that his punishment was unjust , Winters requested that the charge be tried by court martial . When Winters ' punishment was set aside by the battalion commander , Sobel proceeded to charge Winters with another , separate charge the following day . While the investigation was being undertaken , Winters was transferred to the headquarters company and appointed as the battalion mess officer . Following this , though Winters tried to talk them out of it , a number of the company ' s noncommissioned officers ( NCOs ) gave the regimental commander , Colonel Robert Sink , an ultimatum : either Sobel be replaced , or they would hand back their stripes . Sink was not impressed and several of the NCOs were subsequently demoted and transferred out of the company . Nevertheless , he realized that something had to be done and decided Sobel had to be replaced . Sobel was transferred and given command of a newly formed parachute training school . Winters ' court martial was set aside and he returned to Easy Company as platoon leader of 1st Platoon . Despite their personality clash , Winters later stated he felt that at least part of Easy Company ' s success had been due to Sobel ' s strenuous training and high expectations . In February 1944 , First Lieutenant Thomas Meehan III was given command of Easy Company . Meehan remained in command of the company until the Normandy invasion , when at approximately 1 : 15 a . m . on June 6 , 1944 , the C - 47 Skytrain transporting the company headquarters section was shot down by German anti - aircraft fire , killing everyone on board . Winters jumped that night and landed safely near Sainte - Mère - Église . After having lost his weapon during the drop , he was able to orient himself , collect several paratroopers , including members of the 82nd Airborne , and proceed toward the unit ' s assigned objective near Sainte - Marie - du - Mont . With Lieutenant Meehan ' s fate unknown , Winters became the acting commanding officer of Easy Company for the duration of the Normandy campaign . Later that day , Winters led an attack that destroyed a battery of German 105 mm howitzer s which were firing onto the causeways that served as the principal exits from Utah Beach . The Americans estimated that the guns were defended by approximately one platoon of 50 German troops , while Winters had 13 men . This action south of the village of Le Grand - Chemin has been called the Brécourt Manor Assault . Aspects of the attack have been taught at the military academy at West Point as an example of an assault on a fixed position . In addition to destroying the battery , Winters also obtained a map detailing German gun emplacements in the Utah Beach area . On July 1 , 1944 , Winters was told that he had been promoted to captain . The next day he was presented with the Distinguished Service Cross by General Omar N . Bradley , who was then the commanding officer of the First Army . Shortly after the 506th was withdrawn from France and returned to Aldbourne in England for reorganization . In September 1944 , the 506th PIR took part in Operation Market Garden , an airborne operation in the Netherlands . On October 5 , 1944 , a German force launched an attack on the 2nd Battalion ' s flank , and threatened to break through the American lines . At the same time , four men in an Easy Company patrol were wounded . Returning to the headquarters , they reported that they had encountered a large group of Germans at a crossroads about to the east of the company command post . Realizing the seriousness of the situation , Winters took one squad from 1st Platoon , and moved off toward the crossroads , where they observed a German machine gun firing to the south , toward the battalion headquarters . After surveying the position , Winters then led the squad in an assault on the gun crew . Soon after taking the position , the squad took fire from a German position opposite them . Estimating that this position was held by at least a platoon , Winters called for reinforcements from the rest of the 1st Platoon , and led them in an assault . Later it was discovered there were at least 300 Germans . On October 9 , Winters became the battalion executive officer , following the death of the battalions ' former XO , Major Oliver Horton . Although this position was normally held by a major , Winters filled it while still a captain . On December 16 , 1944 , German forces launched a counter - offensive against the Western Allies in Belgium . After that the 101st Airborne was moved by truck to the Bastogne area on December 18 . Still serving as executive officer of the 2nd Battalion , Winters took part in the defense of the line northeast of Bastogne near the town of Foy during what became known as the Battle of the Bulge . The entire 101st Airborne and elements of the 10th Armored Division battled about 15 German divisions , supported by heavy artillery and armor , for nearly a week before the U . S . Third Army broke through the German lines surrounding Bastogne . After being relieved , the 2nd Battalion carried out an attack on Foy on January 9 , 1945 . On March 8 , 1945 , following the 2nd Battalion ' s move to Haguenau , Winters was promoted to major and shortly afterward he was made acting battalion commander of 2nd Battalion , when Lieutenant Colonel Strayer was elevated to the regimental staff . Second Battalion saw little combat after this . In April the battalion carried out defensive duties along the Rhine , before deploying to Bavaria later in the month . In early May the 101st Airborne Division received orders to capture Berchtesgaden . The 2nd Battalion set out from Thalham , Germany , through streams of surrendering German soldiers , and led the way to the alpine retreat , reaching the town at noon on May 5 , 1945 . They were still there when the war in Europe ended three days later on May 8 , 1945 . After the end of hostilities Winters remained in Europe as the process of occupation and demobilization began . Even though he had enough points to return to the United States , he was told that he was needed in Germany . Later , he was offered a Regular commission , but declined it . He finally embarked from Marseilles aboard the " Wooster Victory " on November 4 , 1945 . He was separated from the Army on November 29 , 1945 , although he was not officially discharged until January 22 , 1946 , and he remained on terminal leave until then . Winters was recommended for the Medal of Honor for his leadership at Brécourt Manor , but due to the quota system which limited the distribution of the award to only one per division , and since one Medal of Honor had already been awarded — to Lieutenant Colonel Robert G . Cole — the recommendation was downgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross , the U . S . Army ' s second highest award for combat valor . After the release of the " Band of Brothers " television miniseries , a letter - writing campaign to have Winters awarded the Medal of Honor began , but so far without success . Currently , Rep . Tim Holden ( D - PA ) introduced HR 3121 ( 111th ) " To authorize and request the President to award the Medal of Honor to Richard D . Winters , of Hershey , Pennsylvania , for acts of valor on June 6 , 1944 , in Normandy , France , while an officer in the 101st Airborne Division . " The bill has been referred to the House Armed Services Committee and the House Armed Services Committee , Subcommittee on Military Personnel . Korean War . Following the end of the war in the European theater , Winters worked for his close wartime friend Captain Lewis Nixon at Nixon ' s family business , Nixon Nitration Works of Edison , New Jersey , rising to become general manager in 1950 . On May 16 , 1948 he married Ethel Estoppey and continued to pursue his education through the GI Bill , attending a number of business and personnel management courses at Rutgers University . In June 1951 he was recalled to active duty in the Army during the Korean War . He was ordered to join the 11th Airborne Division at Fort Campbell , Kentucky , but he was given six months to report and in this time he traveled to Washington , D . C . to speak to General Tony McAuliffe , in the hope that he could convince the Army not to send him to Korea . He explained to McAuliffe that he had seen enough of war and apparently McAuliffe understood his position , but explained that he was needed because of his command experience . Winters then reported to Fort Dix , New Jersey , where he was assigned as a regimental planning and training officer . While at Fort Dix , Winters became disillusioned with his job , finding that he had little enthusiasm for training officers who lacked discipline and did not attend their scheduled classes . As a result he volunteered to attend Ranger School . He then received orders to deploy to Korea and travelled to Seattle , where during pre - deployment administration he was offered the chance to resign if he wanted to . Later years . He was discharged from the Army and became a production supervisor at a plastics adhesive business in New Brunswick , New Jersey . In 1951 , he and his wife Ethel bought a small farm where later the Winters built their farmhouse and together they raised two children . In 1972 , he went into business for himself , starting his own company and selling animal feed products to farmers throughout Pennsylvania . Soon afterward , he moved his family to Hershey , Pennsylvania . He finally retired 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 " . 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 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 . ' " Death . Winters , a resident of Hershey , Pennsylvania , died on January 2 , 2011 , at an assisted living facility in nearby Campbelltown , Pennsylvania . He had suffered from Parkinson ' s disease for several years . Winters had requested a private , unannounced funeral service , which was held on January 8 , 2011 . Winters was buried in the Bergstrasse Evangelical Lutheran Church cemetery in Ephrata , Pennsylvania , in a private ceremony . He is buried next to his parents in the Winters ' family plot . His grave is marked " Richard D . Winters World War II 101st Airborne " . On June 6 , 2012 , the 68th Anniversary of the D - Day landing , a 12 - foot tall bronze statue in Winters ' likeness was unveiled near the village of Saint - Marie du Mont , France . Winters only agreed for the statue to bear his resemblance on the agreement the monument would be dedicated to all junior officers who served and died during the Normandy landings .