Richard Winters

Richard Winters (21 January 1918 — 2 January 2011) was a United States soldier who fought in World War II. His experiences were made famous by the book and the television series Band of Brothers.

He was a member of Company E, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He led the company after the commanding officer was killed on D-Day in Normandy. Near the end of the war, he led his company to capture Adolf Hitler's mountain retreat in Bavaria, Berchtesgaden. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart.

After the war, he worked in a plaster mill in New Jersey. In 1951, he bought a farm in Pennsylvania and established an animal feed business. 

In 1990, he was interviewed by the author Stephen E. Ambrose, who used the records that Winters and others in E Company had written for his book. The title Band of Brothers comes from a line in William Shakespeare's play Henry V.

References

Category:1918 births
Category:2011 deaths
Category:Military people from Pennsylvania
Category:Purple Heart recipients