A Towering, Quiet Hero Says Goodbye

We lost a great man last week. Major Dick Winters died on January 2, but--in his inimitably humble and quiet fashion--he asked his family to release the news only after his memorial service had been held. Winters was the commanding officer of the now-famous Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army.

Made famous by Stephen Ambrose's exceptional book "Band of Brothers" and the subsequent Emmy Award-winning HBO miniseries, Winters was the hero among heroes in a company of soldiers who fought on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, through the hedgerows in France and the liberation of Paris, the Battle of the Bulge, the liberation of Kaufering (a sub-camp of the infamous Dachau concentration camp) and--finally--the occupation of Hitler's Eagle's Nest at the very end of the war.



Winters grew up in central Pennsylvania in the beautiful and pristine town of Lancaster. After graduating high school, he entered Franklin & Marshall College. He mowed lawns, worked in a grocery store, and painted electrical towers in order to earn his way through college, graduating in June 1941 with a business degree. In order to shorten his time in the service, he voluntarily enlisted in the Army in August and was soon selected to complete Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Winters was thrust into leadership in the crucible of D-Day. His CO was shot down in the early hours of June 6, 1944 and Winters--unaware of his CO's loss, became acting commanding officer of Easy Company throughout the D-Day campaign.

Winters' character and personal qualities were perfectly suited for leadership. He was quiet and unassuming, courageous to the point of fearlessness, gathered and rarely impulsive, always ready to lead from the front rather than the rear. His men were singularly devoted to him because they knew he would never ask them to do anything he was not willing and ready to do first.

Winters married his wife Ethel in 1951, raised two children, went into business for himself and retired in 1997. He lived his later years in Hershey.

Winters' extraordinary leadership, coupled with his remarkable humility, are so characteristic of The Greatest Generation. His life and his legacy inspire me--and thousands of other deeply appreciative Americans.

69 Years Ago Today...

...America changed forever. On a leisurely Sunday morning in Hawaii--December 7, 194--"a date that will live in infamy"--America's nervous peace was ripped apart by the attack of 353 Japanese fighter planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers in the infamous and never-to-be-forgotten bombing of Pearl Harbor.

More than 2400 Americans perished that day--and many of them still call Pearl Harbor their final resting place. Five battleships--the USS California, the USS Utah, the USS West Virginia, the USS Oklahoma, and--most famously--the USS Arizona--were either destroyed or run aground. A total of eighteen naval vessels were destroyed.

The next day, President Roosevelt asked Congress for a formal declaration of war against the Empire of Japan. Less than an hour later, the war authorization was approved. Three days later, the Axis powers of Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S.--and America reciprocated with a war declaration of its own later that same day.

Thus--within the space of just four days--America was plunged into a massive two-front war that ultimately claimed the lives of 416,000 Americans before the war finally ended with Japan's surrender in August 1945.

I have visited the USS Arizona Memorial on two different occasions. It is a place of solemn remembrance and reverent respect. Even today, oil droplets still bubble to the surface of the sea from the fuel tanks on the ship--a quiet, poignant reminder that Pearl Harbor is yet a home of the brave.

The History Behind "I'll Be Home For Christmas"

Often, the meaning of songs and the circumstances under which they are written make the songs eminently more interesting. That's the case with one of America's all-time favorites--"I'll Be Home For Christmas". The song was written in 1943, at the height of World War II. Hundreds of thousands of young GI's were stationed in Europe and the Pacific, far away from their loved ones and the comfort and safety of home.

The mood of the country was perfectly captured in a new Christmas song penned by Kim Gannon and Walter Kent. In it, the song begins cheerfully and hopefully, affirming that the subject of the song will be home for Christmas "where the love-light gleams". But the song ends with the haunting closer: "I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams".

When the song was recorded by Bing Crosby and released in the fall of 1943, it shot to the top ten in the record charts and became an instant classic.

For millions of Americans during the War--and today for those serving our country in Iraq, Afghanistan, and throughout the world where our troops are stationed--the closest the troops would get to home at Christmastime is in the dreams they share with their loved ones who would readily welcome them.

On This Day...

A lifetime ago today, on May 1, 1945, a German reporter announced this shocking news to his fellow countrymen: "The Fuhrer has fallen at his command post at the Reich Chancellery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for the homeland of Germany".

Six days later, on May 7, General Jodl signed the act of unconditional surrender which officially ended the Second World War in the European Theatre (Japan would not finally surrender until some three months later). World War II remains the signal event of the 20th century, and its effects are still felt today, 65 years after it ended.


How? There are many reasons, but consider these:

• The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council represent the victors of the Second World War: Russia, China, Great Britain, France, and the United States. Germany and Japan, arguably more powerful and influential than Britain or France, are conspicuously not permanent members.
• Some twenty years after the Berlin Wall fell, post-World War II tensions still exist between Russia and former members of the old Soviet Union. Georgia and Ukraine figure most prominently in the headlines.
• In recent years, the lunatic leader of Iran, President Ahmadinejab, has declared that the Holocaust is a historical lie foisted on the world by Israel and the United States.
• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization--NATO--which was formed in the immediate aftermath of the war to allow the USA to help protect its European allies from Soviet adventurism, still exists today--having substantially expanded its membership to include many former Soviet states and satellites, including Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Slovenia among others. Importantly, NATO also includes the nation of Turkey, the largest Muslim nation in the world.

One of the United States' most enduring historical triumphs was the Marshall Plan. A total of $13 billion--in addition to the $12 billion the United States had offered to the war-torn countries of Europe prior to the Marshall Plan's creation--was poured into Europe to assist the crippled nations of our former enemies rebuild their towns and cities and, ultimately, their pride and their livelihoods. The program's irrefutable success is measured today in the fact that Germany is one of America's closest allies--and a champion of human rights, including its recognition of the nation of Israel.