The Legacy of WWII Veteran Dick Winters Lives on in Arizona

Editor's Note: This article is also featured today at WorldNetDaily.com

by Gerard Valentino

During the wall-to-wall coverage of the Arizona spree killing and attempted assasination of a U.S. Congresswoman, a small news blurb was hardly noticed by most of America - Major Richard Winters of "Band of Brothers" fame died in his rural Pennsylvania home.

For those not familiar with his story, Richard Winters became the commander of E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division on D-Day when the acting commander was killed and led the unit throughout the Normandy Campaign. He was then promoted to Battalion Executive Officer where he fought in Bastogne and throughout the rest of the war.

On D-Day he led a tactically perfect assault on Brecourt Manor where the Germans had artillery set up to fire directly onto Utah beach. By destroying the guns, then-Lt. Winters saved countless lives. Sadly, he was never awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his exploits, even though he took out the guns despite a severe numerical disadvantage.

At the time, the 101st Airborne Division had an arbitrary rule that only one soldier could be recommended for the Medal of Honor, so Winters was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Sadly, the death of a true American hero was overshadowed by the act of a lunatic, and Winters didn't get the recognition he deserved.

Granted, there were countless men who served in the same heroic nature during WWII, and Winters admitted he was merely one of many.

Unlike so many others, Winters refused to accept the "hero" tag because he simply did his job - a message that many in America today should take to heart.

Yet, 'just doing his job' was heroic.

There is an old saying that getting soldiers to go into combat the first time is easy, but getting them to return is the problem. Just as we have thousands of military members making the choice to return to Iraq and Afghanistan today, Dick Winters and the men he led went into battle again, and again, and again.

When asked by interviewers if he was a hero, Dick Winters always gave the same answer, "No, I am not a hero, but I served with men who were heroes." That statement alone sums up the man, but also sums up the courage of so many Americans including the heroes during the Arizona killing spree.

Dick Winters was someone who deserved the Medal of Honor, was loved and feared but always respected by his men and was denied a fitting tribute in death. If he knew, he would surely point to the heroes of the Arizona tragedy and gladly allow them the praise.

Even in our grief, and even in the worst of times our country and more specifically the people always answer the call. Despite the few cowards that danced in the blood of the Arizona victims to make political hay, there were more that simply prayed and pulled together.

On the day that Winters died, he would surely be proud to know that his legacy was upheld, and that like the soldiers in Normandy, Americans ran toward the sound of bullets to aid the wounded or dying.

At a time like this we need to be thankful that America produced a man like Major Richard Winters, and we need to be just as proud that Americans, most of who were unarmed, ran into gunfire to protect fellow citizens.

We also need to remember that America has produced only a handful of men like Jared Lee Loughner, but produced far more men and women like Dick Winters.

Gerard Valentino is a U.S. Army veteran, military historian, a member of the Buckeye Firearms Foundation Board of Directors and the author of "The Valentino Chronicles – Observations of a Middle Class Conservative," available through the Buckeye Firearms Association store.