SwiftVets.com

GM Strong · Last edited by GM Strong on Tue Jun 07, 2005 6:27 pm; edited 2 times in total

My Congressman needs the rest of us to support this. Winters is not in the best of health these days. The man deserves to be recognised.

Pa. Man Nominated for Medal of Honor 61 Years After D-Day
by KYW's Kim Glovas
A ceremony marking the 61st anniversary of D-Day was held Monday at Ridley High School in Delaware County, and Congressman Curt Weldon was on hand to announce that he plans to right a six-decades-old wrong.
Paratrooper Richard Winters of Hershey, Pa. dropped onto the beach at Normandy on D-Day with 12 other men in his unit. They took out German guns which had the Allied forces in their crosshairs.
Winters was nominated for the Medal of Honor at that time, but denied because of a quota system.
Congressman Weldon says that's not fair:
"Congress never determined that only one medal should be awarded for one unit. Unfortunately, the commanding officer of Dick Winters' unit decided, I think illogically, that only one Medal of Honor should be given. And since another soldier received that honor, Dick was denied that honor."
Winters' story was brought to life in the HBO series "Band of Brothers," in which he was portrayed by Tom Hanks. (Glavas is in error here)
Now, Weldon is introducing legislation to award Winters the Medal of Honor:
"This is the story of an ordinary man who did extraordinary things. Dick Winters didn't know growing up that one day he was going to be hero, that one day he was going to save the lives of his comrades, that one day people would talk about what he and his comrades did, and eventually would develop a movie about his story."
The ceremonies at Ridley High School also included a 21-gun salute in honor of fallen World War II veterans.
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8th Army Korea 68-69

wwIIvetsdaughter · Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 4:43 pm Post subject:

Well before it was a series on HBO, Band of Brothers was first a book by the late Stephen Ambrose I believe. I say "YES!" to Major Winter's Medal of Honor, but what can a citizen of another state do?

BuffaloJack · Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 4:57 pm Post subject:

the link to the story is here:
http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1118136153232170.xml&coll=1

I plan to write my representatives and request that they support this bill.
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Swift Boats - Qui Nhon (12/69-4/70), Cat Lo (4/70-5/70), Vung Tau (5/70-12/71)

Snipe

Winters' story was brought to life in the HBO series "Band of Brothers," in which he was portrayed by Tom Hanks.

No, no, no. Tom Hanks starred in "Saving Private Ryan". He did some
writing and directing in "Band of Brothers" Major Winters was
portrayed in "Band of Brothers" by a British Actor - Damian Lewis.
Sheesh!
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Tin Can Sailor

PhantomSgt · Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 9:29 pm Post subject:

Every man that set foot on the beaches on D-Day deserves a Medal of Honor in my book. They knew the odds were they would die or be wounded, yet they placed one foot in front of the other and walked over the superior German defences.

Cool

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Retired AF E-8

Independent that leans right of center.

Essayons · Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 11:17 pm Post subject:

No one from the 101st Airborne set foot on any D-Day (Normandy) beach!

Most units involved with the D-Day landings and airborne drops (behind German lines) were "green" troops.

Green troops (never in combat) have no clue as to what they are facing in combat until their baptism of fire. The beach at Omaha was a killing zone. Sword, Gold, Juno and Utah were less of a problem.

The 9th Infantry Division, which I served with in Vietnam, was held back until D-Day plus four days. They were battle hardened troops who had fought in N Africa and Sicily. Draw your own conclusions as to why this happened.

The lesson learned by the 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions on Omaha beach was the same lesson drilled into our heads in Vietnam - take the battle to the enemy. Sitting on your a$$ invites disaster. Head into an ambush and shoot your way out if you cannot bring in artillery or air support.

Conclusion: Most D-Day troops were "cannon fodder" who had the bravado of believing they were the best and could not be stopped.

They were correct. But they had no clue going in. They earned their place in history on Omaha beach. Medal of Honor for all - I think not.

Regards,
Dick
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Essayons - Let us try - the code of the Army Engineer. Sappers First, the code of the Combat Engineer.