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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Farewell Major Richard Winters

Farewell Major Richard WintersFound out today via reddit that Major Richard Winters died last January 2, 2011.

To those who don't know, Maj. Richard Winters was the commanding officer of Easy Company of the 506st PIR from the 101st Airborne Div where it saw action in the European Theatre of World War II.

The exploits of Easy Company was made into a book: Band of Brothers that was written by Stephen Ambrose. It was then made into a 10 episode tv series with the same title in 2001. I count this book and this television series one of my most favorite. The irony of this is that I am currently watching episode 3 of Band of Brothers. Major Richard Winters even wrote a book that details further his exploits.

I do this yearly around Christmas and Winter season not because I love war. But rather to remind me how awful war is. My generation never got to experience the horror and fear of living in an age where nations are at war with one another. Thanks in part to people like Maj. Richard Winters, men of Easy Company and the soldiers of the allied forces. They were the people who took the cudgels and answered the call to uplift freedom and fight off tyranny and oppression that was engulfing the world at that time. And the price most often paid was their sacrifice.