Richard "Dick" Winters

WINTERS HERSHEY World War II Veteran, Richard 'Dick' Winters of Hershey, and formerly of Fredericksburg, passed away on Sunday, January 2, 2011, at Columbia Cottage in Palmyra. Dick was the son of the late Richard N. Winters and Edith Esbenshade Winters of Lancaster County. Raised in Ephrata and Lancaster, he graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in June 1941. He immediately enlisted in the U.S. Army as a Private. After basic training he attended Officers Candidate School, deciding to become a paratrooper and during the war rose through the ranks to become a Major. After the loss of the Company Commander on the jump into Normandy on D-Day, Dick became Company Commander of Company E, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. On D-Day morning, Dick led the company into the battle at Brecourt where they knocked out four German artillery pieces which were firing on the American soldiers landing on Utah Beach. For this action he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. He continued to lead Easy Company through the Holland Campaign, after which he was appointed Battalion Executive Officer. Dick led the battalion in the Battle of the Bulge at Bastogne and was promoted to Battalion Commander. Dick then commanded the battalion through the final advance into Germany and Berchtesgaden in 1945. Dick's wartime exploits and experiences have been publicized world-wide by the book "Band of Brothers" by Stephen Ambrose, the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers" and his personal memoir "Beyond Band of Brothers" written with the aid of his friend, Col. Cole Kingseed. After the war he worked at Nixon Nitration Works and Johnson and Johnson in New Jersey until he accepted a position as sales representative for Whitmoyer Laboratories in Myerstown, and later was a grain broker and distributor of animal nutritional products for Poorbaugh Grain, Lancaster. In 1971 he formed his own company R.D. Winters Supply Company Inc. to distribute animal feed products and nutritional supplies to feed mills. He later added R. D. Winters Inc. to sell Hershey by-products for animal feed. After twenty-five years in business he retired in 1996. Survivors include his wife of over sixty years, Ethel E. Winters; his son, Richard T. Winters husband, of Diana; and grandson, Jake. He is also survived by his daughter, Jill and her husband, Ed Peckelun. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister Beatrice and his sister Ann Sheehan. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to any veteran's hospital.Funeral services were private. A public memorial service to celebrate his life will be announced shortly. Services under the care of Paul L. Gravenor Home For Funerals, Ephrata.To offer your condolences visit gravenorhomeforfunerals.com