Dick Winters: Hang Tough

A note of full disclosure here: I am not and have always been a fan and student of WWII history. My grandfather served as an Army "mustang," moving from an enlisted Soldier through OCS to a young 2d Lieutenant. I idolized him and I'm sure it colored my view of history and kept me focused on learning all I could. Because of my love for the period and the heroes who fought in it, I was enthralled by the opportunity to experience the 50th Anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy with a tour headed by Stephen Ambrose, author of "June 6th 1944" and later, "Band of Brothers." I was up close and personal with actual heroes -- men who were ordinary to being with and who rose to hero status, knowing their way home went through Berlin. Their heroism was quiet, confident and consisted of a shared conviction of inevitable victory.

Later, when Ambrose's "Band of Brothers" was released, I absorbed every nuance, utterance and fact and I watched every episode religiously. Damien Lewis, who portrayed Maj Dick Winters, became Maj Winters in every possible way. I was hooked.

So, today, scrolling through Amazon Prime, I saw this video about "The Biggest Brother," Dick Winters: Hang Tough. Watching it, I saw an hommage to Maj Winters and the creation of a leadership monument to him in northern France, near Utah Beach in Normandy.

I remained glued to the program, seeing film clips and photographs I'd never seen as well as interviews with surviving 506th PIR men and Maj WInters. Local officials, and especially, the family who owned Brecourt Manor, the location of Winters' first combat test. He was friends with this family and remained so for the rest of his life.

Dick Winters exemplified leadership in all its qualities. He personified inspiring leadership and personally insisted such a memorial must include (and represent) all leaders, not just him. He succeeded, and the sculptor captured him as the stereotype of the great combat leader, as he surely was.

This documentary is an hour very well spent, particularly for those who, like me, are students of WWII and for whom Dick WInters is a real-life personal hero. Watch it -- you will not be wasting your time.