Contact:
Jason Roberts
27 Rahling Circle Suite D14
Little Rock, AR 72223
(501) 734-4129
For
Immediate Release
Wilson
History & Research Center to receive Major
Richard “Dick” Winters, of “Band of Brothers” fame and well-known D-Day
commander of Easy Company, 506 PIR, 101st Airborne Division Korean War era
helmet October 20th at
11:00am at the state capital with Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe
“Band
of Brothers” fame Major Richard “Dick” Winters and well known D-Day
commander of Easy Company, 506 PIR, 101st Airborne Division Korean
War era helmet is being gifted by Robert Hoffman to the Wilson History &
Research Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, a 501c3 charitable foundation founded
by Robby Wilson.
Major
Winters wore this helmet after he was recalled to service for the Korean War,
serving as a regimental training officer of the 364th Infantry Regiment
stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey, from 1951-1952. The helmet is a late WWII
type with hinged chinstrap loops and a latter production heat lot number of
1189C (around early 1945). Featured on the front over the textured olive drab
paint finish is a hand painted gold-colored oak leaf insignia for the rank of
major.
The
helmet liner features Winters’s name boldly in white on the front below
another hand painted gold-colored oak leaf. The 364th Infantry Regiment coat of
arms is well rendered on either side, hand painted in white, blue, and green
above a silver scroll bearing the regiment’s motto, “Cross and Oak.” An
officer’s vertical white stripe is painted to the back. Inside, the liner
shows all the makings of late WWII construction with a light shade olive drab
cotton twill webbing and leather sweatband. Winters positioned the back of the
sweatband onto the rear neck strap, which was a popular adjustment during WWII.
Dick
Winters’s storied World War II journey took him through some of the toughest
fighting of the European Theater: Normandy, Market Garden, and Bastogne. He
began the war as a lieutenant and platoon commander in E Company of the 506th
Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division and ended the war in 1945 a
battle-hardened veteran and commander of the 506th 2nd Battalion, holding the
rank of major. Major Winters received several medals for his WWII service,
including the Distinguished Service Cross for his leadership on the successful
assault against a German artillery battery at Brécourt Manor, which he was also
recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was deeply respected by the
troops serving under him for being a great combat leader.
After
the war Major Winters was discharged from the Army and began working with his
good friend Captain Lewis Nixon, whom he served with in the 506th, at Nixon
Nitration Works in Edison, New Jersey. He married his wife Ethel in 1948. In
1951 the Army recalled Major Winters to active duty and he served as a training
officer in the 364th Infantry Regiment stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Having
seen enough combat and war, Major Winters hoped to avoid going to Korea and did
so after he was offered the chance to resign his position shortly before being
shipped out.
Major
Winters worked several jobs after his discharge until settling down with his
wife and family in Hershey, Pennsylvania, retiring in 1997. His heroic actions
and those of “Easy” Company during World War II gained him worldwide fame
through the book Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose and the HBO
miniseries of the same name. In 2006 he published his memoir Beyond Band of
Brothers. Major Richard “Dick” Winters passed away on January 2, 2011,
at the age of 92.
The Wilson History and Research Center (WHRC), is a tax exempt, charitable foundation serving in accordance with our Charter. Our goal? A complete collection of every piece of military headgear developed, produced and modified, by every country during the 20th Century. For further information please visit www.militaryheadgear.com or contact Jason Roberts at 501-734-4129.