The "A Hero Returns Home" Story

Preface:  71 years ago today, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, a descendent of the pacifist Pennsylvania Dutch Mennonite conscientious objectors, commanded the invasion of Normandy on what has been since called D-Day.  My story today deals with another hero of that war, Major Richard D. Winters, leader of what was known as the "Band of Brothers.  I take time today to remember Major Winters, a local resident, with the following story.  

Major Richard Winters

It was an ordinary day.  About a year ago I wrote of one of Lancaster's County's heroes during WWII.  Major Dick Winters was a hero to many including my father who was also in the armed forces during WWII.  Many readers may remember the HBO miniseries titled "Band of Brothers" which was based on the wartime heroics of Major Winters.  Dick was a graduate of Lancaster, PA's Franklin and Marshall College and after graduation he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a Private.  

Memorial headstone in Ephrata, PA

He eventually became a paratrooper, rising to the rank of Major.  On D-Day he make a jump into Normandy where, after losing his Company Commander, became the Commander of Company E, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.  He led his company, known as Easy Company, through the Holland Campaign, through the Battle of the Bulge at Bastogne and eventually into Germany and Berchtesgaden in 1945.  Last year in his nearby hometown of Ephrata, he was honored with a quiet tree-lined plaza named for him.  It was also suggested that a replica of the statue that appears, as a tribute to Winters in the French town of St. Marie-du-Mont, be placed along "Winters Trail" in Ephrata.  Well, this past March the 700 pound, $90,000 replica finally arrived from Fairhope, Alabama where the sculpter, Stephen Spears, had been busy making it.  

The newly installed statue of Major Richard D. Winters.

The statue depicts Winters, rifle at the ready, charging forward with a determined look on his face.  My father's hero had finally arrived!  Dick had lived in Lancaster, PA and went to school with my dad in the city.  After his death, Winters was buried in Ephrata at Bergstrasse Cemetery.  The return of Major Winters is due in part to the Richard D. Winters Leadership Memorial Committee in Ephrata.  The sculpture was placed in the veteran's plaza off of East Fulton Street in Ephrata.  I recently made a photo visit to see the inspiring site and take a few photographs of the new sculpture.  The weather was overcast with ominous cloud cover when I arrived at the statue.  It is a humbling experience to stand beneath this man and read the plaques that tell of his heroics and leadership during some of the most famous battles of WWII.  Closeby stands a memorial headstone that features his name with his most famous words: "Follow Me".  As I looked at the statue and the surrounding area I could almost hear, through the surrounding hushed trees, Major Winters calling out … "Follow Me".  Make a visit to this site in the future to honor a true American Hero.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Stark blackness against an overcast sky.

Plaque under the statue.  Click on the photo to enlarge.

The statue from the front.

A likeness of Major Richard D. Winters, American HERO