Richard Winters - Later Years

Later Years

He was discharged from the army and became a production supervisor at a plastics adhesive business in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In 1951, he and his wife Ethel bought a small farm where later Winters built their farmhouse and together they raised two children. In 1972, he went into business for himself, starting his own company and selling animal feed products to farmers throughout Pennsylvania. Soon afterward, he moved his family to Hershey, Pennsylvania. He finally retired in 1997.

During the 1990s, Winters was featured in a number of books and television series about his experiences and those of the men in Easy Company. In 1992, Stephen Ambrose wrote the book Band of Brothers: Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, which was subsequently turned into an HBO mini-series Band of Brothers. Winters was also the subject of the 2005 book Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, The Man Who Led the Band of Brothers, written by Larry Alexander. His own memoir, Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters, co-written by military historian and retired U.S. Army Colonel Cole C. Kingseed, was published in early 2006. He also gave a number of lectures on leadership to cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

On May 16, 2009, Franklin and Marshall College conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters upon Winters.

Despite the many accolades he had received, Winters remained humble about his service. During the interview segment of the miniseries Band of Brothers, Winters quoted a passage from a letter he received from Sergeant Mike Ranney, "I cherish the memories of a question my grandson asked me the other day when he said, 'Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?' Grandpa said 'No… but I served in a company of heroes.'"

Winters, a resident of Hershey, Pennsylvania, died on January 2, 2011, at an assisted living facility in nearby Campbelltown, Pennsylvania. He had been suffering from Parkinson's disease for several years. Winters had requested a private, unannounced funeral service, which was held on January 8, 2011.

Winters was buried in the Bergstrasse Evangelical Lutheran Church cemetery in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, in a private ceremony. He is buried next to his parents in the Winters' family plot. His grave is marked Richard D. Winters WW II 101st Airborne.

On June 6, 2012, the 68th Anniversary of the D-Day landing, a 12-foot tall bronze statue in Winters' likeness was unveiled near the village of Saint-Marie du Mont, France. Winters only agreed for the statue to bear his semblance on the agreement the monument would be dedicated to all junior officers who served and died during the Normandy landings.