Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters (utgåvan 2008)

Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Infantry has kept me fascinated ever since I saw the HBO series Band of Brothers. I have wanted to learn as much as possible about them. About 5 years ago, I listen to Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters of Major Dick Winters as an audiobook. There were many lessons that I wanted to keep in front of me so I decided to buy a printed copy. It's one of the first books I read in 2018. Read more ( )

If you liked the "Band of Brothers" video series and Stephen Ambrose's book it was based on, this would be the logical next step to pursue. All I can say about Dick Winters is that he was one of those people without whom America would not be the great country it is. He is an example for us all. He is so cool, calm and collected about everything: slow-moving shrapnel striking the shins doesn't break the skin but you will be rolling around on the ground in pain for a minute or two; soldiers pulled out of the front lines don't need a weak or two to recuperate, that will just get them in trouble - two days is adequate: enough time to get caught up on sleep, a warm shower, clean clothes, and a few hot meals. ( )

Probably not a book for female readers but a worthwhile read nonetheless. Winters'painstaking final life-mission to name and describe his infantry comrades who jumped into Normandy on D-Day and beyond is a reflective account. This isn't an exciting account. It isn't even a historical account as Winters say he gave all that information to Stephen Ambrose for his book Band of Brothers. Winters gives credit to Ambrose popularizing the efforts of the Allied Airborne during the Normandy Invasion. Winters divides the book into four sections: bootcamp/training, D-Day and Holland combat jumps, Battle of the Bulge, occupation force and final reflections.
Winters seems mostly to be be reminiscing but with an intent to show his own feelings when was a young man leading his troops. He lists a few names of people he didn't admire (Sobel) and one person who was rumored to have committed court marshal crimes for fratricide. I found this level of honesty convincing and realistic. Winters does try to ad leadership points since he was apparently asked to give public talks on the subject. One of the things is to lead by example, not pronouncement, and more importantly, to think seriously beforehand about any important decision such as risking the lives of people under your direction. Winters includes a few passages from letters written by people who had seen the TV series or read the Band of Brothers book. Winters seemed animated to do the book not for personal aggrandizement but to collect the personal stories of some of the men he knew personally before they all passed away. Winters himself died in 2011. Winters did not consider himself an overly religious man, but he did believe in God and came to be more appreciate of faith when living in England when he billeted with an Anglican family who provided him with a sense of cultural stability with their own faith practices.

The book title of course comes from Shakespeare's Henry V, before the battle of Agincourt. Winters quotes that speech at the beginning of the book. Any unit from any war or conflict may use the "Band of Brothers" tag but it was first popularized by Ambrose for the 506, 101st Airborne. ( )

A must read for all WWII history buffs. In "Beyond Band of Brothers" Major Dick Winters fills in some of the missing gaps that either Larry Alexander's "Biggest Brother" or Stephen Ambrose’s "Band of Brothers" either glossed over or omitted. However, in the effort, Winters’ narrative becomes a little repetitive while retelling incidents long since covered in great detail, but yet, he manages to add some interesting detail in the process. And it is the voice of the man himself that, for no other reason, demonstrates the strength of character, the brutal honesty and innate drive that made him and the 506 P.I.R the exceptional fighting force they were. And thank God for that. Four stars from this admirer of the Major and the 506. Currahee! ( )

This is Major Winters' biography, which the Band of Brothers miniseries is based on. If you liked that, you'll love this. It's much more in depth than the mini-series and covers a longer timeline. Definitely worth the read. ( )