Dear Du Quoin: With thanks to our citizen soldiers
Those of you who followed the HBO mini-series "Band of Brothers" will recall the central role of Dick Winters. The series started with Winters as a lieutenant during training with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. In "Band of Brothers," Winters was quite a heroic figure. What some don't realize is that Richard Winters was real, not a fictional character from a war movie.
Winters' exploits during World War II were epic and contributed to Allied victories in Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, and end of the war. He rose to the rank of major through battlefield promotions. At one point during some of the heaviest fighting in the most severe conditions Winters made a pact with God (there are lots of those deals made in war) that if he was so blessed as to survive the war he would want nothing more than to spend the rest of his days on a farm in Pennsylvania. He was that uniquely American paradox - an excellent soldier who sought only peace in his days.
On this Veterans Day, let us pause to remember and thank those who proudly and valiantly wore the uniform of a United State military service. It is they who have and continue today to ensure the many freedoms so many of us take for granted. In this most recent election, the Perry County turnout was just over 52%. I can't imagine one of the non-voting 48% being able to look a veteran in the eye. Voting is the easiest and most crucial exercise of our democracy. How lightly it is taken when the bill for that right is etched in stone at the Veterans Memorial at Keyes City Park.
I'm glad that America finally understands and has regained respect for our veterans. Soldiers returning home from World War II were hailed as heroes. Soldiers returning home from Vietnam were treated disgracefully and were due much better for having answered the call of the nation. That fundamental respect for our veterans has returned and is becoming appropriately engrained in the American culture. That's overdue.
Now back to Richard Winters. He left the Army in 1945 after the end of the war. He married his wife Ethel. After a stint in the corporate world of plastics, they purchased a farm. Winters and his wife were successful in the agriculture business, raised two children, and retired to the farm. Major Winters died at the age of 97 in January 2011. His name was etched in the national memory by the portrayal of his character in "Band of Brothers".
After his death, his was buried in the family plot at a cemetery in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. His marker said simply "Richard D. Winters - WW II - 101st Airborne". The funeral was unannounced per his wishes, a matter his family attended to. This proud but private citizen soldier asked only for a quiet funeral. But to those who remember, more needed to be done.
Today, unbidden, the grateful seek out his grave site at Bergstrasse Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery in Ephrata. They come from all over the world to pay their respects to this gentle American warrior, this man who put his life on hold to serve his country, then peacefully and with no expectation of recognition returned to his life and his home to become a productive citizen. Today, due to the numbers of requests, the cemetery has even had to produce a map to show visitors where Major Winters' final resting place is located. For those visitors, it is a pilgrimage of respect and gratitude.
Whether we recognize those who have had fame forced on them, like Richard Winters, or those who by preference have returned from service to our nation to a small town in southern Illinois and are content to settle in and be a contributing part of this community, let us pause on this Veterans Day to honor and thank all who have served our country. Let this day also serve as a reminder of the responsibilities of our own citizenship, and that the exercise of that responsibility is the very least we can do on a daily basis to affirm those ideals for which so many have sacrificed and will in the future sacrifice again.