Follow Me! - The Leadership of Major Dick Winters

in the pre-dawn hours of June 6th 1944 13,000 American paratroopers flew toward the northern coast of France the lead element in the Allied offensive to finally take feston Europa among these bravest of men were the 150 or so soldiers and officers that formed Easy Company 506 parachute Infantry Regiment 101st Airborne Division LED of course by first lieutenant Thomas Mian sadly Lieutenant Mian never got the chance to fight in Normandy his plane was shot down before he or anyone with him could bail out I think about that a lot whenever I watch Band of Brothers a story largely told Through The Eyes of then first lieutenant Richard Winters easy company's executive officer Winters as second in command was part of the headquarters platoon that all perished before their feet even touched French soil he could have easily been in that plane or his plane could have just as easily been the one to take a fatal hit and then well who knows what would have happened I'm not saying the European War as a whole would have changed course but it certainly would have had an impact at the very least it would have deprived us of one of the greatest examples of leadership from the 20th century we're not L briman we're in Normandy but rather than dwell on the tragedy that could have been let us appreciate the life that was lived indeed 80 years later we are still celebrating these brave men recently I came across an article on French children celebrating D-Day Veterans as Heroes as they arrived in Normandy for the celebration with all the division in our world today it's great to hear that the courage and sacrific by these veterans has not been forgotten and that the Next Generation in France proudly honored their arrival I found this article thanks to ground news this video is sponsor you can check them out at ground. news/ Master Sam wise ground news is a website and app that collects and analyzes headlines and stories from both sides of the political aisle enabling you to get a fuller picture of world events using the bias comparison feature we can see how the right-wing sources emphasize the heroism of the veterans and the left-wing Outlets report more on a particular Veteran's modesty we can also review the bias distribution and ownership charts which tell us what percentage of the 87 reporting Outlets are from Left Right and center and if any of them are owned by independent organizations my favorite feature of ground news though has got to be the blind spot feed which shows you stories largely ignored by one side of the political Spectrum ground news surfaces around 20 such stories every single day helping you be aware of all sides of Any Given issue we all know people who get their news from one Source ground news can help break your family your friends and you out from that Echo chamber go to ground. newsmaster Samwise to give it a try if you sign up through my link you get 40% off the Vantage plan which is what I use to get unlimited access to all the features ground news has changed how I read the news and has made reading the news far easier and more enjoyable it's helped me understand what's going on around the world and has given me a variety of viewpoints to consider something that modern news struggles with if you're looking for a news platform that actually shows you the full story then ground news is for you I hope you'll check them out and take advantage of this amazing offer and thank you again to ground news for sponsoring this video I've talked a lot on this channel about various examples of outstanding virtuous masculinity about men who demonstrate the heights of Bravery loyalty perseverance humility and self-giving love and while all those men are worth learning from and even imitating they all share one flaw they aren't real I don't say that so much to diminish the power of fiction as I do to elevate the impact that real story should have on us it's one thing a good thing mind you to write a character who can serve as a role model but it is far easier to imagine an ideal than it is to live that ideal so when we watch or read about a man like major Winters his example should make a stronger impression on us so what exactly was that example well one might say that major Winters was a paragon of leadership which begs the question what does it mean to be a leader in response I will simply quote Winter's own War Memoirs don't waste time attempting to define leadership no need to go to the dictionary the Infantry school at Fort Benning Georgia has defined leadership in Just Two Words via its motto follow me let's go let's go follow me I could probably end the video right here that's it that's all you need to know to be a great leader but Winters did write a whole book on the subject and he concluded with 10 principles on how to succeed as a leader principle two lead from the front say follow me and then lead the way naturally leading from the front leading by example is absolutely essential for strong leadership never ask your team to do something you wouldn't do yourself that quote is not saying that a leader has to be able to do all that his subordinates can do a platoon leader or company Commander or the manager of any team of diverse talents naturally cannot fill in for any and every member of the team under him that's just not how things work Easy Company consisted of Riflemen machine Gunners mortar men radio operators and so forth its officers were not expected to be able to wield those weapons and tools with the same proficiency as the soldiers who worked with them daily but rather were required to ensure that easy company remained an effective fighting force no matter how many or how few of those men and pieces of equipment they had on hand Winters is simply emphasizing that a leader must not put his own well-being ahead of those of his men never put yourself in a position where you can take from these men if he is ordering those men to Sprint across an open field and assault an enemy in a fortified position he had better be willing to charge with them Winters demonstrates this forcefully on at least two occasions in the assault on kantan on dday plus 6 the company is pinned down by a machine gun and their newly Meed commanding officer is the only one still up and moving encouraging to put it mildly his men to break cover and continue the attack standing in the middle of the column on the right hand side of the road I hollered move out move out this did no good everyone had his head down this was the one and only time in the war that I really blew my top and physically kicked ass I came out of that ditch with only my M1 in hand and hollering I ran to the head of the column kicked ass on the left side of the road then ran to the right side of the road back and forth screaming at the top of my voice get going I will never forget the surprise in fear on those faces looking up at me with me running around on the road like a wild man the German machine guns seem to zero in on me I was a wide open Target I don't think the Deeds of men get much more impressive than running out in the open in the face of enemy fire urging your men into The Fray not even bothering to shoot back because it would distract from the objective although I suppose you could make the argument that a single platoon of paratroopers forcing The Retreat of two full companies of enemy soldiers is up there I am of course referring to the firefight depicted in the Band of Brothers episode Crossroads in which Winters leads a charge once again and thanks to his leadership Easy Company turns a potential disaster into a resounding Victory by routing a German force that outnumbered them at least 5 to one in the miniseries Winters orders his men to wait for a red smoke grenade to go off but according to his own Memoirs he simply outran every member of this Elite platoon of paratroopers to the point that he was as shown in the miniseries totally alone when he reached the roadway and encountered the German Sentry there there are two key elements here of this scene that I want to consider first Winter's exceptional physical fitness strength and athleticism are important qualities for just about any man any person to hone but obviously they are of Paramount importance for a soldier in the field Winters took his physical fitness incredibly seriously while he couldn't outperform his men nor should he have been able to in their given combat specialities he could provide an example of how a soldier should take care of his body in order to perform whatever duties he was called to physical fitness is another prerequisite for success I freely admit that I was blessed with a sound physical Constitution but whenever possible I took opportunity to improve my physical stamina while men washed out on a daily basis the contingent from Easy company that completed the training and earned their wings at Fort Benning were tough as Nails because I was in such good shape my fatigue level never reached the point of physical exhaustion that contributes to mental exhaustion and ultimately to combat fatigue we all experience sleep deprivation at times that is the nature of stress but a physically exhausted leader routinely makes poor decisions in times of Crisis principle three stay in top physical shape physical stamina is the root of mental toughness his words here get at a fundamental truth of human existence we don't just have bodies we are bodies we are not just brains driving around meat powered skeletons everything we do with our bodies and everything we put into them affects us affects our ability to communicate effectively to handle adverse conditions and emotions and of course as winter says to make decisions and really that's what a leader is one who is entrusted to make decisions to make the right decisions Band of Brothers highlights how Winter's predecessor and one of his successors failed where he so consistently succeeded in that regard soble regularly made poor decisions in the field while the men were running combat scenarios he was jittery panicky and he had no tactical sense they're right out there somewhere let's just get them Lieutenant Dyke completely froze up during the attack on Foy and then when he finally did get moving he tried to send his men on an inevitably ill- fad flanking route instead of following his orders to go straight into town I want to pause here and note that the miniseries St Ambrose's book of the same name and even Winter's own Memoirs are said to be somewhat inaccurate when it comes to Lieutenant dy's portrayal the man received two bronze stars for bravery including one for his actions during the defense of best stone while he certainly did freeze up during the subsequent attack on Foy records indicate that that was at least partly due to him being wounded during the charge across the open field so take whatever is said here about the real man with a grain of salt I'm not a historian and even if I was they are clearly not infallible neither of course was Winters himself and to be fair Winters had his own failures of decision-making as he himself writes my principal error have been a tendency to fall into a particular habit although I did not realize it at the time I tended to develop a routine when attacking the the enemy I usually deployed first platoon on the left second platoon on the right and third platoon in reserve I continued this method of deployment throughout the war as you might expect the first two platoon incur the greatest number of casualties which is why 60 years after the war the survivors of third platoon far outnumber their sister platoon this bothers me a lot principle eight take a moment of self-reflection look at yourself in the mirror every night and ask yourself if you did your best how many of us would be far better men and women if we just did this if we looked at ourselves honestly examined where we had failed and vowed to be better tomorrow but nonetheless there can be no denying the fact that Winters was an extremely effective combat leader will return to the crossroads again not for the last time to talk about his crucial decision there determining that we could not stay where we were but refusing to retreat I decided to attack to surrender the initiative to the enemy was indefensible I figured that when you were in a Faceoff guy who gets off the first shot usually wins there was really no other decision to make other than to take the battle directly to the enemy I asked God to give me strength the German troops ahead of them were in a position such that should they Advance they could have struck directly at second battalion's headquarters Winters could not stomach the thought of retreating and saving his own men at the cost of a potentially devastating attack should the Germans realize just how vulnerable the American line was they can have flankers along the D can catches out here as soon as they figure that out so he seized the initiative as he puts it there was no other decision but that is only because he had carefully examined the situation and thought through the various possible outcomes instead of prioritizing his own safety or even that of his platoon Winters was aware of the Strategic importance of this engagement his decision to attack instead of staying put was not at all like soble jumpy ill advised order in the English woods Captain you've just been killed along with 95 % of your company but rather was the result of careful consideration and planning principal 6 anticipate problems and prepare to overcome obstacles don't wait until you get to the top of the Ridge and then make up your mind when Captain Winters left alone onto the top of that roadway in Holland he did not blanch at the sight of an entire German company spread out before him he had already made up his mind that he was attacking and so he did [Music] the movements of the enemy seemed surreal to me when they rose up their reaction seemed to be so slow when they turned to look over their shoulders at the sound of my firing it was in slow motion and when they started to raise their rifles to fire they seemed so lethargic I cannot give you a reason for this mental trance that I was in other than to say that everybody around me seemed out of synchronization I was the only one who seemed normal doubtless the German troops were utterly confused and shocked that they were under direct fire they hadn't planned for this and thus they weren't prepared for it but Winters had and thus Winters was but not just winters of course the rest of his platoon was close behind despite his speed and soon found themselves with what Winters described as a duck shoot without effective leadership to calm them down and to make this battle organize chaos the enemy's Retreat disintegrated into a route I can hardly think of a better example of how necessary and impactful good leadership is than this scene right here Captain Winters did everything right he scouted the terrain assessed the situation carefully came up with a decisive plan and then carried it out forcefully leading from the front the German officers we'll never know exactly what they did but at the very least they let their men be cowed by a much smaller force with a single machine gun providing covering fire then failed to organize anything resembling in effective resistance when they came under direct attack they were passive inactive indecisive whereas Winters understood the value of initiative and momentum it helps of course that easy company was quite simply one of the best rifle companies in the world at that time in terms of teamwork and Marksmanship It is believed that they had few equals in either the German or American armies principle four develop your team if you know your people and are fair in setting realistic goals and expectations and lead by example you will develop teamwork Winters knew his men exceptionally well having been with them since basic training at tcoa he certainly was well aware of every man's strengths weaknesses and abilities in the field Lieutenant so does not hate Easy Company private R just hates you and for those men who joined his Replacements Winters knew they needed to be able to adapt to the shock of battle hence's decision to train them with live ammo scavenged from the Normandy campaign choice that according to his own records paid dividends during subsequent battles to instill fire discipline and to prepare The Replacements for combat I conducted company live fire field problems it was dangerous business that scared The Replacements of veterans life had anyone been hurt it would have been my neck but the training paid huge dividends unfortunately we did not suffer any casualties as we prepared for the next operation later on during the Holland and Bastone campaigns Time After Time Easy Company maneuvered Under Fire very effectively however it would not be fair for me to talk about the training of Easy Company without mentioning Captain soel your weekend pass is revoked as badly as everyone in Easy Company hated the man's guts and although it certainly would have been an unmitigated disaster should he have been allowed to lead them into combat I will not follow that man into combat there can be no doubt that his tyrannical rule as Winters puts it played no small role in making the men of Easy Company into the paratroopers that would win multiple crucial battles throughout the course of the war this is easy company and under my command this will be the first and finest company in this regiment despite his personal shortcomings Soo drove each member of the company to become an elite soldier capable of taking the war to Hitler's Germany in that sense Herbert Maxwell soble Made Easy Company by producing a combat company that acted with a single-minded purpose soble drove us hard and he continued driving us when other companies had already fallen out and gone to the showers while the other commands within the 506th were getting the hot showers and the early food we were still out there working taking an additional lap around the track and standing at attention to see if anybody was moving in other words Captain Soo was a fantastic trainer of soldiers but had been put in the wrong position as a leader of them now they must put him in charge for a reason yeah cuz the Army wouldn't make a mistake it makes me wonder whether another leader could have succeeded where soble failed while simultaneously imitating his success in training the men could Winters have pushed the men to those exceptional lengths and still earned their respect and Trust perhaps especially considering the fact that he was quite competent in the field and that he held himself to the same high or higher standard of physical fitness that were required for the men while the men of Easy Company doubted soo's ability to do a mere 30 push-ups regardless it is clear that soo's methods were effective in producing the finest of soldiers as he so desired first and finest company in this regiment Steven Ambrose recounts that when asked if Easy Company succeeded because of or despite so's influence those parat Troopers who did not respond because of answered both why do I say all this well for one thing I'm I'm trying to be somewhat historically accurate in my commentary and I don't want to give off the impression that I think Winters should receive all the credit for easy company's overwhelming competence in the field the man himself would certainly not want anyone to think so principal 7 remain humble don't worry about who receives the credit never let power or authority go to your head returning once again to the crossroads that episode tells the story of the battle through the words of Captain Winter's after Action Report there was no Superior officer or staff officer president to witness any part of the engagement therefore it was up to me to write the account describing this action I intentionally wrote the entire narrative without once using the word I my reason was simple I wanted to ensure that all credit went to The Men Who deserved it try writing in the first person plural you know say we a lot thanks for the tip when winter says don't worry about who receives the credit I take that to mean don't you worry about you getting enough credit we should never do what is right because we believe it will bring us glory in the laudations of others we should also never do anything wrong for the sake of Glory just to be clear someone has to do what is right because it is right humility is not about thinking or speaking poorly of oneself but rather about thinking of others first and that is quite simply what a good leader does a leader exists for the sake of Those whom he leads not the other way around never put yourself in a position where you can take them these men he is there to ensure their success safety and well-being he's called to sacrifice his own if need be for the sake of his men because it's not about him it's about them let him have it fly my real satisfaction lay in the eyes of the men these men were after all the ones who got the job done principle 5 delegate responsibility to your subordinates and let them do their jobs you can't do a good job if you don't have a chance to use your imagination or creativity and principle nine true satisfaction comes from getting the job done the key to a successful leader is to earn respect not because of rank or position but because you are a leader of character throughout his tenure as easy company's leader from June to October of 1944 Lieutenant later Captain Winters lived these principles to the fullest for one of the best examples of principal 5 we would have to hearken back to D-Day when easy company was asked to destroy the German battery at bror Manor if you couldn't believe I'd gone this long in a Band of Brothers video without mentioning bror well neither can I unsurprisingly easy company's successful attack at bror shares many similarities with their victory at the Dutch Crossroads I guess I should say that the crosss imitates breor which did after all come first Winters scouted the terrain determined where to place his machine guns where the two assault units should attack from and then personally led the assault down the trenches but he didn't micromanage every aspect Winters writes in his Memoirs that Compton also sent sergeants Lipton and Ranny to a concealed position to put flanking fire on the enemy while my Detachment crawled across the open field to approach the first gun in no way does he indicate that Compton's decision was anything other than the man's own creativity and Ingenuity Winters trusted his platoon leader to effectively assess the combat scenario through his own eyes and deploy his men where they'd be the most effective that demonstrates the rare form of trust shared by men who have endured hardships together and who have come to rely on one another's instincts and decision-making as for principal 9 we already touched on it a few minutes ago as winter wrote his report on the action at the crossroads say we a lot but just for the sake of showing consistency living out this ideal let's listen to his words as he reflected on the assault at breor Manor killing did not make me happy but in this particular circumstance it left me momentarily satisfied satisfied because it led to a confidence in getting a difficult job done with minimal casualties for the time being I was just happy to have survived my baptism by fire I had always been confident in my own abilities but the success at breor inre ined my confidence in my leadership as well as my ability to pass it on to my soldiers earlier we touched on Winter's humility and here we read of his self-confidence those two traits are often set at odds with each other and to be quite Frank that is ridiculous humility requires accurate self knowledge in order to help others we must first know what we are capable of we must know how we can help there would be no sense in Winter's thinking that he was a poor leader when he knew for a fact he was an effective one he was placed in a role as the newly Meed commanding officer officer of Easy Company where he would be leading and teaching other leaders thinking himself anything less than a good leader albeit one with Room to Grow would be quite unhelpful you can't teach people what you yourself do not know winter saw his focus on getting the job done not on chasing medals or accolades as one of the aspects that made him a great leader and of course it was that is what a leader is supposed to be someone who is entrusted with making the right decisions in order to carry out a given directive all too often however those usted with positions of authority use it to advance their own selfish interests they seek glory and praise they hoard wealth they chase an ever increasing level of power for such people Those whom they lead exist for the sake of their boss rather than the other way around major Winters could hardly be more opposed to such a mindset follow me you may notice that that was one of the first times I referred to him as major Winters in this video that would be because we are now moving on to his departure from Easy Company and promotion to Battalion staff if there's a moment that perfectly illustrates Winter's lack of personal career ambition it ironically would be this very promotion as excited as I was about the new responsibility my transfer was bittersweet since it entailed leaving Easy Company orders were orders there was no room for looking at it any other way but I would be less than truthful if I said that the day I left easy company was not a tough day I was now simply the Battalion executive officer a staff officer with no command Authority I was no longer creative I felt that I had lost my men speed is the key keep moving and Lead the Way di Easy's in good hands it takes an incredible man to handle such a grave disappointment losing the men whom he knew and trusted and who knew and trusted him and still carrying on knowing that someone had to fill this role so if he was going to do it he'd make damn sure he'd do it to the best of his abilities on the cover of his book finish your novel yet Winters identifies himself despite having later commanded an entire Battalion as Commander Easy Company 506 parachute Infantry Regiment if that doesn't tell you everything you need to know about his bond with those men and how difficult it must have been to be torn away from that command I don't know what will and yet as mentioned he would not sulk or ler in his new role despite the fact that I found life on Battalion staff extremely boring in contrast to commanding ezy company and I thought executive officer was supposed to be a fun job it's no Small Wonder then that Winters after several months of life as Battalion executive officer very nearly took the first chance he could to resume command of easy company in the attack on Foy where E's new Commander Lieutenant Norman Dyke had lost his nerve and called his men to a halt under withering enemy fire Winters began to charge in the company was like a bunch of sitting ducks out there in the snow Colonel sink who was observing the attack turned and Ed what are you going to do Winters I'm going I yelled and I grabbed my M1 and moved out to take command of easy company in order to get them moving again I had only taken a few steps when I decided that my job was to lead the Battalion not a company I turned around and walked back and there was Lieutenant Ronald C Spears natural killer standing in front of me get out there and reli Dyke and take that attack on in I cannot imagine how difficult that must have been for Winters to not retake command of those men with whom he had served for so long and so well it is a true Testament of his strength of character that he quickly realized that his place was not at the front anymore that instead his job was to delegate that command to someone in whom he could trust however just because winter was no longer physically leading Easy Company into battle does not mean that he could not still lead by example let us rewind a bit to before Patton's third Army broke the German lines when easy company along with the rest of the 101st Airborne was surrounded during the defense of Bastone that was one of the things I did to set an example for the men shave in the morning and once in a while I would strip to the waist to give myself a French wash a routine that also caught everyone's attention I did this for one reason and one reason only to get the men's attention and to let them know that I was going to be around for a while that this wasn't as bad as they thought it was going to be make the best of it despite his removal from the command of Easy Company Winters was still very much living for those men and for the men and their sister companies he didn't see the promotion to Battalion EXO as the next wrong up the ladder but instead as a different way in which he could serve the soldiers under him and during the Battle of the Bulge the paratroopers of the 101st needed competent leadership more than anything breaking from Winters a bit I'm sure he wouldn't mind I want to briefly mention Breaking Point my favorite episode in Band of Brothers this particular episode centers around Easy Company Sergeant Lipton who is doing all he can to hold the men together a difficult task to say the least due to the oppressive cold the constant German artillery barges causing numerous casualties and the fact that E's current Co is most often just not present you get things organized here I'm going to go for help where's Dyke he's he's around would you be a little more specific there sergeon not really sir at the end of the episode the new commanding officer Lieutenant Spears notes how easy company had been held together by one man throughout the past weeks and Lipton has no idea who he's talking about hell it was you for a sergeant Sergeant Lipton wasn't thinking about himself he was thinking about the men it's that simple that just goes to show that the leadership displayed by Winters was not unique to him it may have been infectious and likely the examples set by Lipton Compton and others were in part due to the excellent quality of their Superior officer but regardless easy company had no shortage of great leaders I don't think it would be fair to Winters to not at least least mentioned the Excellence of the men who had served with him and it was during the defense of Bastone that that Excellence shown the most War brings out the worst and the best in people Wars do not make men great but they do bring out the greatness in Good Men pause the video and read the rest of that quote if you so desire it really is worth reading there's a reason two full episodes of Band of Brothers are devoted to Bast Stone despite the duration of easy company's action there being a mere 30 days it was by far the most impactful and demanding campaign of the entire war for those men ask any veteran of the campaign in Northwest Europe to identify his single toughest engagement and you might expect him to say D-Day or some other day when his unit underwent a significant emotional experience ask the veteran to identify his toughest campaign and the choices are less diverse for a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division the answer is simple the Battle of the Bulge in Normandy I had witnessed lots of stress some in Holland but much more at Bastone due to the cold lack of sleep and constant artillery bombardment I'm not sure that anybody who lived through Bastone hasn't carried with him in some hidden ways the scars of fatigue perhaps that is a factor that keeps 101st paratroopers bonded so unusually close it's one of the most remarkable Feats of human endurance that any of those men from that division successfully weathered that month in the Frozen Belgian landscape rushed to the front line short on ammo food and clothing con constantly pounded by German artillery and air strikes watching their friends and comrades suffer and die we shouldn't wonder how a man a great Soldier and leader like Lieutenant B Compton should suffer from extreme battles shock and have to be removed from the front lines instead we should Marvel that every other paratrooper did not share his fate somehow some way and surely through the bonds they shared the men made it through principal 10 hang tough never ever give up the paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division didn't accomplish any Supernatural Feats at bestone they simply kept fighting they held the line they refused to back down where others had retreated and thus they demonstrated the Pinnacle of human perseverance to the German Commander nuts there's a distinct difference between that virtue and its Associated Vice of stubbornness perseverance is rightly ordered its goal being an objective good stubbornness is ordered toward one's own pleasure or satisfaction with little regard for the good of others every man in those frozen foxholes was there because his friend was with him or in the next hole down the line to be sure they were also fighting for a greater cause of Liberty and self-determination for the people of Europe but when it came down to it what kept the men of Easy Company persevering through unimaginable Horrors was the determination to not let down their brothers I'd really like to head back with the fellas sir can you make the jump sure can't live I just can't sit Wars do not make men great but they do bring out the greatness in Good Men this is what is so special about the stories of winters and his fellow soldiers they were by and large Good Men Who volunteered for one of the most dangerous roles in the United States military so when things got really bad the man in the Foxhole next to them would be the best and who strove despite countless and unspeakable moments of pain suffering and loss to become better men not because they thought it would win them Awards or a promising career but because the men beside them needed them to be better because quite simply it was the right thing to do 80 years later the value of the example provided by Major Winters and easy company has not faded one bit what they did in life most certainly Echoes into eternity I will be forever grateful for the privilege of hearing their story and to finish this video I will appropriately leave you with one final thought from the man himself principle one strive to be a leader of character competence and courage

Channel: Master Samwise

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Length: 32min 37sec (1957 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 06 2024