39 over E Company and relieve Dike. Few days later, he decided to relieve Dike
from Easy Company and put Lt. Speirs to be the commander of Easy Company. ”what are you going to do about Company E?”
“Relieve Lieutenant Dike and put Lieutenant Speirs in command,” Winters replied. p. 212
The most important action from Winters is replacing the leadership for Easy Company. Lt. Speirs is a good and a suitable person for E Company. Since
then, Winters action only dealt with the order and administration, while in the field he has Speirs.
Winters’ action in Foy, when he becomes the junior officer, shows the characteristics of Winters, such as decisive, caring, wise and humble. As an
officer, he is not authoritative. He gives a chance to another ranking officer to take a decision it. Then, when he knows that the situation in the field does not go well,
he replaces the leader for the company and relieves the previous leader. So, the meanings of Winters’ action to serve the country in positive time by taking the
German Battery, to solve the conflict among the men and to replace the leader of Easy Company.
2. Deeper Meaning of Richard Dick Winters’ Actions During his Military Service
Richard Winters does action and combat in World War II at Europe. The novel explains how Winters and his company act for the war. The surface
meanings analyze the action that is written on the book. On the other hand, the deeper meaning analyze the unwritten meaning of the book.
40 Winters is a paratrooper soldier. Paratrooper is a new military concept for
ally to win the war. Winters has the motivation to join military, especially as a paratrooper. He wants to help his country, but he does not want to join it as a sad
excuses. He wants his positive time by joining military. So, he decides to be a paratrooper. It affects him with a good action combat. Further, it enables him to
lead the men, to decide important decision or solve the conflict among the soldiers.
Winters’ motivation to join military, is to achieve the glory for his country, especially in positive time. Becoming a paratrooper at Easy Company is a
pleasure for him because he feels this company gives the best for their country. He does not expect to get a reward although army always gives a promotion
reward for excellent soldiers. However, the promotion is not the main reason for Winters.
Winters did action combat at Normandy. He and his company are ordered take German battery, which fires ally in Utah beach. Easy Company, with less
than 15 people has to take the German battery. He knows his men well and could put the men in the right position. He uses an effective tactic by surrounding the
German soldier and destroying the cannon after taking the first cannon. His attack is successful. As a result, their friends in Utah beach could land the infantry.
Leadership becomes the main factor for Easy Company destroys the German battery successfully. Tannebaum states that leadership is going to be
good when somebody has some components, such as interpersonal influence, exercised in situation, communication process and has specified a goal. In this
41 case, Winters has all of the components. As a leader, he can share his positive
influence for his men. Additionally, he knows the situation of the German battery, has clear communication in his company and has the specified goal. These four
components enable Winters to lead and take the battery successfully. The true meaning here, Richard Winters did not want to be killed in the
first combat. He has spent few years on the basic training and does not want to waste it in the first day of the war. He wants only to pass the war without being
killed and later to spend life peacefully. Miller said that there is always motivation or goals behind the conflict. To
achieve the goal, to win the war and to be back home safely, sometimes Winters must face a conflict with his soldier. Here, the conflict tends to be a personal. In
addition, Winters should know the conflict and solve the conflict as the company commander. Private Blithe who is wounded in France has a personal conflict,
which is an approach-avoidance conflict. He wants to win the war, but he feels that he cannot see anything. Winters know it, and he says that everything is going
to be alright. The simple action from Winters gives a meaningful influence for Blithe in particular and for all of the Easy Company soldiers in general.
The true meaning of solving the conflict of Blithe is to avoid the widespread feeling of lack of confidence. He scared that the moral of the rest of
the soldiers would be affected by Private Blithe. After that, as a leader, Richard Winters will be underestimated by another officer if he could not solve a simple
conflict among the soldiers.
42 When Winters fits the promotion to battalion regiment and does not lead
the Easy Company, he find a conflict among the soldiers. The way they look at the new leader is different from the way they look at him. Furthermore, the new
leader has lack of judgement for the men. The combat at Belgium becomes the important action for E company. While ranking soldier in E Company tells to
Winters about the conflict, he could not take a good decision. He just listens to him keenly. However, when taking Foy, E company could not do anything at the
beginning of the combat. Knowing the situation, Winters takes decision and asks another lieutenant lead the attack. Few days later, Winters decides to replace the
leader in E Company, and the decision to replace the leader become an important action for him. He can decide the good decision for the Company.
The true meaning here, Richard Winters wants to lead Easy Company again. He feels that Easy Company was successful, when he leads the company
previously. On the other hand he realizes that the men could be killed because of the lack of leadership from Easy’s new commander. He wants to lead the attack
and finish the war earlier with his company. Easy Company had done a lot of major and minor actions in Europe.
Sacrificing himself and being wounded become the part of the war. Sometimes, the soldiers ask why they are here. This moment happened also to Winters. Battle
at Normandy, Carentan, Holland and Belgium had been experienced by him. At German, Buchloe, Easy Company find a camp and it is like a place to
produce war goods. However that is a horrible camp, people inside the camp are wearing striped pyjamas and three –quarters of them starved and there are corpses
43 lie everywhere. Winters, as a battalion officer asks the regiment to describe the
situation and asks for the help. Later, the camp is known as concentration camp that is used to put Jewish into one place and to control them.
“The memory of starved, dazed men,” Winters wrote, “who dropped their eyes and heads when we looked at them through the chain-link fence, in
the same manner that a beaten, mistreated dog would cringe, leaves feelings that cannot be described and will never be forgotten. The impact
of seeing those people behind that fence left me saying, only to myself, ‘Now I know why I am here’ ”
The text above shows the real and deeper meaning of Winters’ action. In the beginning of the war, his motivation was to serve his country. However, after
looked the camp, Winters realizes the true meaning of this war. He understands why he and his men sacrifice the lives, being wounded and being far from their
home. Winters knows that this war is only to serve his country by joining the
army and spend it in positive time, not in a sad excuse. Further, some actions such as taking the Germany battery, solving the problem among his men and replacing
the leadership of Easy Company, being wounded in Carentan, killing more than one hundred SS soldier at Holland, being promoted to battalion, being surrounded
in Foy and finding a concentration camp do not make sense when he saw the Jewish concentration camp. In his thought, all the actions in Europe evidently for
helping people, especially for people who are treated like animals, even worse than animals. They are gathered in one place, being killed and having no power to
do anything. The German soldiers treatment for Jewish is known as Holocaust and is considered as genocide.
