|
|
|
Captains Courageous
January 2002
By Col. Cole C. Kingseed, USA Ret.
"Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It
is the spirit of the men who follow and of the man who leads
that gains the victory."
-- Gen. George S. Patton Jr.
In his analysis of combat leadership, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
once remarked, "Optimism and pessimism are infectious and they
spread more rapidly from the head downward than in any other
direction. Optimism has a most extraordinary effect upon all
with whom the commander comes in contact." Ike's assessment
remains as valid for America's Army in the 21st century as it
did in 1944, particularly at the tactical level of war, where
battles are won or lost under the calm direction of company and
platoon commanders. Two officers who best personified Ike's
dictum of optimism and courage were Capt. Richard Winters,
commanding Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment
during World War II and Capt. Lewis L. Millett, commanding Easy
Company, 27th Infantry Regiment during the Korean War.
Dick Winters' path toward war mirrored that of millions of other
American veterans of Tom Brokaw's "greatest generation." Born in
Lancaster, Pa., on January 21, 1918, Winters spent his formative
years in eastern Pennsylvania. His early heroes were Babe Ruth
and Milton S. Hershey, who had founded a school for boys in the
town that now bears his name. Graduating from Franklin-Marshall
College in June 1941 as a business major, Winters volunteered
for military service. His intent was to spend the mandatory one
year in the Army, then return to civilian life to pursue a
private career. Following his induction in August, he spent his
basic combat training at Camp Croft, S.C., where he was
stationed when he received word of the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor. Winters soon applied for Officer Candidate School and
arrived at Fort Benning, where he graduated in July 1942 as a
second lieutenant of infantry.
Seeking adventure, he next volunteered for airborne training. In
Winters' eyes, the airborne training appeared to be "interesting
work." The troopers were "hard, lean, bronzed and tough ...a
proud and cocky bunch." Moreover, the physical training was very
appealing to Winters. Standing 6 feet tall and weighing 177
pounds, he was accustomed to lots of running and outdoor
activity. Also, the additional jump pay might help pay off his
father's home mortgage.
When the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment was formed in August,
Winters became one of the original members of Easy Company.
Training at Camp Toccoa, Ga., was rugged, but Winters relished
the camaraderie and challenges associated with airborne
training. Assigned command of Easy's 2nd Platoon, he soon
completed his five jumps and received his airborne wings. In
mid-April 1943, he had also assumed the duties of company
executive officer, a position that he found brought new
challenges. Still a first lieutenant, Winters remained with Easy
Company when the regiment joined the 101st Airborne Division in
June 1943. Three months later, the 506th Parachute Infantry
Regiment (PIR) deployed to England to prepare for the ensuing
invasion of the European continent.
From September 1943 until June 1944, Winters quietly emerged as
Easy Company's most dynamic and charismatic junior officer. He
later attributed his success to his training and to the
relationship that he had developed with the enlisted men. As a
teetotaler, he never participated in the social life associated
with the officer corps. Winters preferred the life of quiet
reflection and organized athletics within Easy. He described
himself as a "half-breed," being an officer with the
responsibility to train the men, but being an enlisted man at
heart. Always weighing on his mind was the tremendous
responsibility of preparing his men for combat. In a private
letter home, he commented on his personal crusade to improve
himself as an officer and to improve Easy Company as Fighters
and as men. The net result was a highly motivated company that
was poised to inflict maximum punishment on the enemy when the
"big day" (D-Day) arrived.
For those soldiers, sailors and airmen who participated in
D-Day, June 6 was unlike any day in history. And it was on D-Day
that Dick Winters had his rendezvous with destiny. Easy
Company's mission, as with the other units within the 101st
Airborne Division, was to seize the causeways behind Utah Beach
to facilitate the expansion of the beachhead. Jumping from a
C-47 Dakota at 150 miles per hour and at 500 feet and less, the
Division's drop was scattered across the Cotentin Peninsula.
Winters came down near the town of Ste. Mere-Eglise, several
kilometers from the intended drop zone. Rallying a couple of
troopers, he soon was en route to Ste. Marie-du-Mont, destined
to be the Division's headquarters for most of D-Day. En route,
Winters stumbled across the battalion staff and 40 men of D
Company. By 7:00 a.m., E Company consisted of two light machine
guns, one bazooka with no ammunition, one 60 mm mortar, nine
riflemen and two officers. No one knew the whereabouts of the
company commander, so Winters took command.
Three kilometers from Ste. Marie-du-Mont, the column encountered
sustained enemy fire, and Winters was summoned to the front. The
battalion commander informed Winters that there was a four-gun
battery of German 105 mm cannons, a few hundred meters to the
front across an open field opposite a French farmhouse called
Brécourt Manor. The battery was set up in a hedgerow and
defended by a 50-man German platoon. The guns were firing
directly down a causeway leading to Utah Beach. The battalion
operations officer directed Winters to take the battery. Taking
his company, Winters made a careful reconnaissance and then
issued orders for an assault. The attack would consist of a
frontal assault led by Winters with covering fire from several
directions to pin down the Germans. Winters selected three
soldiers for the assault: Pvt. Gerald Lorraine, Pvt. Popeye Wynn
and Cpl. Joe Toye. Asked later why he selected these three,
Winters recalled, "In combat you look for killers.' Many thought
they were killers and wanted to prove it. They are, however, few
and far between."
Winters saw the impending attack as a "high risk opportunity."
The key was "initiative, an immediate appraisal of situation,
the use of terrain to get into the connecting trench and taking
one gun at a time." Crawling on their bellies, Winters and his
men got close enough and knocked out the first gun. Mowing down
the retreating Germans, Winters then placed a machine gun to
fire down the trench. He had also noticed that as soon as he got
close enough to assault the first gun, the Germans in an
adjacent hedgerow temporary lifted their fire so that they would
not inflict friendly casualties. That was enough for Winters,
who had a "sixth sense" that such a respite shifted the
advantage to him.
With the first gun out of action, Winters grabbed two other
soldiers and charged the second gun. Throwing hand grenades and
firing their rifles, they took the second howitzer. Next to the
gun was a case with a map that showed all the German artillery
in the Cotentin Peninsula. Winters sent the map back to
battalion headquarters and then directed another assault which
rapidly captured the third gun. Reinforcements led by an officer
from D Company soon arrived. Winters briefly outlined the
situation and then watched D Company capture the last gun. With
the mission complete, Winters ordered a withdrawal. It was 11:30
a.m., roughly three hours since Winters had received the order
to take the battery. In summarizing Easy's action, historian
Stephen Ambrose notes that with 12 men, what amounted to a
squad, later reinforced by elements of D Company, Winters had
destroyed a German battery, killed 15 Germans, wounded many
more, and taken 12 prisoners. It would be a gross exaggeration
to say that Easy Company saved the day at Utah Beach, but
reasonable to say that it had made an important contribution to
the success of the invasion.
Winters' action at Brécourt Manor was a textbook infantry
assault, frequently studied at the U.S. Military Academy. Ever
the self-effacing leader, Winters described the action to combat
historian S.L.A. Marshall simply as laying down a base of fire
to cover the assault. Left unsaid was his leadership by example.
At every turn he had made the correct decision, from selecting
the right men for each task, to making an accurate
reconnaissance of the enemy position, to leading the maneuver
element in person. In his own analysis, Winters credited his
training and preparing for D-Day, his "apogee" in command. When
the day was finally over, he wrote in his diary that if he
survived the war, he would find an isolated farm somewhere and
spend the rest of his life in peace.
For Winters' heroic leadership under fire during the attack at
Brécourt Manor, Col. Robert Sink, the 506th PIR commander,
recommended Winters receive the Medal of Honor, but only one man
in the 101st Airborne Division was to be given that medal.
Instead, Winters was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross,
with Silver and Bronze Stars awarded to the men of Easy Company
who participated in the assault. Winters also formally received
command of Easy when it was determined that the company
commander had been killed in the airborne assault. Promotion to
captain followed on July 2, but not before Winters led the
company in another attack to capture Carentan, a small town at
the base of the peninsula. Not until mid-July did the 101st
return to England to prepare for contingency operations.
For Dick Winters, command of Easy Company was the culmination of
a career that had begun but two short years earlier. He would
lead the company with great distinction during Operation
Market-Garden in mid-September, and then remain in Holland until
late November. Trained for light infantry assault, the American
airborne divisions were not designed for sustained infantry
combat. Excessive casualties in Normandy and in subsequent
operations, however, dictated that both the 82nd and 101st
Airborne Divisions remain in combat. For Winters and Easy
Company that meant defending a 5-kilometer wide "island" that
lay between the Lower Rhine on the north and the Waal River on
the south. On October 5, in defense of the "island," Winters
again wrote a shining page in the history of Easy. At the time,
Easy Company consisted of 130 men and had to cover 3 kilometers
along the front. Winters deployed his men with two platoons
forward and one in reserve along a dike that ran roughly
parallel to his front.
Now a veteran company commander, Winters received word that an
enemy company was attempting to penetrate his defenses.
Gathering half his reserve platoon, roughly 15 men, he
immediately moved forward. Repeatedly halting the patrol to make
a personal reconnaissance, Winters brought his men up to a small
ditch adjacent to an enemy machine gun nest. The paratroopers
wiped out the enemy position and Winters called up the remainder
of the platoon. Carefully orchestrating another assault, he then
directed that his men attack toward the road, behind which
unknown numbers of the enemy were huddling. With two squads
providing covering fire, Winters ordered the remaining squad to
fix bayonets and to follow him across 200 yards of open ground.
Winters reached the road first, jumped over and saw a German
sentry with 100 or so other Germans preparing for an assault.
Without hesitation, he emptied two M-1 clips into the enemy. As
more Americans arrived, the Germans turned toward the river and
fled. By now, Winters had taken cover behind the ditch, but rose
to pour a withering fire on the retreating enemy. Other members
of Winters' 1st Platoon did the same. Just then another SS
Company arrived, but Easy's fire was too intense and the enemy
joined the flight. For Easy Company, it was a "duck shoot," with
one man firing a total of 57 clips of M-1 ammunition into the
enemy.
Col. Sink issued a general order, citing 1st Platoon's "daring
attack and skillful maneuver." Four days later, he promoted
Winters to executive officer of the 2nd Battalion. Winters' days
in command of Easy were at an end, but it had been a glorious
close. With only 35 men, he had routed two German companies of
300 men, killed 50, captured 11 and wounded approximately 100
enemy troops -- all at a cost of one dead and 22 wounded
Americans. Winters later said this attack was "the highlight of
all E Company actions for the entire war, even better than
D-Day, because it demonstrated Easy's overall superiority in
every phase of infantry tactics: patrol, defense, attack under a
base of fire, withdrawal, and above all, superior marksmanship
with rifles, machine gun and mortar fire." October 5 was also
the last day that Dick Winters fired his weapon in anger.
For Winters, the war would continue. His toughest Fight was at
Bastogne, and in March he received command of 2nd Battalion,
which he led with distinction until V-E Day. At war's end, his
battalion was at Berchtesgaden, but his heart was always with
the men of Easy Company. What made Easy so special under
Winters? The answer was simple. Shared hardship and stress
created a bond that still exists today. The original members of
Easy Company still sit together at reunions because they formed
the core. To a man, the survivors acknowledge that Capt. Dick
Winters was the best combat commander they had during the entire
war. Winters shuns such acclaim, noting that "hardship and death
bring a family together. Officers aren't family; the family
belongs to the men, not the officers."
True to his word, when the war was over, Winters left the Army
and found solace far away from the battlefield. A highly
successful businessman, he is a frequent lecturer at West Point.
His message to the cadets is always the same: Hang tough and
take care of your soldiers. Asked by one cadet what his toughest
challenge as a commander was, Winters instantly replied, "To be
able to think under fire. In peace the toughest challenge is to
be fair." As to what aspect of his military service provided him
the greatest satisfaction, he answered without hesitation,
"Knowing I got the job done; knowing that I kept the respect of
my men. The greatest reward you can have as a leader is the look
of respect.' The key to a successful combat leader is to earn
respect not because of rank, but because you are a man."
Seven years after Winters commanded Easy Company, 506 PIR, and
half a world away, a similar drama was being played amid the
rugged hills of the Republic of Korea. Capt. Lewis Lee Millett
commanded another Company E, a unit in the 27th Infantry, a
regiment known as the "Wolfhounds." Millett descended from
military stock dating to colonial times. One ancestor, Thomas
Millett, was killed during the Indian massacre at Brookfield,
Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1675. Later Milletts fought in the
Revolutionary War; two great-grandfathers served in the Maine
regiments during the Civil War; a great uncle died at
Andersonville Prison Camp; and an Uncle Roland served with
distinction in World War I. Millett's youngest son, SSgt. John
Morton Millett, was later killed in the Gander crash in December
1985 while serving with Task Force 502, Multinational
Peacekeeping Force in the Sinai.
Lew Millett's initial military service was with the 101st Field
Artillery, Massachusetts National Guard in 1938. Before
America's entry into World War II, Millett saw service in the
U.S. Army Air Corps, 1st Reconnaissance Squadron, where he was a
graduate air mechanic specializing in aerial gunnery. When
President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced in 1940 that no
American would fight on foreign soil, Millett immediately
deserted and enlisted in the Canadian army in order to fight the
Germans. In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, Millett, now in
England, was transferred back to the American Army, where he
earned a battlefield commission along with the Silver Star,
Bronze Star (V) and the Purple Heart. Following a short stint in
civilian life after the war, Millett again entered federal
service from the Maine National Guard in 1949.
Before assuming command of Easy Company, Capt. Lew Millett was
already a legend in the 25th Infantry Division. On one occasion,
Millett had been wounded in the leg by a shell fragment. Ordered
into an ambulance against his will, Millett was informed by a
doctor that the Geneva Convention forbade weapons in ambulances.
According to Wolfhound folklore, Millett replied, "I'm a
soldier, not a lawyer. Where I go, my rifle goes." The physician
replied, "Get in." Half an hour later, the Chinese ambushed the
truck convoy and machine-gunned the ambulances. Millett
immediately dove into a ditch and with his M-1, blasted a path
clear for himself and two other G.I.s. Crawling through enemy
lines he evaded capture and reached American lines. Millett
wound up in a field hospital but less than two days later, he
went AWOL to return to the fighting.
Shortly thereafter, flying in observation planes as a forward
observer for the 8th Field Artillery, part of the 27th
Regimental Combat Team (RCT), Millett spotted a downed
observation plane, the wounded pilot beckoning for help.
Ordering his own pilot to set down, Millett lifted the wounded
pilot into his seat and fought off the enemy with his M-1. He
then evacuated the injured pilot to safety.
An infantryman at heart, Millett soon requested transfer to a
frontline company when he heard that Easy Company, 27th Infantry
had lost its company commander in November 1950. Commanding Easy
during the retreat from the Yalu had been Capt. Reginald (Dusty)
Desiderio, who posthumously earned the Medal of Honor for
heroism above and beyond the call of duty in the terrible
fighting along the Chongchon River. Adored by his men, Desiderio
had led the company with great distinction since its arrival the
preceding summer. In his last fight, Desiderio's undaunted
courage and heroism under fire coupled with the indomitable
spirit of his soldiers resulted in Easy Company being
recommended for the Presidential Unit Citation.
Millett became Easy Company's skipper on January 1 and
immediately moved to place his imprint on the command. To
increase the firepower in his unit, he obtained an additional
Browning Automatic Rifle per squad. Each soldier also received
four to six hand grenades. Next, he inculcated Easy Company with
the spirit of the bayonet, considered by many to be a useless
weapon unsuited for combat in Korea. He emphasized the bayonet,
personally supervising all aspects of training. Two days of
intense two-hour training periods, followed by daily thrusts,
jabs and butt strokes against stacks of rice straw or a mud
bank, made even the most dubious members of the command believe
that their new commanding officer was a fighter. Sharpening the
bayonets to a razor edge, the men heeded Millett's warning: "In
our next fight, we'll use this. Have it ready."
According to S.L.A. Marshall, Easy Company's ensuing fight was
only one small piece of the general engagement fought by the
25th Infantry "Tropic Lightning" Division in its advance from
Suwon to the Han River in February 1951. On the division's right
was the 3rd Infantry Division; together the two divisions
comprised I Corps. Seven miles north of Suwon stands Hill 440, a
dominating mass of ridges that blocks any advance on the two
parallel roads that drive toward the Han River. Marshall likened
Hill 440 to a mountain. Gibraltar itself did not look more
formidable. After savage fighting, the Americans took Hill 440,
inflicting more than 4,200 enemy casualties at a cost of
approximately 70 American dead.
On February 5, 1951, Easy Company was in the RCT's lead along
the left road when it encountered an entrenched enemy. Millett's
first platoon was soon pinned down on a frozen rice paddy by
direct fire from a low running ridge directly to their front.
From his command post 50 meters in the rear, Millett made an
instant assessment and ordered his 2nd Platoon to fix bayonets
and come in on the 1st's left. Third Platoon was to support the
attack by fire. "Fix bayonets and follow me," Millett shouted to
1st Platoon and rushed to the base of the hill. Temporarily
protected by defilade, he then led the platoon forward, the men
screaming at the tops of their lungs. S.L.A. Marshall reported
that Millett was in the lead, shouting "she-lie sa-ni," which
purportedly is Chinese for "I'm going to kill you with a
bayonet." Covered by the fire from 3rd Platoon, Millett and the
1st Platoon reached the crest unscathed, just as the Chinese
soldiers were beginning to evacuate their position. Shooting the
fleeing enemy, Easy Company had achieved a spectacular victory
at minimal cost, but this seemingly inconsequential action was
merely a dress rehearsal for what was to occur two days later.
On February 7, Easy Company was once again in the lead as Task
Force Bartlett approached yet another hill, this one designated
Hill 180. With 3rd Platoon occupying a reserve position to
provide covering fire should the need arise, Millett's two
remaining platoons approached the ridge, with their commanding
officer leading them. As he brought 1st Platoon abreast of the
ridge, Millett received word that the enemy was in force atop
Hill 180. Out of range of artillery, Millett contemplated
delaying the attack or seizing the opportunity at hand. Without
hesitation, he immediately prepared for an assault, directing
his attached tank platoon to join 3rd Platoon in firing on the
enemy position. Positioning himself with 1st Platoon, Millett
yelled: "Get ready to move! We're going to assault the hill. Fix
bayonets! Charge! Everybody goes with me."
Fortunately Millett and his men reached the base of the hill
with minimal casualties. Regrouping under cover of a protective
outcropping, Millett led the men forward toward the first of
three knobs that characterized the hill. While personally
leading his company, Millett placed himself at the head of two
platoons and with fixed bayonet, led the assault up the
fire-swept hill. In the fierce charge, Millett bayoneted two
enemy soldiers and boldly continued on, throwing grenades,
clubbing and bayoneting the enemy, while urging his company
forward by shouting encouragement. Amid the roar of battle,
Millett could be heard shouting for 3rd Platoon to join the
assault: "Use grenades and cold steel! Come on up here, you sons
of bitches!" At one point, Millett had to fire his M-1 to
release its bayonet by the recoil. Despite vicious opposing
fire, the whirlwind hand-to-hand assault carried to the crest of
the hill.
Millett's dauntless leadership and personal courage so inspired
his men that they stormed into the hostile position and used
their bayonets with such lethal effect that the enemy fled in
wild disorder, just as they had two days earlier. This time Easy
Company had endured its fair share of casualties as well, but
they had carried the hill. Wounded by a grenade fragment,
Millett refused evacuation until the objective was taken and
firmly secured. That evening, Easy Company took time to reflect
on what they had done. Of the approximately 200 enemy soldiers
who had occupied Hill 180 at noon, 47 lay dead on the ground and
later reports confirmed the Chinese and North Koreans had
incurred an additional 60 wounded. Of the dead that lay strewn
on Hill 180, 18 had been killed with bayonets. Five months later
President Truman awarded Capt. Lewis Lee Millett the Medal of
Honor and Easy Company received its second Distinguished Unit
Citation.
The assault on "Bayonet Hill" was hardly the last contribution
by this illustrious soldier whose career spanned three decades.
Millett later founded the 101st Airborne Division's Recon
School, the 82nd Airborne Division's Raiders, the Rangers of
Vietnam and the Commandos of Laos. During the Vietnam War, he
refused all U.S. decorations with a statement that he was there
to provide freedom for people under attack by tyranny and had no
desire for personal recognition. While serving in the Phoenix
Program, he voluntarily served as a hostage in a North
Vietnamese battalion while its commander arranged to surrender
to the South Vietnamese army. As a paratrooper, he made five
jumps in Vietnam and eight in Laos. During the Persian Gulf War,
Millett volunteered for duty during Operation Desert Storm, but
was denied service because of age.
Over the span of two wars, Winters and Millett remained polar
opposites who found common expression in leading soldiers in
battle. Winters always yearned for a quiet farm in southern
Pennsylvania; Millett found comfort in war.
Winters, who enlisted in the Army in May 1941 because enlistment
was the most viable alternative to being drafted as the United
States edged toward global war, personified the American citizen
soldier. Serving his tour with the 101st Airborne Division from
Normandy to Berchtesgaden, he returned to civilian life after
the war. Temporarily recalled to active duty during the Korean
War, he trained draftees for combat, but he never deployed to
Korea. In later years, he and his company became the subject of
historian Stephen E. Ambrose's Band of Brothers and an HBO
series based on the book.
In direct contrast to Winters, Millett participated in combat in
two armies and three wars in Africa, Europe, and Asia. His
military career spanned 33 years and he served proudly as a
military advisor to the governments and armed forces of Japan,
Greece, the Republic of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. Recipient of
every major award for valor, Millett has served with distinction
as the Honorary Colonel of the 27th Infantry Regiment since
1985.
Though Winters and Millett never actually met, the unifying
feature of their leadership has been their unquestionable
competency in battle and a unique ability to inspire soldiers to
perform beyond their highest expectations in the test of combat.
In the final analysis it is difficult to determine what made
commanders as different as Dick Winters and Lew Millett so
effective in combat. As brilliant a commander as George S.
Patton was, he had a difficult time defining the essence of
military leadership. "I have it," Patton mused, "but I'll be
damned if I can explain it." Winters and Millett had it, too.
Inspirational leadership, coupled with shared adversity in war's
dark crucible, produced outstanding commands, which, at their
peak, were among the best, if not the best, companies in the
U.S. Army during their respective wars. Perhaps it was a unique
combination of commander and unit coming together at a critical
time that characterized these excellent organizations. Millett
said it best 50 years after that fateful February day when he
led his bayonet attack against an entrenched enemy: "One does
not charge up a hill without men who are as crazy as their
leader." Regardless of one's perspective, Dick Winters and Lew
Millett have bequeathed a legacy of combat leadership that
serves as a model for the U.S. Army in the 21st century.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COL. COLE C. KINGSEED, USA Ret., Ph.D., a former professor of
history at the U.S. Military Academy, is a writer and
consultant.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2002 by The Association of the U.S. Army
|
|
