I signed because I have the the right to express my opinion freely and without fear, thanks to men and women from every Allied country. Band of Brothers is an important series. It’s not just “stupid American television”. It focused on one group of men because that was necessary to the story line. But the bravery of these men is representative of all the men, from every Allied country who served on the front lines during WWII. It tells every soldier’s story. And it brings much needed recognition to these men, (and women). People who would have never been interested in learning about WWII are now watching and talking about this series.
I’m the 22680TH. to sign.
Spiers actually died this year, back in April.
What I really like is that everyone knows who Winters is, thanks to Band of Brothers, but no one really seems to know the actual recepient of the Medal of Honor in the 101st.
Instead of fighting for Winters to get his MofH can’t we fight to get metals for the USS Franklin survivors that were treated like deserters because it was too hot and they jumped off or were blown off? Even plank owners were not allowed to get back on board their ship because of the stupid captain.
One thing that always bothered me about that series; given the dramatization, one would think that the men of the 101st solely kept the Germans at bay throughout the Battle of the bulge-which they certainly had a major part in- but what of the men from the other divisions who went up against the Germans before the 101st could get to Bastogne? They portray them in such a bad light, as if they just up and quit. Read “Alamo in the Ardennes” if you want to look for some guys who deserve the MOH.
Excellent comment and I couldn’t agree more. The US divisions that fought the Germans at the Bulge suffered heavy casualties and in many cases ceased to exist as combat effective units…
But they also slowed the German advance and destroyed a large number of Heer combat armored fighting vehicles. The offensive had lost much of its momentum even by the time the 101st reinforced bastonge…
Actually, 75% of the actors in Band Of Brothers were British 
Signed, because i feel that a cool tv series is reason enough for the highest US order.
Like it was stated before, civililians have no right to demand the MOH be given to anyone, so while I can appreciate the gesture, it is pretty much an act of futility. Moreover, Maj. Winters already said he didnt want the MOH anyway, so who are we to go against his wishes? Furthermore, call me a snob if you will, but I’m not putting my signature on anything containing a sentence like:
“We am pleading with you, sir, to right the wrong that should have been taken care of sixty years ago”
(2nd to last sentence in petition) Call me crazy, but Im pretty sure the Army will not take it very seriously with massive grammatical errors.
Everybody who knows how military politics and propaganda works knows that medals of any sort aren’t awarded fairly in any nation.
One of the best examples being the later President Lyndon B Johnson’s Silver Star for not going on a bombing mission which didn’t result in any medals for the crews which actually reached and bombed the target, because MacArthur was sucking up to him. http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/johnson.silver.star/story/storypage.html
Anyone in uniform in a fighting unit (as distinct from brief operational passengers like Johnson who were fawned upon by commanders like MacArthur) who got a valour award almost certainly deserved it.
Many others who did as much or more didn’t get one, because of quotas or because an officer (or at least an officer who survived the action) didn’t see it or because propaganda needs were slow that month or directed elsewhere and so on.
There is no reason to single out Winters as deserving of a belated award just because he happens to be the subject of a popular book and television series. As he would no doubt acknowledge, there were thousands of others who deserved the same award who didn’t get it. And who won’t be the focus of an ill informed campaign to get it, unless some author or television program or film chooses to focus on their unit as if it’s the only unit that fought in the war.
Many officers and men in, for example, the 1st Marine Division in the Pacific did much more than Winters and his men under worse conditions with less support against a worse enemy long before Winters and his men landed in Europe and they’re not acknowledged with medals, and won’t be, because they don’t figure in a popular book or television series.
What’s done is done.
Leave it at that.
what redcoat has said is completely right. However stories emerging from the second world war are now shown to a bigger audience and more and more people would like heroes from wwII awarded - I am for Major Winters receiving the medal of honour. The only VC that was won on D day was to Sgt Hollis. However there is no book, no film to my knowledge about him. I had never heard of him until I was looking at the award of the VC. The late great Stephen Ambrose wrote the book BOB and people wanted more for the heroes that they had read about and had seen on the tv. That is how it appears to me but I am probably wrong, i dont know.
i hearby signed as a loyal supporter of major richard winters and believe with all his service he should be givin the cmh.
Winters stated in one of the interviews around “Band of Brothers” that his grandkids didn’t even know he was a WWII vet. The had asked him, and he would only give very ambiguous answers. It obviously finally came out when the series was launched and they were older…
I think he would be a bit taken aback about all this talk of giving him a Congressional Medal. Congressional Medal of Honor ISN’T popularity contest, a Golden Globe, nor an Oscar. Nor is it bestowed for competence and leadership. The CMH isn’t for the living, it’s for the families of the dead - and to inspire those that might be there some day. An example would be the last two guys to win the award, Delta Force operatives/commandos that knowingly and voluntarily set down from a chopper to guard a downed one that was surrounded by hundreds of Somali militiamen. They both were overrun and killed and their stripped naked bodies were dragged through the streets by the pigs…
*Actually, I think an Army sergeant got the award in Iraq around 2004 for single-handedly holding off an insurgent ambush with a .50 cal. mounted on a HUMVEE. He was also killed…
Really? Not the main ones though…
An excellent example of this is David Stirling, founder of the SAS. By all accounts he earned the VC several times over - but the rules stated that a “senior officer” had to be present to confirm the award. He was of course in all cases the most senior officer present…
I think he would be a bit taken aback about all this talk of giving him a Congressional Medal. Congressional Medal of Honor ISN’T popularity contest, a Golden Globe, nor an Oscar. Nor is it bestowed for competence and leadership. The CMH isn’t for the living, it’s for the families of the dead - and to inspire those that might be there some day. An example would be the last two guys to win the award, Delta Force operatives/commandos that knowingly and voluntarily set down from a chopper to guard a downed one that was surrounded by hundreds of Somali militiamen. They both were overrun and killed and their stripped naked bodies were dragged through the streets by the pigs…
first i want to thank you if i were a sgt.maj. i would recomend you for a medal. second those delta sgt.s were gary schucart and randall gordon.
Since no one has mentioned it yet I would like to point out that Major Winters was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross which is the second highest metal that can be awarded to a member of the U.S. Army. Its not that the U.S. Army over looked Major Winters accomplishments they just didn’t feel that he met the exceptionally high standards required for the Metal of Honor. There were only 464 MoH awarded during World War II and 266 of those were awarded posthumously. It is not an award issued simply because someone was an extremely brave and effective combat leader. Nor is it awarded to people that have been exposed to a lot of popularity, as has been pointed out.
signed as well
And I always thought their names were Randall Shughart and Gary Gordon…