192 Old Forge Road
Pine Grove, PA 17963
March 14, 2002

Honorable Rick Santorum
United States Senate
120 Russell Building
Washington, DC 20510-3802

Dear Senator Santorum:

        It is an honor and privilege for me to entrust you with the enclosed documentation supporting the upgrade of Major Dick Winters' Distinguished Service Cross to the Medal of Honor.  As you are aware, Major Winters was recommended for the Mead of Honor but received the Distinguished Service Cross because an arbitrary quota of one Medal of Honor for the Normandy Campaign had been imposed by the 101st Airborne Division Command.

        Major Winters' records clearly reflect heroism and leadership worthy of the Medal of Honor.  Indeed when one examines his record from enlistment through D-Day, Market-Garden, Bastogne, and ultimately the surrender at Bershtesgaden, it is quite clear that Major Winters' service warranted the Medal of Honor for other action as well.  One such example is the action in Holland where he led a fifteen man patrol (later reinforced to 35) in a bayonet attack inflicting heavy casualties and routing two companies of SS (approximately 300 troops), thereby successfully blunting a coordinated attack by the German 363rd Volksgrenadier Division.

        When I set out to correct this injustice I first sought permission from Major Winters.  It took several months to gain his approval.  Major Winters' concern is the same as it was 57 years ago; that is, proper recognition for his men and those who made the supreme sacrifice.  He always put his soldiers first.

        There is more than adequate anecdotal evidence from Major Winters' troops and his superiors as to his leadership, character, and bravery.  His leadership is well documented in the book "Band of Brothers", by the pre-eminent author/historian Stephen Ambrose, as well as the film interviews of Easy Company survivors that were recorded for the television's History Channel.

        Major Winters' heroic action on D-Day, knocking out the German guns firing on Utah Beach and the subsequent capture of vital maps and documents revealing the entire costal defenses, saved untold lives.  This heroic feat positively affected the success of the invasion force landings beyond our ability to calculate.

        Although the literary community and Hollywood have honored Major Winters, it is time for a grateful nation to say thank you with his well-deserved Medal of Honor.

Sincerely,

signed: Herman W. Clemens

Herman W. Clemens
Sergeant Major AUS (Ret)