Author: Erik Dorr & Jared Frederick
Hang Tough – those two words make you think of one person – Major Richard Winters.
While Richard himself wrote about the war, as did many others, this book talks in detail about the personal correspondence and artefacts of Major Winters. What he said. Who did he say it to? What artefacts came home with him after the war?
Major Winters graced the international stage with the release of Stephen Ambrose’s book entitled Band of Brothers and then the HBO series of the same name. Through all documentation, he is portrayed as a modest hero. Someone who did not like the adulation that came with everything he had achieved. But when the international acclaim of the series landed at his door, he knew his life had now changed.
There are two personas to Richard Winters. They are military and personal. Hang Tough shows you a little of both, but mainly focusing on the latter. The book introduces us to DeEtta Almon, his war-time pen-pal and naval reservist.
Richard Winters correspondence painted pictures for Ms Almon. He was able to tell of the horrors he’d seen but the humour he’d encountered. He was able to talk about life on the battlefront and retain that Winters humility that we have come to know. The book gifts us diary entries, photos and military reports. Add into that, his letters home. The letters that really dictate what was going through his mind.
Hang Tough puts the ‘personal’ into ‘Major Richard Winters’. It enables the reader to see how he viewed the war. It enables the reader to see the importance of what he was living through. It enabled the reader to understand him better than we ever have before.
This book is incredibly well researched. I’ve seen reviews that say most of it you will already know from Band of Brothers. Of course, some of it will be repetitive. It can’t not be. Lots have been written about Easy Company. But as I’ve said, this book makes Richard Winters personal. It takes him from being a leader and almost makes him a friend. As you read the letters home, it’s as if they are being written to you personally.
This book is beautifully written with the utmost respect to their subject matter. Respect the man and honour the history. Thank you to our authors.
Currahee
