“Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.”
— Dick Winters
I love the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. The protagonist, Major Dick Winters, wrote a memoir after the fact, recounting firsthand his experience leading Easy Company from the night jump before D-Day to V.E. Day. They suffered 150% casualties while liberating Europe, playing crucial roles in pushing the Germans out of France, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge, and even liberating a concentration camp.
I took his memoir hiking for a couple of weekends to Montara Beach and Half Moon Bay's North Ridge Trail (pictured above) and was struck and time and time again with his courage, dedication, and plain badassery. To me, Winters embodies the greatest of the Greatest Generation. There was one point, when he and his men — all of whom had been wounded at least once by then — were 100% surrounded by a superior, well-supplied enemy force. In the dead of winter. With barely any ammunition. No way to evacuate wounded comrades. No help on the way.
I put my book down and just sighed. To think that I was complaining an hour before silently in my head about the long line at Chipotle before I could get my burrito, or worried about approaching a colleague regarding disagreement in marketing strategy. I've probably had hundreds if not thousands of these moments where I waste my opportunities in life. Men like Major Winters fought for my freedom. How have I used it? [JG]
I took his memoir hiking for a couple of weekends to Montara Beach and Half Moon Bay's North Ridge Trail (pictured above) and was struck and time and time again with his courage, dedication, and plain badassery. To me, Winters embodies the greatest of the Greatest Generation. There was one point, when he and his men — all of whom had been wounded at least once by then — were 100% surrounded by a superior, well-supplied enemy force. In the dead of winter. With barely any ammunition. No way to evacuate wounded comrades. No help on the way.
I put my book down and just sighed. To think that I was complaining an hour before silently in my head about the long line at Chipotle before I could get my burrito, or worried about approaching a colleague regarding disagreement in marketing strategy. I've probably had hundreds if not thousands of these moments where I waste my opportunities in life. Men like Major Winters fought for my freedom. How have I used it? [JG]
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