Sergeant Leston "Tony" Michael Winters

I did not know Sergeant Leston "Tony" Michael Winters, nor do I know his family. But I felt it very important to pay my respects to his family & friends. All gave some, some gave it all. Thank you for the sacrifice that you all have made for myself & my family. Sergeant Winters, thank you for defending our freedoms that so many of us take for granted everyday. I know that you are resting safely in the arms of Jesus now. May God wrap His loving arms around your family & friends and carry them through these very difficult times. I pray for peace in their hearts & that you will be always remembered for your honorable service. God Bless you all and God Bless the USA

It has taken some time for me to deal with the tragic loss of my friend Mike. I am not so elequent with words, I can only share my feelings and my momories of this wonderful man and fallen soldier medic. From our perspective in the Emergency Room at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, we had already felt the loss of his medical expertise, his companionship, and his amazing sense of humor as he PCS'd to Ft Campbell, Kentucky.

I was lucky enough to take Mike hunting several times with our elite deerhunting group and although we did not get the big one, Mike did! That message of "Big Buck Down" was heard around the hospital, and perhaps the entire world. I will never forget taking it to the taxidermist. Man was he proud! I have a great picture of him with the 11-point buck.

The ceremonies at Arlington, Virginia have been announced for the 15th and 16th of August. I will be there with many others from our loyal contingency to pay final respect to our brother who has paid the ultimate price for keeping this nation free from those who would choose to do harm.

I leave you with a copy of a letter written to a Mrs. Bixby during the Civil War, but its message, along with Mike, will never be forgotten.

Executive Mansion,
Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.

Dear Madam,--

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

A. Lincoln

Although we did not know each other for a long time, I want to tell Beth, his children, his mother, and siblings, that I am sorry for their loss.
Mike was always talking about his wife and kids. It show that he was a great husband and father. He loved fishing and hunting.
I am blessed that after 7 combat tours, my husband finally came home last month and we will always be greatful to Mike for the ultimate sacrifize he made. May God bless you and guide you through your time of healing.

Cheryl, I don't know you very well but my heart aches for you and your family. Please know that all of you are in my prayers. May you all find peace, comfort and healing in God's loving arms.

May the peace that passes all understanding be with the precious Spivey family. Our Father in heaven hears your cries of anguish. He is gracious and righteous and full of compassion (Psalm 116:1-7). In Him may you find comfort and rest. I love you all so much and my heart aches for the sorrow and despair you must feel. Hold on to faith and cling to the remembrance that this is not the end of your time with Tony. There will be a great reunion one day behind the pearly gates. On behalf of my entire family, our thoughts and prayers are with you daily.

Tiffany Smith Merriwether

You never know how much a person means to you until they are truly gone.....Although I was 2yrs younger than Tony I knew him from school. He was a kind soul and was liked by everyone that he came across. I enjoyed having talks with him and I am proud to have known this GREAT man who served our country. I am sorry for your loss and I know that he is looking down on you and your family....May God Bless You and your family in this time of loss.

My heart goes out to you and your family and my prayers will be with you. May God give you comfort and His peace as only He can. God Bless.

To the family of Tony... I express my extreme gratitude to you for providing us with a Hero to fight for our freedom. Our thoughts and prayers will be with you throughout this difficult time. He will always be remembered as nothing less than a True Hero. There are no words to express the sympathy in all of our hearts for his Mother, Wife, and Children and the rest of his friends and family. Please know that through this sadness and heartache, an Hero was born and can now rest in the peace that he so deserves. He was a great guy in school and from what I can see, he only got better. Our hearts break with you over the loss of Tony, but the Hero that he is will never be forgotten. Gone but never forgotten... "Go rest high on that mountain... Son, your work on Earth is done... " and what an awesome job you did. Thank you, Tony... and to all of your family, for your ultimate sacrifice.
Truly,
Nikki, Logan, and Brayden

I had the pleasure of living in the same barracks as Mike in Germany and partying many times with him. He first introduced himself as Tony and when I seen that Tony was nowhere in his name and some people called him Mike, I changed. When my sister and her college friends came to visit during a spring break he kept bugging me to bring them over to his place for a barbeque. One day he called me on the phone, I didn't have very good reception and with his southern accent all I could make out was "barbeque". Since my sis and I know a bunch of Mikes, he was from that day forth refered to as "barbeque Mike".
I will miss you bro!!!

We are so deeply sorry for your loss and our hearts are heavy in this time of sadness. Sgt. Winters was a great friend to many and it was a privilege to have known him. We will never forget the look on his face when he got that deer last season it was priceless.We were as excited for him as he was himself. Know that he was loved by many and will be sorely missed but never forgotten.

To Sgt Winters' family,
I served with SGT Winters during Operation Iraqi Freedom II, March 2004 - March 2005. SGT Winters was a selfless soldier, a lightning fast medic and a wonderful man. There are many soldiers, US and foreign, who owe their life to SGT Winters. I will aways remember his Texas drawl and warm heart.
Elizabeth, Remy, Emma, and the rest of SGT Winters' family, SGT Winters was a brave soldier, I owe my life to him. Thank you.
On behalf of the Wardogs of Bravo Company, 8th Engineer Battalion, the 1st Cavalry Division and the US Army, thank you for giving us your husband and daddy.

-Chris Widell

Thank you for your service and sacrifices for our country and our families. We will not forget .

Always in our thoughts and prayers.

We are sorry that we never got to meet you but our prayers are with your family! Uncle Jim, Aunt Chris & Cousins Jimmy & Jennifer

Thank you Sgt. Winters for your loyal service to this great country. May God bless you and your family and friends during this great time of loss. May God comfort you and bring you peace. A greatful America mourns the loss of a hero in Sgt. Leston "Tony" Michael Waters.

Tony is truly an American Hero, may God rest his soul and bless his family and friends, slow hand salute...

Jerry Turner
SE Texas PGR
Flag Captain

Winters will be missed dearly by all of us in FLW who worked closely with him. He was wonderful with patients, especially the kiddos. He always had a way with the little ones, alieviating their fears. He was a great man, who loved his wife and kids with all of his heart. He will never be forgotten.

There are no words that I can say except Thank You to his wife, to his parents, to the lovely children he left behind and above all to Sgt. Tony Winters, Thank You and I pray that the warrior will find peace. May God wrap his arms around you and help each of you get thru this and know that Sgt. Winters will never be forgotten. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Terry Clark (PGR East Texas---"Copper T"

On behalf of all the Patriot Guard Riders from the Golden Triangle, Houston area, and Lake Charles area it will be an honor to Stand Tall and Silent in honor of Sgt. Winters service and sacrifice.

To the family and friends.....Sgt Winters will never be forgotten. May God bless and comfort you each of you in your time of sadness. May you treasure your memories and hold them in the days ahead.

Respectfully,
Sandra Womack
Sr. Ride Captain
PGR-GT

I was blessed and privileged to work with Sgt. Winters in the ER at Ft. Wood. There are so many good memories surrounding Mike, that it is hard to list them here. My best memories are when we talked about Remi and Beth, and the night he found out that Beth was expecting, I have never seen anyone so over the moon. Mike loved his family first and being an Army Medic second. I will always remember, BIG BUCK DOWN! May God keep Beth, and his children in his hands and we will always keep them in our hearts

I am so sorry to read of SSG Winters death. I thank you for his sacrifice and his service to our country.

I look forward to meeting him in Heaven on day.

May the Lord comfort you.

My Prayers are with you and your family at this time.
I am so sorry for your loss.

I was deployed as a Reserve Lieutenant , second in charge of the ER when I met Mike. Although we built up a good trust for saving lives, I can remember this one day when I called, "Hey SGT Winters, can you help me hold this kid for this blood draw?" Now minutes pass and as I start to get frustrated why he isn't back in the room.........then, I catch a glimse of a man, in military uniform with one of the blue latex gloves blown up on his head.....acting like a chicken and the "good guy" as I dug a needle into this kid. I honestly don't think he even paid attention to me because SGT Winters in ACU's with a blue glove did enough.............this overgrown kid/soldier was full one of the BIGGEST hearts I have ever met & had the honor to work with. His ability to keep his military bearing as he helped me hold down psychotic patients was never ending. To keep his co workers safe........we'd only need SGT Winters.

I will never forget you. You were an amazing solider, and one of the best daddy's for all your kids, especially Remmie (mini you) that I had the pleasure of getting to know......"pop it, lock it, break the pickle, tickle, tickle......" crap, SGT Winters even had me doing it!!!! May all of the friends that knew him have the honor of one day telling those kids.........God how much he loved you!!!! I promise, knowing SGT Winters, he's up there in heaven, has already made his angle wings to refect a cammo hat and some type of hunting gear so that we will be able to notice him when it's our turn. I know he has already posted a sign.........."Will play with all kids until I can play with mine one day again................" damn, you will sincerly missed.........

I never thought I would have to ever write this for you my collegue and friend.

So, with my own personal Salute to you, your family and your ultimate sacrifice, and my forever friendship with your family. (will see you at Arlington)

Debbie Rice, RN
CPT, USAR

We are eternally grateful for his sacrafice. His life was a blessing. He was a medic there to offer healing and comfort, a tragic dichotomy. We are honored by his service.

I was privileged to work with Sgt Winters in the ER at Ft Wood before he deployed this last time. He was a great medic, had a magic touch with kids, loved his wife and family, and had a great sense of humor. It was an honor to know him!!

Each year, I will walk along the stones that stand tall and proud in section 60. I will read names, check out momentos left, and shed a few tears. After this year, I will visit Tony and pay my respects. I had the opportunity to work with him and hang out with him and his wife. I will always have those memories. Tony may be gone, but he will Never be forgotten. My heart goes out to your family. I wish no other family would have to go through this.
Much Love and Respect,
Mrs. Laura Rodriguez
SFC Greg Rodriguez MP, K9 KIA 9/2/2008, Arlington Section 60.

My dearest friend and brother you brought great joy to my life and I feel very blessed for having gotten to share so many experiences with you. Those memories will always be a treasure in my heart and I will remember you always.

-Simmons

If pictures are worth a thousand soldiers, I can tell that Tony
loved being with his family. And must of felt a closeness only a brother could feel for his family and his country. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. God must of needed Tony more right now more than any of us did.

All my best !
Troy/
Montrose Patient Advocates of houston.
We are committed to your medical well being !

Tony,
We knew you at Fort Leonard Wood. You will always be remembered by those of us that cared about you and we will always miss you. Thank you for all you have done and to the sacrifice you have given. May God always touch the lives of your wonderful family and keep them close to His all loving heart.

Please accept our condolences for the loss of Mike.

Sgt. Winters.... You will always be in my heart. We had many good times and i will always cherish that time.I wiah that we could spend more time but there will be plenty of time for all that. I wish to send my condolences to your family. You were a great man, father and soldier. We will always be brothers in arms. God bless you and your family.

Jonathan Nisbet Sr. (former WarDog)

Sgt. Winters you will be missed so much. To the family we are so sorry for your loss. We hate loosing one of our brothers.

It continues to overwhelm me. Tony and I had just reconnected over the past few months. I felt like I was in the birthing room with him and Beth when Emma was born. He kept me updated all night long. We talked about how much he loved his Beth and his babies. I will miss him as I know the rest of his family does.

Know that you are all in my thoughts and prayers,

Aunt Lisa

Although I did not know Sergeant Winters, I am so very sorry for your loss. I will keep your family in my prayers.

We did not know Sgt. Winters, but we are so grateful for his service. God bless all of his family and friends during this difficult time.

Our deepest sympathy to Sgt. Winters' family and friends. We are so thankful to all of our military - troops and families - for their continued sacrifices ensuring our freedoms and liberties. We pray you all feel God's presence in these dark times, and that you call upon us, your brothers and sisters, if there is anything we can do to ease your sorrow.
Sincerely,
The Crisp Family

We don't know each other, but the story is going around FB about your husband the the rally this week. My prayers are with y'all that you don't even see anyone there but the friends and family who love you. Please don't think that there is no God or that he is mad at your husband. He is not. Your husband was a selfless man and I am going to be forever grateful for what he did for our country. Thank you for sacraficing him for us. I'm sorry for you loss. My tears are real, but can't be as real or as much as yours. I am praying for you and your family.

What do you say to a family whose loved love paid the ultimate price? May God wrap his loving arms around this family and comfort them during this time of sorrow. Tony, it is young men and women like you who sacrifice it all so we Americans can enjoy our freedom and blessings. You have made this whole community proud but break our hearts in sorrow.

To the Winters Family,
May God Bless You!!!!!
I did not know Sergeant Winters but he and his family have given the untimate sacrifice for myself and everyone in these United States. I can only say I am sorry for your loss and Thank you. You are in my prayers.

My son in law SSG.Jason Kovic served a tour with Tony in Iraq a couple of years ago, he is in Michigan at present. I know he is mournful for your loss, as my wife and I are. Please know that your son , husband, bother,friend is a hero to each one of us in the USA and the world. I thank him for his duty and sacrifice on our behalf. May God bless you and keep you close to him forever.