The U.S. Marine Corps History and Museums Division has selected public relations executive and former Marine Ron Winter to write a history of Operation Dewey Canyon, one of the most successful Marine engagements of the Vietnam War.
Winter works for Trumbull-based Michael J. London & Associates.
The piece will be written for the United States Marine Corps’ 50th Anniversary Commemorative Series.
Winter flew 300 missions as a helicopter machine gunner in Vietnam, including service during Operation Dewey Canyon. He was awarded 15 Air Medals and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, which recognizes heroic acts while in combat, among other honors.
After his active service, Winter earned undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering and English literature. He worked as a reporter at the Hartford Courant for 10 years and then worked for the Manchester-based Inquirer Journal as an editor and columnist. He also spent time in Florida, where he was director of public information for a governmental agency. He joined Michael J. London and Associates in 2001. He currently serves as the firm”™s director of eastern operations.
Winter has written three books, including “Masters of the Art, A Fighting Marine’s Memoir of Vietnam,” a nonfiction account of the U.S. Marine helicopter operations during the Vietnam War, published by Random House; and “Granny Snatching,” about his mother Ella Winter”™s successful fight to prevent his siblings from forcing her into an Alzheimer”™s home even though she never had the disease. The true story explores the growing menace of “granny snatching,” the act of family members forcing their elders into institutions to attain their assets.
Winter’s first novel, “The Hypocrite,” which he describes as a “celestial murder mystery,” was released last year. He currently is working on its sequel.
Winter has received several journalistic awards, including the Roy W. Howard Award, Sevellon Brown Award and Sigma Delta Chi Public Service Award. Winter was also nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
