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Army reservist's death under review

By ANDREW MEACHAM
Published March 24, 2007

PLANT CITY - Army Reserve Lt. Col. Peter Winston left his ranch in rural Hillsborough County when called up for active duty four years ago, and died Nov. 13.

On Thursday, the Department of Defense announced that Winston's death, in Germany from a "noncombat related incident that occurred while he was in Iraq," is under investigation.

They offered no further information, and no one contacted at the Defense Department or the Army would specify what caused Winston's death, except for the written statement saying it did not involve combat.

Friends described Winston, 56, as a man with a generous and energetic spirit.

Winston headed for Iraq when the U.S. invasion began, leaving behind a spacious ranch at the end of a dirt road off Trapnell Road, where he had lived with his wife, Jennifer.

A small wooden sign nailed to a pine tree still bears his last name, near the Calvary Free Will Baptist Church, where he was a member.

The Rev. Rodger McClellan remembers Winston as someone unfailingly friendly, who loved the church, his family, his old cars - and, especially, the U.S. Army.

"He was gung ho military all the way," said McClellan, who should know. Besides serving as Winston's pastor for at least 15 years, McClellan also cut Winston's hair.

At the end of the road, over a gully with no railing, the 14-acre spread opens up like the mouth of a river. A rickety one-story house surrounded by wild foliage hides before an immense lawn, where the former TECO employee kept his 1938 Fleetwood Cadillac and other antiques.

Those vehicles have been moved. So has the Army tank Winston kept on the property, part of an arsenal that included rifles and machine guns, McClellan said.

In front of the house on Thursday, two men sat in lawn chairs.

"He was a hell of an individual," said Delman Baker, 54, as he popped a fresh beer.

Baker said when Winston was about to re-enlist, returning for a fourth year in Iraq, he tried to talk him out of it.

Winston's wife, Jennifer, has left the ranch and could not be reached for comment.

Winston is also survived by a son, Brett, and a daughter, Breanna, both of Plant City.

Manuel Escobio, a round man in a plaid shirt sitting beside Baker, remembered Winston for his helping hand.

"Never was a poor man who came up to him and went away hungry," Escobio said.

"Now there's nothing to say," he added.

"He'll be missed," Baker said, his face softening.

Both men lapsed into silence.

Andrew Meacham can be reached at 661-2431 or ameacham@sptimes.com.

[Last modified March 24, 2007, 01:39:42]