Reporting the D-Day Landing-- Part 6: The Brave General and His Lieutenant

"In my books much credit must be given to the tall lean brigadier general who showed absolute disregard for his own safety in organizing his troops and getting them moving inland.

"I cannot name him.  But I can name the cool calm lieutenant who stayed by his side during the whole time.  He was Robert J. Rieske of Battle Creek, Mich..

"Eight hours after landing, not a single enemy plane made an appearance over our beach.

We had waded ashore to the rattle of machine guns and the bursting of shells.

"A soldier riding on the rear of a 'duck' at the water edge behind me suddenly gave a startled cry and toppled into the water.  A medic dragged him to the beach and treated a wound to his thigh."

After some research, I believe this brigadier general whom Don Whitehead could not identify because of censorship very likely was Norma Cota, who landed with the second wave.

--GreGen