Coaches Hot Seat NFL Quotes of the Day – Saturday, June 7, 2014 – Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
Coaches Hot Seat NFL Quotes of the Day – Saturday, June 7, 2014 – Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
“Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr.: As best I can figure it, we’re on the wrong beach. The control boat must have been confused by the smoke from the naval bombardment. They landed us about a mile and a quarter south of where we were supposed to land. We should be up there.
Col. Caffey: I agree with you, but what are we gonna do now? Our reinforcements and heavy equipment will be approaching in a very few minutes. What happens if they land at the right beach?
Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr.: The reinforcements will have to follow us wherever we are. We’re starting the war from right here. Head inland. We’re going inland.”
Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (Son of President Teddy Roosevelt), D-Day June 6, 1944, upon landing on the wrong beach at Normandy
Wikipedia Page: Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
Medal of Honor citation for Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
“For gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 6 June 1944, in France. After 2 verbal requests to accompany the leading assault elements in the Normandy invasion had been denied, Brig. Gen. Roosevelt’s written request for this mission was approved and he landed with the first wave of the forces assaulting the enemy-held beaches. He repeatedly led groups from the beach, over the seawall and established them inland. His valor, courage, and presence in the very front of the attack and his complete unconcern at being under heavy fire inspired the troops to heights of enthusiasm and self-sacrifice. Although the enemy had the beach under constant direct fire, Brig. Gen. Roosevelt moved from one locality to another, rallying men around him, directed and personally led them against the enemy. Under his seasoned, precise, calm, and unfaltering leadership, assault troops reduced beach strong points and rapidly moved inland with minimum casualties. He thus contributed substantially to the successful establishment of the beachhead in France.”
Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., and Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., are one of only two sets of fathers and sons to have been awarded the Medal of Honor. The other set is Arthur and Douglas MacArthur.
Throughout World War II, Roosevelt suffered from health problems. He had arthritis, mostly from old World War I injuries, and walked with a cane. He also had heart trouble. On July 12, 1944, one month after the landing at Utah Beach, he died suddenly of a heart attack in his tent near Normandy, France, at about midnight. He was fifty-six years old. On the day of his death he had been selected by General Omar Bradley for promotion to major general and orders had been cut placing him in command of the 90th Infantry Division. These recommendations were sent to General Dwight D. Eisenhower for approval, but when Eisenhower called the next morning to approve them, he had to be told that Roosevelt had died during the night.
Roosevelt was buried at the American cemetery in Normandy, initially created for the Americans killed in Normandy during the invasion. He now lies next to his younger brother, Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt. Quentin, a pilot, had been killed in France during World War I and was initially buried at the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial for veterans of WWI at Fère-en-Tardenois, France, near where Quentin had been shot down in that war, but was exhumed in 1955 and moved to the Normandy cemetery, in order to be re-interred next to his brother.
