Dean Ladrath Rockwell (May 25, 1912 – August 8, 2005)) was a decorated

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

group commander in the D-Day invasion, an Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling coach, and a college football coach.

Biography

After graduating from

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

in 1935, Rockwell taught and coached track, wrestling and football at several Michigan high schools. He also was an auto worker and took part in the Flint Sit-Down Strike in 1936–1937. On May 17, 1942, Rockwell enlisted in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, where he became a group commander of 12 LCT’s during the invasion of

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Rockwell received both the US

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps' second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is eq ...

and the French Croix de Guerre avec Paume for his decision to break radio silence when faced with what he recognized as a certain disaster. Instead, Rockwell radioed an Army captain which allowed important last-minute changes that aided in the success of the attack and saved thousands of lives. So crucial was Rockwell’s decision that, a half a century later, at the 50th anniversary of D-Day in 1994, Rockwell was given the honor of introducing then-President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. The Navy Cross citation reads, in part: "Rockwell, in the face of very heavy enemy fire, discharged the tanks e and his men had carried ashoreon the ground. By quick and sound decision he was able to land all these tanks at the correct spot and, by skillful handling, incurred only a minimum of damage to his ships." "Full Text Citations For Award of The Navy Cross To U.S. Navy Personnel, World War II" ''homeofheroes.com''
11 November 2010 Respected author and historian Stephen Ambrose wrote of Rockwell in his book, D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II: "There was one final bombardment from the sea. It came from Sherman tanks aboard LCTs approaching the shoreline. Under the circumstances - rough water, smoke and haze, extreme excitement - it was wildly inaccurate. But that those Shermans were close enough to the beach to fire was itself a near miracle, made possible by the courage and common sense of one man, Lieutenant Rockwell, who had just made what was perhaps the single most important command decision of any junior officer on D-Day." After the war, Rockwell studied at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. He went on to coach football at

Albion College Albion College is a private liberal arts college in Albion, Michigan. The college was founded in 1835 and its undergraduate population was approximately 1,500 students in 2014. They participate in NCAA Division III and the Michigan Interco ...

. Rockwell also coached at the national and international levels, chairing the US National AAU Wrestling Committee from 1966 to 1968, serving on three Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling committees, and coaching the US Greco-Roman wrestling team at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. In May 1995, Rockwell received the "Master of Wrestling Award" from ''Wrestling USA'' magazine. In 2000, the nation's largest wrestling library, the new AAU

National Wrestling Hall of Fame The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame for amateur wrestling, headquartered in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2010, it began operating the Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa. History The museum was awarded to Stillw ...

, was named the "Dean Rockwell Library and Research Center." In January 2007,

named a gymnasium in his honor as the "Dean L. Rockwell Wrestling Facility." Rockwell was a member of the Phi Sigma Epsilon fraternity while a student at Eastern Michigan, and assisted with the fraternity's reformation as

Phi Sigma Phi Phi Sigma Phi,() is a national fraternity in the United States founded on July 30, 1988 in South Bend, Indiana by chapters formerly of Phi Sigma Epsilon that declined to participate in that fraternity's merger into Phi Sigma Kappa. There are cur ...

when most of its chapters merged with

Phi Sigma Kappa Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic Fraternities and sororities, fraternity with approximately 74 List of Phi Sigma Kappa chapters#List of Chapters, active chapters and provisional chapters in ...

Biography

Head coaching record

College football

References

Further reading