Teddy Roosevelt Jr.: The Toughest Old Man in WWII: Used cane to storm Utah Beach on D-Day; awarded MOH

Via David

Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., seen in Ste. Mere-Eglise on July 12, hours before he died of a coronary thrombosis. Arthritis caused him to walk with a stick. The 4th Infantry Division commander described him as “the most gallant soldier and finest gentleman I have ever known.” 

Imagine it is D-Day, June 6, 1944, and you are a young private.

You are hitting Utah Beach in the very first wave, into the teeth of the German army, against a rainfall of enemy gunfire, artillery shrapnel and gore. You are filled with fear.

And there on the beach in front of you, stands an old man.  An American brigadier general—bull frog-voiced, pop-eyed, 5-foot-8 inches tall, and directing traffic with his cane.  Calm as a man can be in combat, he is Ted Roosevelt Jr., the son of the famous president and the only general on the beach.

At age 56, he had volunteered to be on the landing boats in order to give the young troops reassurance and to arm them with his same fortitude and courage.