Last week, we remembered the actions of General Teddy Roosevelt, Jr. when he was part of the initial landings at Utah Beach, the only General to land with the first wave of troops on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Today, we look at another example of leadership from the front, Brigadier General Norm Cota.
When General Cota landed on Omaha Beach an hour after the first men came ashore, it was clear that the assault plan, a plan which had taken over a year to create, was quickly falling apart. German defenses had blocked all exits from the beach with barbed wire, concrete pillboxes, land mines, and well planned zones of fire.
Rather than telling men to go forward, General Cota led by example, climbing over the seawall and showing engineers where he wanted them to place explosives that would tear holes in the barbed wire and create an exit off the beach. When the detonation created a hole, Cota was one of the first men through the breach. Inspired by his example, soldiers followed and overcame the defenses that had been meant to keep them out of mainland Europe.
On each of the landing beaches, individual officers and non-commissioned officers took similar actions that inspired their fellow soldiers to overcome the obstacles that stood between them, the destruction of tyranny, and the preservation of liberty. In the final analysis, it was the cumulative effects of many individual initiatives that propelled the Allies to victory.
As we look ahead to the Memorial Day Weekend when we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice on the altar of liberty, let us look at those who led from the front … the mark of truly Great Leaders. Click “Comment” and tell us who you believe were the greatest leaders of the “the greatest generation”.
Tom Hoisington is a speaker, trainer, and author whose goal is to provide leaders and potential leaders with tools that empower them to build teams that are creative and cost effective along with a clearer understanding of how personality types interact within those teams. He can be contacted at tom.hoisington@eagleoneresources.com