Major General Maurice Rose

World War II's Greatest Forgotten Commander

Stephen L. Ossad, Don R. Marsh

• Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing
• Year: 2006
• eBook ISBN: 9781461733768
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

Major General Maurice Rose (1899-1945), commander of 3rd Amored, First Army's legendary "Spearhead" division, was the highest-ranking American Jewish officer ever killed in battle, and the only individual casualty to spark a War Crimes Investigation. This, the first and only biography of this important World War II figure, tells the dramatic story of Rose's life—-from his childhood as a son of a rabbi, through his experiences in World War I and in the U.S. cavalry, to his meteoric rise as America's answer to Rommel. In 1943, Rose negotiated and accepted the surrender of the German Army in Tunisia, the first large-scale surrender to an American force during World War II. At the Battle of Carentan in June 1944, he saved the 506th Parachute Infantry (of Band of Brothers fame), and might very well have saved the entire Normandy beachhead from a catastrophic German counterattack. His brilliant, daring, and aggressive defensive tactics during the Battle of the Bulge prevented an enemy breakthrough to the Meuse River and beyond, thereby frustrating the German advance.
Based on original archival research and exclusive interviews, this biography shatters old myths and factual distortions, and offers a refreshingly inquisitive and critical perspective. Steven L. Ossad and Don R. Marsh reveal new insights into Rose's controversial death—-was he killed because he was Jewish or because he went for his weapon?—-and about the even more controversial investigations that followed. As compelling and extraordinary as the life that it describes, this biography pays long-overdue tribute to one of America's greatest heroes.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Introduction
• One March 30, 1945 (I)
• Two The Early Life (1899–1916)
• Three The Young Officer (1917–1920)
• Four Peacetime Officer (1920–1930)
• Five The Cavalry Officer (1930–1935)
• Six Field Grade Officer (1936–1940)
• Seven The Armor Officer Goes to War (1940–1943)
• Eight June 13, 1944: Crisis at Carentan
• Nine July 1944: Rose Propels the Cobra’s Fangs
• Ten September 1944: Collision at Mons
• Eleven Autumn 1944: Movement Gives Way to Stalemate
• Twelve December 1944: Bloody Ardennes
• Thirteen Winter 1945: The Rhine, the Cemetery, and the Letters
• Fourteen March 30, 1945 (II)
• Fifteen The Investigation
• Sixteen Summer 1945
• Appendix I Panama’s Irregular Cavalry by Captain Maurice Rose, Cavalry
• Appendix II An Operation of the 3rd Armored (“Spearhead”) Division by Major General Maurice Rose
• Appendix III Correspondence between Rose and General Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index