George A . Taylor George Arthur Taylor ( February 14 , 1899 — December 3 , 1969 ) was a Brigadier General of the United States Army . He is most famous for the leadership of his men during Omaha Beach landing . Then he served as a commander of the 16th Infantry Regiment and proved an extraordinary heroism , for which he was awarded Distinguished Service Cross . He served most of his career during World War II with U . S . 1st Infantry Division , where he was assigned as deputy commander of the division . Prewar years . George Arthur Taylor was born in the small village Flat Rock , Illinois , in the southeast of Illinois . He graduated of the United States Military Academy , class of 1922 and have been commissioned with the rank of Second lieutenant . During 30s , Taylor held a lot of various infantry assignments , beginning with infantry unit at Fort Sam Houston in Texas , and continued with posts in Hawaii , Washington , North Dakota and San Francisco . In 1937 , he was finally detached to the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth for further staff training until the next year . Then he returned to the field duty and was assigned to the Fort William McKinley at the Philippines , where he served with the Philippine Scouts . After return from Philippines , Taylor was assigned to the 16th Infantry Regiment , where he was promoted to the Intelligence Officer of the 1st Battalion . In June 1941 , he was transferred for a short while to the Caribbean , where he served with US Forces at the Headquarters as assistant chief of staff . After a month of service , he returned to the United States and became Instructor of tactics at the Infantry School in Fort Benning , Georgia . Second World War . After entry of US into the war , Taylor was transferred to the North Africa , where he served as a staff member of Advanced Echelon Amphibious Forces , Atlantic Fleet and in October the a staff member to the Naval Operating Base Commander in Oran , Algeria . In February 1943 , Taylor briefly led 26th Infantry Regiment and on 20 April of the same year , he was transferred back to the 16th Infantry Regiment , where he replaced Colonel d ' Alary Fechet as the new Regimental Commander . He then commanded the Regiment during Allied invasion of Sicily and Omaha Beach . Omaha Beach . He arrived on the beach in a later wave , about 0800 . A colonel at the time , he was still the regimental commander for the 16th Infantry Regiment , which took many casualties in the initial assault . He found the remnants of his exhausted and shell - shocked men pinned down along the seawall . He was able to motivate , organize and lead the attack inland . His famous quote from Omaha Beach : Taylor is sometimes confused with General Norman Cota , who was also on the beach that day , but in a different sector with a different unit , the U . S . 29th Infantry Division . Both officers rallied the troops under fire . In the film " The Longest Day " General Cota ( played by Robert Mitchum ) was given Taylor ' s line . Distinguished Service Cross . For this action , George Taylor was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross . The official U . S . Army citation for Taylor ' s Distinguished Service Cross reads : End of the War . Taylor was promoted to Brigadier General on 1 August 1944 and became the assistant commander of the 1st Division from Oct 1944 to July 1945 . During the final days of the War , U . S . 1st Infantry Division reach the area of western Bohemia , near the city of Karlovy Vary . German XII . Army Corps under command of general of artillery Herbert Osterkamp was located in this area and tried surrender to the Western Allies . Command of U . S . 1st Division accepted the German surrender and arranged a meeting in the nearby town Loket . As a representatives of the U . S . forces were present Brig . General Taylor , Col . Harrold and Maj . Wich . At the German side it was general Osterkamp and some other staff officers . When general Taylor checked the surrender document , noted that the place of surrender was written city " Elbogen , Sudetenland " . Taylor struck out the location " Elbogen , Sudetenland " and wrote " Loket , Czechoslovakia " instead . Simply changed back to its name before the Nazi invasion . This act brought him great respect in Czechoslovakia . Postwar Life . General Taylor stayed with 1st Division in Europe during the rest of the year 1945 and finally retired in 1946 with the rank of Brigadier General on health grounds . Brigadier General George Taylor died on 3 December 1969 in the city of Palo Alto , California after prolonged illness caused by a Stroke . Director Samuel Fuller served under Taylor during the war and mentioned his name in several of his films .