names death_date death_place birth_place birth_date image article_title name
'' ` dean rockwell '' ' 8 august 2005 ann arbor , michigan cass county , michigan , united states 25 may 1912 dean rockwell.jpg dean rockwell
 dean rockwell
dean rockwell

dean ladrath rockwell -lrb- 25 may 1912 in cass county , michigan -- 8 august 2005 in ann arbor , michigan -rrb- was a decorated world war ii group commander in the d-day invasion , an olympic greco-roman wrestling coach , and a college football coach .
after graduating from eastern michigan university 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 us navy , where he became a group commander of 12 lct 's during the invasion of normandy on d-day , june 6 , 1944 .
rockwell received both the us navy cross 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 .
the navy cross ciatation reads , in part : `` rockwell , in the face of very heavy enemy fire , discharged the tanks and his men had carried ashore on 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 . ''
after the war , rockwell studied at the university of michigan .
he went on to coach football at albion college .
rockwell also coached at the national and international levels , chairing the us national aau wrestling committee from 1966 -- 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 , was named the `` dean rockwell library and research center . ''
in january 2007 , eastern michigan university named a gymnasium in his honor as the `` dean l. rockwell wrestling facility . ''
