Dean Rockwell (1912 in
Cass County, MichiganCass County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the population was 51,104. It is part of the South Bend–Mishawaka, IN-MI, Metropolitan Statistical Area which has a total population of 316,663, and is sometimes considered part of Greater Michiana...
– August 8, 2005) was a
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
hero at the
D-DayD-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
invasion of
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the English Channel coast of Northern France between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands.Normandy is divided between French and British...
, an Olympic
Greco-Roman wrestlingGreco-Roman wrestling is a style of amateur wrestling that is practiced worldwide and is contested at the Olympic games. This style of wrestling forbids attacks below the waist, which results in an emphasis on more dramatic throws, since a wrestler cannot use trips to take an opponent to the ground...
coach, and a
college footballCollege football is American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies. It was the venue through which American football first gained popularity in the United States...
coach.
After graduating from
Eastern Michigan UniversityEastern Michigan University is a comprehensive, co-educational public university located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The university is governed by an eight-member Board of Regents, who are appointed by the Governor of Michigan for eight-year terms. The school belongs to the Mid-American Conference and...
(then called Michigan State Normal College) 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 StrikeThe 1936-'37 Flint Sit-Down Strike changed the United Automobile Workers from a collection of isolated locals on the fringes of the industry into a major union and led to the unionization of the United States automobile industry.-Background:...
in 1936-1937.
On May 17, 1942, Rockwell enlisted in the US Navy, where he became a group commander of 12
LCTThe Landing Craft, Tank was an amphibious assault ship for landing tanks on beachheads. The first examples appeared during the Second World War. They were used by the Royal Navy and U.S. Navy in World War II. The latter used them afterwards under different designations in the Korean War and the...
’s during the invasion of
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the English Channel coast of Northern France between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands.Normandy is divided between French and British...
on
D-DayD-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
, June 6, 1944.
Dean Rockwell (1912 in
Cass County, MichiganCass County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the population was 51,104. It is part of the South Bend–Mishawaka, IN-MI, Metropolitan Statistical Area which has a total population of 316,663, and is sometimes considered part of Greater Michiana...
– August 8, 2005) was a
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
hero at the
D-DayD-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
invasion of
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the English Channel coast of Northern France between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands.Normandy is divided between French and British...
, an Olympic
Greco-Roman wrestlingGreco-Roman wrestling is a style of amateur wrestling that is practiced worldwide and is contested at the Olympic games. This style of wrestling forbids attacks below the waist, which results in an emphasis on more dramatic throws, since a wrestler cannot use trips to take an opponent to the ground...
coach, and a
college footballCollege football is American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies. It was the venue through which American football first gained popularity in the United States...
coach.
After graduating from
Eastern Michigan UniversityEastern Michigan University is a comprehensive, co-educational public university located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The university is governed by an eight-member Board of Regents, who are appointed by the Governor of Michigan for eight-year terms. The school belongs to the Mid-American Conference and...
(then called Michigan State Normal College) 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 StrikeThe 1936-'37 Flint Sit-Down Strike changed the United Automobile Workers from a collection of isolated locals on the fringes of the industry into a major union and led to the unionization of the United States automobile industry.-Background:...
in 1936-1937.
On May 17, 1942, Rockwell enlisted in the US Navy, where he became a group commander of 12
LCTThe Landing Craft, Tank was an amphibious assault ship for landing tanks on beachheads. The first examples appeared during the Second World War. They were used by the Royal Navy and U.S. Navy in World War II. The latter used them afterwards under different designations in the Korean War and the...
’s during the invasion of
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the English Channel coast of Northern France between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands.Normandy is divided between French and British...
on
D-DayD-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
, June 6, 1944. Rockwell received both the
Navy CrossThe Navy Cross is the highest medal that can be awarded by the United States Department of the Navy and the second highest award given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard but could be awarded to all branches of United States...
and the French
Croix de GuerreThe croix de guerre is a military decoration of both France and Belgium, where it is also known as the Oorlogskruis . It was first created in 1915 in both countries and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins...
avec Paume for his heroic 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 ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president; only Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were younger when entering office...
.
After the war, Rockwell studied at the graduate level at the
University of MichiganThe University of Michigan, Ann Arbor is a public research university located in the state of Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university, the flagship campus of the University of Michigan, and one of the top public universities in the world...
. He went on to coach football at
Albion CollegeAlbion College is a private liberal arts college located in Albion, Michigan. Related to the United Methodist Church, it was founded in 1835 and was the first private college in Michigan to have a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. It has a student population of about 1900.The school's sports teams are...
.
Rockwell also coached at the national and international levels, chairing the US National
AAU-Education:* Aalborg University, in Denmark* Academy of Art University,in San Francisco* Addis Ababa University, in Ethiopia* Allied American University, brand used by Allied Schools in California, United States...
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 OlympicsThe 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organisation of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...
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 UniversityEastern Michigan University is a comprehensive, co-educational public university located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The university is governed by an eight-member Board of Regents, who are appointed by the Governor of Michigan for eight-year terms. The school belongs to the Mid-American Conference and...
named a gymnasium in his honor as the "Dean L. Rockwell Wrestling Facility."
Rockwell died August 8, 2005 in a hospice in Ann Arbor after a short illness at the age of 93.