Daniel P. Bolger - The Panzer Killers: The Untold Story of a Fighting General and His Spearhead Tank Divisions Charge Into the Third Reich

Theyre almost all gone now. I remember them well. When I was growing up, many of the neighborhood adults fought in World War II. The man across the street served as a Marine on Iwo Jima. A girls father two doors down flew as a gunner on bombers launching out of England and he brought home a wife from that green island. Her lilting accent provided endless fascination. (My own dad was one of the younger ones; hed fought in Korea as an infantry sergeant.) When it came my time to join the U.S. Army, my first division commander had been a draftee in World War II. In years to come, I met plenty of former privates, corporals, tech sergeants, staff sergeants, petty officers, chiefs, and junior officers. As for Second World War generals, well, Id seen Patton, watched TheWorld at War, and read all the books. But Id never met a general.

That changed when I went to The Citadel, a state military college in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1977 or 1978cant recall the exact date, but it was during my senior yearI received an opportunity to meet a former Citadel president, four-star General Mark W. Clark, West Point Class of April 1917, veteran of World War I, World War II, and Korea, and best known for his command of the Fifth Army in the brutal Italian Campaign of 19431945. Prime Minister Winston L. S. Churchill called Clark the American Eagle. Even in his dotage, you could tell this man had been a general commanding hundreds of thousands of soldiers. He radiated authority.

Three cadets went to see Clark. A faculty officer, a Marine veteran of Vietnam, gave us ground rules. The general will talk. Youll listen. If you get to ask a question, be careful. Do not mention Salerno, the Rapido River, Cassino, or Anzio. And above all, dont ask the general about his Jewish mother. His Jewish mother? Id never read about that. Still, Id been a cadet long enough to know how to keep my mouth shut. That I could do.

When ushered in to meet Clark, we all stood at attention until the great man motioned us to sit. His wood-paneled study featured walls covered with plaques, maps, photographs, and mounted weapons: swords, bayonets, pistols, and rifles. Clark started speakinglow rumbling, all bass, no treble. He talked in measured phrases.

Clark explained the difficult nature of Italian combat and the constant need to work with British allies. He liked the French mountain troops and thought a lot of the Canadians. The Poles fought bravely. Letting the Red Army take over their homelandtragic, mused the general. As he described key maneuvers and former comrades his eyes lit up. Hed been there and done that, as we say today.

A cadet asked about Clarks work with General George C. Marshall, the U.S. Army chief of staff. In the summer of 1941, before Pearl Harbor, Marshall summoned Clark. One day, Clark offered, the chief said, Clark, I need the names of a hundred officers fit to command divisions. Clark drew up that list, and he proudly remembered all the fine men hed recommended: Eisenhower, Bradley, Patton, his classmates Collins and Ridgway, and all the rest. Before the country even joined the war, Clark knew who would command its forces in battle. He was one of them.

A second cadetnot mespoke up. He ventured a bit outside the lines. Was there anyone you did not name that turned out to be a good commander?

Clark paused. He steepled his long fingers. Then he answered.

Maurice Rose.

Id never heard of him. But then again, what did I know? Clark continued.

He was outstanding, Clark said. Top armored division commander. Very brave. The Germans killed him right near the end of the war.

Clark then moved on to other matters. I never did ask him anything. Dont miss a chance to say nothing, I guess. Spurred by Clarks comment, I determined to learn about this Maurice Rose. I found out some things back in 19771978. Then real life and my own military service got in the way. In the four decades-plus that followed, I also commanded an armored division in combat. Lately, though, Ive been learning a lot more about Maurice Rose. Theres a reason General Clark said his name.