This Day in History: Robert G. Cole’s bravery in World War II

On this day in 1944, a soldier is killed in action. Robert G. Cole was a Lieutenant Colonel in the 101st Airborne Division, also known as the “Screaming Eagles.” He is best known for his actions on D-Day, when he was among those invading Normandy.

In fact, his unit was making its first combat jump on that day in June 1944—and Cole had the honor of being the first to jump out of the leading plane.

Unfortunately, the soldiers were badly dispersed during the drop. Cole initially found only four of his own men, but he finally managed to gather up 75 soldiers. His unit was supposed to destroy certain coastal defenses, helping to prepare Utah Beach for the Allied forces that would be landing soon. His mission accomplished, he met up with the U.S. 4th Infantry Division at the dune line.

The next task was tougher.

Allied commanders set their sights on the French city of Carentan, which sat centrally located on highways and rail lines. Capturing Carentan would enable Allied forces from Utah and Omaha Beaches to link up with each other.

The critical action came on the night of June 10-11. Cole was trying to get his men down a long, exposed causeway that ran above some marshes and flooded areas. Four bridges also had to be crossed. Unfortunately, Cole’s men began taking heavy enemy fire, and they became pinned down. The conflict that followed has been called the “bloodiest engagement in the Cotentin Peninsula.”

After a day and a night of this, Cole had had enough. He’d gotten a portion of his men past the last bridge, and it seemed that most of the enemy fire was coming from behind some hedgerows at a nearby farm house. He decided to order artillery smoke, then to lead his men in a bayonet charge on that position.

A fixed bayonet charge during World War II?!

Reportedly, Cole was also firing his pistol as he ran. “I don’t know what I’m shooting at,” he yelled over his shoulder to his men, “but I gotta keep on.” The men laughed, breaking some of the tension. Amazingly, the charge was successful, although the casualties were high.

Cole survived that incident, but he would not survive another a few months later. During Operation Market Garden in September 1944, Cole’s men had accidentally come under friendly fire. Cole ran out to lay identification markers for air support, but a German sniper unfortunately spotted him. Cole was killed instantly, never knowing that his actions at Normandy would prompt his country to award him the Medal of Honor.

“He died as he had lived,” a West Point Association of Graduates website concludes, “unafraid, with his first thoughts for his men.”

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Primary Sources:

• America’s Heroes: Medal of Honor Recipients from the Civil War to Afghanistan (James H. Willbanks ed.; 2011)

• Col. Robert Cole Killed in Holland (Santa Cruz Sentinel; Nov 1, 1944) (Page 2)

• Congressional Medal to be Awarded Texan (Big Spring Daily Herald; Oct 30, 1944 (Page 13)

• Mark Bando, 101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles in World War II

• Medal citation (Robert G. Cole; WWII)

• Memorial: Robert G. Cole, 1939 (West Point Association of Graduates website)

• Stephen E. Ambrose, Citizen Soldiers: The U. S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany (1997)

• Texas State Cemetery: Robert G. Cole