Major General Maurice Rose

Major General Maurice Rose (1899-1945), commander of the First Army's legendary 3rd Armored "Spearhead" Division, was the highest-ranking American Jewish officer ever killed in battle, and the only officer in World War II whose death sparked a war crimes investigation. This, the first and only biography of Rose, recounts the dramatic story of his life -- from his childhood as the son of a rabbi, through his experiences in World War I and the US Cavalry, to his meteoric rise as America's answer to Rommel. In 1943, Rose negotiated and accepted the surrender of the German Army in Tunisia, the first large-scale surrender to an American force during World War II. At the Battle of Carentan in June 1944, he saved the 506th Parachute Infantry (of Band of Brothers fame), and might very well have saved the entire Normandy beachhead from a catastropic German counterattack. His brilliant, daring, and aggressive defensive tactics during the Battle of the Bulge prevented an enemy breakthrough to the Meuse River and beyond, thereby frustrating the German advance. Rose commanded the longest single-day armored drive in history -- more than 100 miles, a record that still stands. He also led the greatest encirclement battle in American history, capturing 350,000 enemy troops in the "Ruhr Pocket." Renamed the "Rose Pocket," this battle remains the only major World War II battle to be named for an American officer. Based on original archival research and exclusive interviews, this biography shatters old myths and factual distortions, and offers a refreshingly inquisitive and critical perspective. Steven L. Ossad and Don R. Marsh reveal new insights into Rose's controversial death -- was he killed because he was Jewish or even because he went for his weapon? -- and about the even more controversial investigations that followed. The authors' own inquiries and shocking conclusions are certain to spark futher debate. As compelling and extraordinary as the life that it describes, this biography pays long-overdue tribute to one of America's greatest heroes. - Jacket flap.