Норман Кота: Екінші дүниежүзілік соғыстағы батыр генерал

U. S. Army Major General

Norman Daniel "Dutch" Cota, Sr. (May 30, 1893 – October 4, 1971) was a senior United States Army officer who fought during World War II. Cota was heavily involved in the planning and execution of the Allied invasion of Normandy, in June 1944, codenamed Operation Neptune, and the subsequent Battle of Normandy. He is known for rallying demoralized troops on Omaha Beach on D Day, by engaging in combat beside them and personally leading their first successful breakout, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC).

Cota was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, son of George William Cota, a former railroad telegrapher (later a merchant), and Jessie H. Mason, a school teacher who came from Croatia. He attended Worcester Academy for three years beginning in the fall of 1910. While playing football there, his teammates nicknamed him Dutch, and the name stuck with him, but its origins remained unclear. In June 1913, he was accepted to the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York. He and the rest of his class graduated seven weeks ahead of schedule, on April 20, 1917, exactly two weeks after the American entry into World War I. His classmates included Matthew Ridgway, J. Lawton Collins, Mark W. Clark, Ernest N. Harmon, Laurence B. Keiser, Bryant Moore, Charles H. Gerhardt, Frederick Augustus Irving, William Kelly Harrison Jr., and William W. Eagles, all of whom became general officers. Cota (West Point class of 1917) and Dwight D. Eisenhower (West Point class of 1915) got to know one another while playing football at West Point. They became and remained good friends. Cota was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Infantry Branch of the United States Army, and his first assignment was with the 22nd Infantry Regiment. Due to the outbreak of war, Cota was quickly promoted to first lieutenant, then captain after only a few months. By the time he had accumulated 18 months of active duty, he was a major.

Cota married writer and teacher Constance Martha "Connie" Alexander at the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation in New York City on November 1, 1919. The Cotas were the parents of two children, Ann (23 October 1920 – 31 August 1996), the first girl born at the cadet hospital at West Point and Norman Daniel "Dan" Cota Jr. (15 December 1921 – 18 March 1988). He received a Purple Heart and a second Silver Star in the attack at Saint Lô. spoke Cota's "let us go inland" quote. Robert Mitchum, who portrayed Cota, delivered another quote in his dialogue, one actually attributed to Colonel George A. Taylor: "There are only two kinds of people who are staying on this beach: those who are already dead and those that are gonna die. Now get off your butts, you guys are the fightin' 29th."