Robert G. Cole
Robert G. Cole | |
|---|---|
 LtCol. Robert G. Cole, U.S. Army, 101st Airborne | |
| Allegiance | U.S. Army |
| Years of service | 1939-1944 |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Unit | 101st Airborne |
| Battles / wars | World War II "Cole's Charge" |
| Awards | Medal of Honor |
Lieutenant Colonel Robert G. Cole (March 19, 1915 – September 18, 1944) was an American soldier who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the days following the D Day invasion of France.
Early Service Career
Robert G. Cole was born in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, entered service there and attended the U.S. Military Academy, graduating in 1939. He was commissioned a lieutenant and in March 1941 he received his jump wings. Quickly rising through the ranks, by 1943 Cole was commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 502d PIR 101st Airborne.
D-Day Operations
LTC Cole parachuted into Normandy on June 5, 1944 with his unit as part of D-Day Operation Chicago. By the evening of June 6, he had assembled his force of 250 men. Initially his batallion had been placed on reserve but were called into action to attack four bridges on the road to Carentan. Cole's unit had sustained so many casualties on this mission that the causeway his unit was following came to be known as "Purple Heart Lane". His entire unit was pinned down by enemy machine gun, mortar and artillery fire for over an hour.
By the morning of June 11, with the Germans still resisting any attempt to take the bridges, LTC Cole ordered heavy artillery on enemy strongholds. When this failed to displace the entrenched Germans, Cole took desperate measures. He ordered his men to fix bayonets. He ordered an artillery bombardent on the Germans, as well as a smoke screen, and at 06:15, Cole blew his whistle and personally led his remaining men across the bullet-ridden ground, firing his pistol toward the last German stronghold.
Along the way he picked up a fallen soldier's rifle and bayonet, and without regard for his own safety, led his men to capture the stronghold. The attack had not been without a price; only 132 of his men remained after the assault. This assault came to be known as "Cole's Charge".
Medal of Honor
LTC Cole was recommended for a Medal of Honor for his actions that day but unfortunately he would not live to receive it. The 29-year-old Cole was killed by a sniper during Operation Market Garden on September 18, 1944 in Best, the Netherlands. His mother received the posthumous Medal of Honor for him. LTC Cole is buried at American Battlefields Monuments Commission Cemetery in the Netherlands.
Legacy
Robert G. Cole High School in Fort Sam Houston is named after Robert G. Cole as well as a park in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. LTC Cole is one of the few true-to-life characters (Pfc Kevin Legget, as well as Pvt Larry Allen and Pvt Michael Garnett were also true to life characters) in the 2005 Gearbox Software game Brothers In Arms: Road to Hill 30.