Sublime

Although he still spoke with a trace of a German accent, he would be the first officer in American history to rise through the ranks from private soldier to four-star general—a rank he achieved commanding Sixth Army in the Pacific.

He was coauthor of a textbook, Principles of Zoology, his first American work, which went through sixteen editions

The veteran 1st Division took hold. “Two kinds of people are staying on this beach,” shouted Colonel George A. Taylor as he rallied his troops in the 18th Infantry Regiment, “the dead and those who are going to die. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”

North had worked for the arms-length, extra-judicial, extra-governmental agency known as the Board for four years. He was going to die young – the bullet guaranteed it. He told them he wanted to do something useful with the time he had left. And they took him at his word.

A one-man obstacle course, the colonel was opposed to any kind of change except in his rank.