Most Denverites are familiar with Rose Medical Center, but they probably don’t know the hospital was named after the highest ranking Jewish officer who served in the U.S. Army during World War II, Major General Maurice Rose. Denver author Marshall Fogel has written a new book, "Major General Maurice Rose: The Most Decorated Battle Tank Commander In US Military History."
Fogel spoke with Colorado Matters about Rose's life. After dropping out of East High School at age 16, Rose joined the Army. Through several enlistments, he moved up the ranks despite anti-Semitism from the community and from his military peers. During the war he became known as the “Immaculate Killer of Nazis.”
Rose innovated the strategy of using a line of tanks to form a moving front, and led the Third Armored Division known as "Spearhead." He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and liberated many European towns and cities, including Cologne, before being killed in combat on March 29, 1945
