By Jim Streeter
Eastern Michigan University Emeritus Sports Information Director

Dean Rockwell was a man of action.

If you needed someone to help set up a business - Dean was your man. Need someone to help fund-raise for a good cause - once again Dean was your choice. Need a workout partner to help win a gold medal in the Olympic Games - Dean, even at the age of 73, was up for the challenge. And, if you had to find a decision maker to help win a war - Dean was prepared with a solution.

Rockwell graduated from Michigan State Normal College, now Eastern Michigan University, in 1935. While at MSNC, he competed in football, track, and wrestling and was president of Phi Sigma Epsilon and the Men's Union. He excelled in wrestling, winning the campus heavyweight championship and began what would become a lifelong love of and commitment to the advancement of that sport as well as to his alma mater before passing away in 2005, at 93.

While he accomplished many things during his lifetime, perhaps the greatest milestone was his influence on a major, pressure-packed decision made during World War II in the Battle of Normandy.

According to Rockwell's documented history, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, May 17, 1942, where he became a group commander of 12 LCTs (Landing Craft Tank) during the invasion of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Rockwell received both the U.S. Navy Cross and the French Croix de Guerre avec Paume for his decision to break radio silence when faced with what he recognized as certain disaster. Instead, Rockwell radioed an Army captain which allowed important last-minute changes that aided in the success of the attack and saved thousands of lives. So crucial was Rockwell's decision that, a half a century later, at the 50th anniversary of D-Day in 1994 at the site of the battle in Normandy, he was given the honor of introducing then-President Bill Clinton during the ceremony.

Author Stephen Ambrose in his book, D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II, would describe one of Rockwell's command decisions in the following paragraph: "There was one final bombardment from the sea. It came from Sherman tanks aboard LCTs approaching the shoreline. Under the circumstances - rough water, smoke and haze, extreme excitement - it was wildly inaccurate. But that those Shermans were close enough to the beach to fire was itself a near miracle, made possible by the courage and common sense of one man, Lieutenant Rockwell, who had just made what was perhaps the single most important command decision of any junior officer on D-Day."

The Navy Cross citation read, in part: "Rockwell, in the face of very heavy enemy fire, discharged the tanks [he and his men had carried ashore] on the ground. By quick and sound decision he was able to land all these tanks at the correct spot and, by skillful handling, incurred only a minimum of damage to his ships."

Those heroic actions during the war would be an indication of the man that Rockwell was and would continue to be during a lifetime of service.

After the war, Rockwell immersed himself in varied interests in business, coaching, the world of wrestling, antique collecting, as well as supporting Eastern Michigan University.

His business acumen was displayed in his many years as a manufacturer's agent, even starting his own firm in 1955. He supported his alma mater in myriad ways also and was named to the EMU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1977, the EMU College of Education Hall of Fame in 2005, served as a chairman of the EMU Alumni Track Scholarship Committee and helped fund a wrestling facility in Warner Gym that was named the Dean L. Rockwell Wrestling Center in a special 2006 ceremony.

Rockwell started the wrestling program at East Detroit High School, now Eastpointe High School, which won the Michigan state team championship in 1940, 1941 and 1942. He became the only coach to have three state championship teams and nine individual champions. Every man on the team in the early 1940s saw active duty in WWII and all returned home. He also served as football and track coach at East Detroit and went on to coach football and track at Albion College. He coached at Flint High School in the 1950s and was a high school wrestling official from 1966-68.

Rockwell started the Michigan Wrestling Club in 1965 and helped develop it into one of the country's premier clubs. On the national level, he was elected to the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Committee and served for 20 years with the group. During that 20-year span, he was a mat official at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, coached the U.S. Greco-Roman team in the 1962 World Championships in Toledo, Ohio and was chosen to coach the 1964 U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman team in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. In 1968 he was head of the U.S. wrestling delegation at the Olympics in Mexico City.

Rockwell's passion for the sport of wrestling continued into his 70s, when at the age of 73 he wrestled in training with the University of Michigan's Steve Fraser during his successful bid for an Olympic gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling in 1984.

In May 1995, Rockwell received the "Master of Wrestling Award" from Wrestling USA magazine. In 2000, the nation's largest wrestling library, the new AAU National Wrestling Hall of Fame, was named the "Dean Rockwell Library and Research Center."

Away from the athletic arena Rockwell loved to travel the world and in his many adventures became interested in antiques and compiled a world-renowned Wedgewood China collection. He also wrote a book entitled Antique Knife Rests from 1760-1920.

Dean L. Rockwell was a man of many talents and found a way to leave a legacy of leadership in everything he accomplished in his 93 years.