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While many scholarly works explore the lives and careers of the United States’ senior WWII commanders—Eisenhower, Bradley, Patton, and MacArthur in particular—the stories of the brigadier and major generals who led at the division and corps level have not received the same degree of focus. Jed Wyman gives these general officers their due by telling the story of his grandfather, General Willard G. Wyman in From the Uyu River to Omaha Beach and Beyond: The Life of General Willard G. Wyman. Although General Wyman is best known for his decisive action on Omaha Beach as assistant division commander of the First Infantry Division, for which he won the Distinguished Service Cross, his career both before and after D-Day is as varied and fascinating as those of his more familiar colleagues.

Wyman’s WWII story is exceptional in its range both geographical—he was one of only a handful of general officers to serve in both the Asian/Pacific and European Theaters—and in rank, as he rose from colonel to major general and division commander over the course of the war. The array of important individuals he encountered and worked with during this demanding time is equally exceptional, including such military luminaries as Joseph Stilwell, Omar Bradley, George Patton, Dwight Eisenhower. There were political encounters as well, the most significant with Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek in Burma, and encounters with prominent journalists and entertainers. None of these people meant as much, however, to Wyman as the GIs under his command, for whom he worked tirelessly to ensure a safe and free return to a normal life. 

While many questions about Wyman remain unanswered, the author brings him to life as a reliable, efficient combat commander unhindered by the extreme caution associated with General Lucas at Anzio, free from the impetuous nature exhibited by General Patton with the Brolo landing and Hammelburg raid, and lacking in the vainglorious publicity-seeking of some other prominent generals. More broadly, From the Uyu River to Omaha Beach and Beyond conveys the energy, stamina, presence of mind, critical thinking skills, and rapid decision-making of a number of the United States’ lesser-known brigadier and major generals.