USAA - Summer 2014 - (Page Cover4)

« MEMBER SNAPSHOT » Veteran Leader Brig. Gen. Allan G. Pixton, USA (Ret.) USAA member since 1941 As a 26-year-old lieutenant colonel, Allan G. Pixton was one of the youngest officers to lead forces during the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. Today, as a 96-year-old retired brigadier general, he is one of the most senior living officers who survived the largest amphibious military operation in world history. Pixton joined the Army after graduating from college in 1940. A year later, the Japanese navy attacked Pearl Harbor. The event clarified Pixton's resolve and sense of purpose in the Army. "It was 'I am in, and let's go,'" he says. During the D-Day invasion, Pixton was the operations officer for the 5th Engineer Special Brigade, which consisted of 2,000 soldiers. Leading as a young officer, he says, was challenging. He remembers fearing for his life and his men's lives as they heard the gunfire and mine explosions. He took cover behind rock formations on Omaha Beach before continuing his charge. "It was chaos ashore, and we each just did what we thought was right," Pixton says. Underlying the confusion and disorder of the day was a well-laid plan, created by several of the Allied forces' best minds, Pixton says. And it made the difference between winning and losing. "The most important thing for us to do is to plan and train," he says, about the war and life in general. "When those two things are controlled properly, the rest of it more or less will take care of itself." -analisa nazareno Watch a video about Allan G. Pixton's D-Day memories in the digital edition or at usaa.com/magazines. PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMY MIKLER http://usaa.com/magazines?wa_ref=USAAmag

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USAA - Summer 2014