High Point Enterprise in High Point, North Carolina

General Hodges Led First Army From D Day through Germany

Curtney Hodges, a West Point flunker who rose to lieutenant general, commanded the 1st Army from Normandy landings to crossing the Rhine. He and his troops were among the first to hit D Day beaches and reach Remagen before redeployment to the Pacific. Hodges, a 58 year old Georgian, began as a buck private after leaving West Point. He served with Pershing in Mexico, exited WWI as a lieutenant colonel, became brigadier general in 1940, and general after the major drive through Germany.