This Date in History: October 14

 

Erwin Rommel, Army Field Marshal, born November 15, 1891 in Heidenheim, winner of the Pour le mérite in World War I, author of Infantry Attacks (Infanterie greift an), commander of the 7th Panzer Division, commander of the Africa Corps, commander Army Group B in France until 1944, winner of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, committed suicide by poison on October 14, 1944 at Herrlingen after implication in the July 20, 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler; his last words were: “I shall die in fifteen minutes.”  (2,000 Quotes From Hitler’s 1,000-Year Reich)

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Vincent J. Martino, former assistant hangman for Master Sergeant John C. Woods, died on October 14, 2003 in Naples, Florida.  He is buried at the Florida National Cemetery at Bushnell in Plot 1100 of Section 329.  (American Hangman: MSgt. John C. Woods: The United States Army’s Notorious Executioner in World War II and Nürnberg)