Plitt , Henry G , 1918-1993 , Jewish US Major

Henry G Plitt [1918-1993] was born in New York City, and graduated from Staunton Military Academy, Virginia; Syracuse University and obtained a law degree from Saint Lawrence University. He practised law for a brief period before volunteering for military service.

He was in the first group of 101st Airborne Division soldiers to jump into Normandy on the night before the invasion to set flares marking landing strips for British glider pilots, and is officially credited with being the first American soldier to touch French ground.

After the war he organized a small group of volunteers, pressed several former Waffen SS officers into service and went around southern Germany and Austria looking for high ranking Nazis. According to him he brought in dozens of men but only Streicher and Ley were noteworthy.

Plitt went to work for Paramount Motion Picture Theater Chain, and in the 1960s and 1970s purchased part of Paramount and other theatre chains to become, for a time, chief executive of the largest theatre chain in the US, Plitt Theaters Inc.. He was also very active in charity work, raising large amounts of money for United Cerebral Palsy, Bar-Ilan University and The Friends of Israeli Defence Forces. Having re-joined the US Army reserves in 1962, he died with the rank of Brigadier General.