Aubrey S. Newman; ‘Follow Me!’ Army General

Army Maj. Gen. Aubrey S. Newman, 90, whose World War II battle cry “Follow me!” became the motto of an infantry division and an Army recruiting poster. Newman’s exact words, which became the rallying cry of the 24th Infantry Division, were: “Get the hell off the beach. . . . Follow me!” The Army paraphrased his words on a poster that read: “Get up and get moving! Follow me!” Newman shouted the words while commanding a regiment leading Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s Oct. 24, 1944, return to the Philippines when the amphibious assault on Leyte Island got bogged down. The action earned him the Distinguished Service Cross. From the war’s end until his retirement, Newman commanded airborne troops, served as deputy commanding general of the Army Infantry Center, was chief of staff of the Iceland Defense Force and chief of staff of the Army Continental Command. In Sarasota, Fla., on Wednesday.