so huebner is thinking ahead. a lot more than other commanders were. by the time they are in the position of going ashore, you have been crosstrained. you are a mortar gunner, and you know the loader's job. you are a squad leader, you need to know the platoon leader's job, when and if they become casualties. all of these kinds of things are in play. of course, as you might expect, many of the veterans resented getting the honor of going in. why is the big red one chosen? to some extent, it is obvious. it is a successful unit with a lot of combat experience. contextualize this for you, it was one of only two divisions that general bradley, the american ground commander, one of two divisions that had any combat experience at his disposal. he would later say i could not spare the first division. they knew going in that omaha beach was going to be a tough nut to crack because of the terrain and the build-up of mines and obstacles and so on and so forth. the 29th's role is a little more culturally famous, because it is portrayed in "saving private ryan." it