Wallace C. Strobel (June 5, 1922 – August 27, 1999) was a United States Army officer who was the subject of a famous photograph during World War II. Strobel, at the time a lieutenant in the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, was photographed with General Dwight D. Eisenhower the night before the regiment's jump into Normandy on June 6, 1944. The picture captured Eisenhower speaking to paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division on the eve of the invasion and remains one of the most compelling and classic images from World War II, as well as one of the most famous of General Eisenhower.Frederick N. Rasmussen (1999). On D-Day minus 1, the subject was fishing; Paratrooper: Wally Strobel was just another “citizen soldier” before being immortalized in one of the most memorable photographs from World War II. The Baltimore Sun.
Strobel described the photo as follows:
Strobel settled in Saginaw, Michigan after the war. In 2016, his M1911A1 pistol and a collection of captured German pistols were donated to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. Strobel donated his uniform to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library in 1992. His children attended Douglas MacArthur High School and Dwight D. Eisenhower High School (now Heritage High School) in Saginaw. In 1990, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp using this photograph of the historic moment.
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