On last week’s occasion of the anniversary of the Allied Invasion of Normandy, D-Day 1944, I was reminded of the heroic action of the 2nd Ranger Battalion on that day 80 years ago.
Following is an excerpt from my book Alligator Wrestling in the Cancer Ward. This story appears at the end of chapter 5.
Normandy, France, 1944
Early on the morning of June 6, 1944, 225 soldiers of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, U.S. Army, commanded by Lt. Colonel James E. Rudder, boarded nine landing craft and headed for Pointe du Hoc on the Normandy Coast, situated at the junction of Utah and Omaha beaches. Their mission was to neutralize six 155 mm guns the Germans had placed in this critically strategic position. On high ground, they could be used to oppose the Allied D-Day landings on both beaches. “Rudder's Rangers” were supported by the 5th Ranger Battalion that was to come ashore a half hour after the initial assault. (www.armyhistory.org)
High winds and choppy seas drove the landing craft off course; they made landfall under heavy enemy fire several hundred yards from their planned landing point. As a result, they were 40 minutes behind schedule. One boat was swamped in the surf, capsized, and all occupants lost. Among them was the official news reporter; he and his camera gear were lost, which is why very few photos, and no video footage of the attack, exist.
Rudder’s Rangers commenced what they believed was a suicide mission scaling a hundred-foot cliff using rocket-propelled grappling hooks with rope ladders attached. From above, enemy soldiers opposed them with small arms fire and hand grenades. Sea spray made some ropes too heavy for the missiles to lift and too slippery to climb; mud made uniforms and hands slick.
At the top
However, some of the assault force made it to the top and engaged the German defenders, who began to retreat. (The .30-06 American Browning Automatic Rifle – “BAR” – was a game changer, with its full auto rate of fire at 400 rounds per minute.)
Establishing a small “beachhead” on the clifftop, the Rangers were bewildered to find the big guns had been moved. The original heavy German concrete installations housed dummy guns made of utility poles.
An hour after landing, with the battle still raging, a two-man Ranger patrol discovered the camouflaged guns unattended 250 yards inland. They spiked the guns with thermite grenades, disabling them.
“The Boys of Pointe du Hoc”
Mission accomplished, but at an enormous cost. By the following morning, only 100 of the original 225 soldiers remained fit for duty. Most of the rest lie in the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer. These were the men President Ronald Reagan lauded as “the boys of Pointe du Hoc” in his D-Day 40th-anniversary speech delivered from that Normandy Coast location.
Did they believe they would succeed? Yes and no. While most soldiers were convinced that they would die or be severely wounded in the attack – and they were right – they believed the assault would succeed. What drove them forward? Beyond the rarely spoken conviction that freedom was somehow worth their sacrifice, it was probably nothing more than they had voluntarily determined, “This will I do.” That, and the expectations of their comrades.
While we do not typically wage our battles with guns and bullets – although, thankfully, some do on our behalf – the conviction is the same. “I am the toughest person in this cancer ward,” is brother to, “This will I do.”
Reactions and Actions
I wrote the book to capture the lessons learned from my three months in the hospital with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in 2022.
Today I reflect on the uncommon valor of those 225 Rangers who assaulted Pointe du Hoc.
Could we find Americans today who would do such a thing? I have posed this question to others. The common consensus seems to be a hesitancy to say yes. Maybe we could find some, but probably not in the overwhelming numbers that volunteered for uniformed service during World War 2.
That is as it may be. But I do happen to know personally of a few young men who not only could be found, but who volunteered for such duty in this century. Thousands of others did the same.
The men I know willingly placed themselves in harm’s way. I would put them up against any warriors this world has to offer.
As I contemplate them, I am reminded of Revelation 5:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Alligator Wrestling in the Cancer Ward is available wherever books are sold in paperback, eBook and audio versions. There is a war story in every chapter.
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Pointe du Hoc, 80 Years After D-Day