Rangers Climbed Pointe du Hoc

On D-Day, 225 U.S. Army Rangers commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Rudder landed beneath the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc, which rose as high as 100 feet, and climbed them using ropes and ladders while under German fire. Their mission was to destroy six 155mm guns capable of shelling Omaha and Utah beaches, but they found the clifftop emplacements empty because the weapons had been moved inland. Ranger patrols located five of the guns and disabled them with thermite grenades and explosives. The Rangers then endured repeated German counterattacks until relief arrived on June 8, by which time fewer than 75 of the original 225 men remained fit for duty.

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