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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, During the D-Day invasion of Normandy 75 years ago |
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this June, Lieutenant Colonel James E. Rudder and the men of the |
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U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion displayed exceptional courage and |
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fortitude in their assault on the German position at Pointe du Hoc; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Regarded as one of the most dangerous enemy |
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positions along the Normandy coast, Pointe du Hoc is a promontory |
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with sheer 100-foot cliffs, and it was the site of six large German |
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guns that posed a direct threat to the Allied troops coming ashore |
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at Utah and Omaha beaches; capturing the position and silencing |
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those guns was vital to the success of D-Day, and Allied Supreme |
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Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower assigned this difficult |
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mission to the 2nd Ranger Battalion under the leadership of |
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Lieutenant Colonel Rudder, a native Texan and a graduate of the |
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Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets; and |
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WHEREAS, At 7:10 on the morning of June 6, 1944, Lieutenant |
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Colonel Rudder and his Rangers jumped from their landing craft and |
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waded through the surf to the foot of the cliffs; braving withering |
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machine gun fire and hand grenade explosions, these valiant men |
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shot rope ladders over the cliffs and began pulling themselves up; |
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as one Ranger fell, another began to climb in his place, and by 9:30 |
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a.m. the battalion had taken the promontory and destroyed the guns; |
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they continued to hold the position in the face of fierce |
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counterattacks until they were relieved on June 8; after two days of |
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fighting, only 90 of the original 225 who came ashore could still |
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bear arms; and |
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WHEREAS, The heroes of this engagement were later |
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immortalized by the historian Douglas Brinkley in his best-selling |
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book The Boys of Pointe du Hoc, and their sacrifice was further |
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recognized by the French, who erected a monument to the 2nd Ranger |
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Battalion atop Pointe du Hoc; this striking memorial consists of a |
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granite pylon atop what had once been a German bunker, with tablets |
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in French and English at the base; and |
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WHEREAS, During the 40th anniversary of D-Day, on June 6, |
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1984, the Ranger memorial was the site of a stirring address by |
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President Ronald Reagan, who commemorated the invasion with these |
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words: "The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was |
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right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just |
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God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was |
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the deep knowledge--and pray God we have not lost it--that there is |
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a profound, moral difference between the use of force for |
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liberation and the use of force for conquest. . . . Here, in this |
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place where the West held together, let us make a vow to our dead. |
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Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died |
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for. . . . Strengthened by their courage, heartened by their valor, |
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and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals |
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for which they lived and died."; and |
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WHEREAS, In 2019 our nation is commemorating the 75th |
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anniversary of D-Day and the liberation of Europe, and this |
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milestone occasion provides a fitting opportunity to reflect on the |
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remarkable leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Rudder and the selfless |
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bravery of the "Boys of Pointe du Hoc"; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the heroism of Lieutenant Colonel |
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James E. Rudder and the members of the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger |
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Battalion during the D-Day invasion of 1944. |