The boys of Pointe du Hoc : Ronald Reagan, D-Day, and the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion
The heavy U.S. and British warships poised in the English Channel had eighteen targets on their bombardment list for D-Day morning. The 100-foot promontory known as Pointe du Hoc--where six big German guns were ensconced--was number one. General Omar Bradley called knocking out the Nazi defenses at the Pointe the toughest of any task assigned on June 6, 1944. Under the bulldoggish command of Colonel James E. Rudder of Texas, profiled here, these elite forces, "Rudder's Rangers," took control of the fortified cliff. The liberation of Europe was under way. Based upon recently released documents, the first in-depth, anecdotal remembrance of these fearless Army Rangers, is told in tandem with the making of Reagan's two uplifting 1984 speeches, considered by many to be among the best orations he ever gave.--From publisher description
History
274 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
9780060565275, 0060565276
57652380
Introduction : Setting the stage
Darby's Rangers
Rudder's Rangers
Climbing the cliffs, destroying the guns
Reagan's Hollywood war
Peggy Noonan prepares for Pointe du Hoc
Reagan's Normandy Day
After the speeches
Epilogue
Appendix
Notes and sources
Acknowledgments
Index