Located on the west flank of Omaha Beach, fortress Pointe du Hoc was believed to be one of the strongest forts in Hitler’s Atlantic wall, possessing incredible firepower. Located on cliffs 100 feet high, Pointe du Hoc held five large coastal artillery guns. These guns, along with the German Army divisions located nearby, were totally able to prevent the successful invasion of France if they were not put out of action quickly and early on June 6, 1944.

The risk of tremendous loss of life was immeasurable. In all the history of wars in the world to date, the invasion of France was by far the greatest military operation yet seen. The battle for Normandy would take two and a half months, longer than either Iraq war. On D-Day, thousands of military personnel and innocent civilians would die, homes and communities would be destroyed, and the invasion fleet would be severely damaged if the “guns of Pointe du Hoc” were not put out of action by American forces as early as possible before 6:30 AM, when the troops were scheduled to land.

The U.S. Army Air Corps, as it was then known, unopposed by German aircraft because of bad weather, flew 1,365 bombers, dropping 2,746 tons of bombs on or near the American landing areas of Omaha and Utah beaches before tens of thousands of Allied troops landed. The American Navy fired 21,600 rounds before the landing. Unfortunately, there was very little damage, if any, to the German targets, including the guns at Pointe du Hoc and the 30,000-plus German soldiers. According to historians, the targets were missed by up to three miles. The Allied landing was not going to be the ‘piece of cake’ some predicted it would be. Due to bombing errors, there were no bomb craters on Omaha Beach that could be found or used for protection in the assault. Thousands of Americans would die on “Bloody Omaha Beach,” and many thousands more were wounded.

Fortunately, the most dangerous ground mission of D-Day was assigned early on to the Rangers with orders to “find the guns of Pointe du Hoc and render them inoperable as soon as possible,” in case the described mighty American firepower had not succeeded as expected, which it did not. The biggest surprise of all to the Rangers when they climbed the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc was that there were no big guns in the encasements, only long wooden shafts reminiscent of telephone poles. The United States Army and Army Air Corps intelligence units had unintentionally and unknowingly misguided the Rangers by use of their aerial photography and other misinformation. The French Underground Resistance Units informed the Rangers right after D-Day that the “big guns” were never installed at Pointe du Hoc. They claimed that the U.S. Army intelligence had been duly informed about this several times before D-Day. Nevertheless, the guns were in an undisclosed alternate position over a mile inland, still capable of killing tens of thousands of allied troops and innocent civilians. These Ranger volunteers strongly pursued and accomplished their mission by rendering the guns inoperable by 8:30 AM. It was the answer to the surviving Allied troops’ prayers. Now, let me tell you the rest of the story. I was there.

I was First Sergeant of Company D of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, U.S. Army, acting as leader of the 2nd Platoon. We were short one officer when we landed at Pointe du Hoc on D-Day, June 6, 1944. He was transferred to Battalion Headquarters for a special duty a few days before D-Day. After the hours of tremendous aerial and naval bombardment as earlier described, the greatest invasion in history started landing troops at 6:30 AM, as planned. After a stormy two-hour trip in our LCA, through cold rain and high seas and running the gauntlet for three miles, 300-plus yards offshore and under fire from the German soldiers on cliff-tops along the way, we Rangers finally fired our grappling hooks up over the 100-foot cliffs of Pointe du Hoc. Had we been on time, we would have caught the Germans asleep in their underground quarters, but we were 40-minutes late due to a British navigational error. They were waiting to cut our ropes, drop grenades and shoot us down. We could not fire back or defend ourselves very well while climbing. Though we were seriously outnumbered, we prevailed.

Shot through my right side as I led the men ashore in a wet landing, I suddenly disappeared in water over my head as I stepped off the ramp into an underwater bomb crater, which I could not see. I came out of the water with the help of my men, cold and wet, my right side hurting and arms still full of combat gear. We hurriedly headed for the nearest ropes and up we went as fast as we could climb.

There had been twenty-two of us in our British LCA, and we were all up the cliff within fifteen minutes, rushing through the German small arms fire as quickly as we could to the three-gun emplacements that were our original objective on the west flank of the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc on Omaha Beach. The fortress at Pointe du Hoc had underground tunnels and troop quarters, and the Germans would pop up, firing their weapons from where we least expected. We moved on very quickly to avoid more sniper and machine-gun fire, as well as flat trajectory anti-aircraft machine-gun fire, which was becoming much more of a serious problem. We neutralized one German machine gun position on our way across the point and temporarily quieted down the anti-aircraft position in order to get by it quickly and not get pinned down or delayed as we continued our assault. We got to our first objective in a matter or minutes after the assault; only the three guns in positions number four, five, and six were not there. Remember, there were no big guns anywhere on the Pointe’s 40-acre fortress that we could see; only telephone poles or something similar sticking out of bombed out encasements. By this time we were taking mortar and heavy-88 fire, crawling fire to our rear. We moved out of that position fast, hoping to locate the missing guns, thinking they were in an alternate position inland and would soon be firing. It did not happen that way.

By the time we fought our way about a mile or so to the blacktopped coastal road (about one-hour) I had only a dozen men left, some of whom were lightly wounded but able to fight on. Of the original 22 Rangers in my boat team, 15 had been killed or very badly wounded. We still had not found the guns nor had any idea where they were. It seemed we were surrounded and greatly outnumbered by German troops, and stuck in broad daylight.

We were now behind the Germans’ second line of defense. Fortunately, the enemy had no idea we were in their midst. I left all of my men except S/Sgt. Jack Kuhn behind to set up a roadblock.

S/Sgt. Kuhn and I started leapfrogging down this sunken farm road heading inland, following wagon tracks between the high hedgerows with trees, not knowing where it was going. It led to a little swale, or draw, in an apple orchard. There was netting with camouflage over the missing guns; their barrels were over our heads. There was not a shell or bomb crater anywhere that we could see. Looking over the hedgerow, I saw the five big 155MM coastal artillery guns with their ammunition and powder bags neatly in place, aimed at Utah Beach. The German gun crew could easily turn the “Big Guns” around to fire on Omaha Beach when they so desired. The five guns were located a little over a mile from where we had landed. About one hundred yards away, a German officer was talking to about 75 of his men, which we believed to be his gun crews, at a farm road intersection. A few minutes earlier, S/Sgt. Kuhn and I had discovered another 50 Germans, a combat patrol about two hundred yards in the other direction. They eventually passed within 20 feet of us on their way to join the German gun crews.

Our Rangers had totally surprised the Germans. They never expected an attack from the sea, up those 100-foot cliffs of Pointe du Hoc. The E Company Rangers were continuing to attack the German observation post a mile away at the cliffs, so there were no firing orders coming back to the German crews where Kuhn and I were. We thought the Germans could have a roving observation post patrol out trying to relocate in another advantageous spot to send firing orders back to them as soon as possible. Still, there were no “sitting targets” guarding the guns themselves that I could see, so I told Jack to cover me.

Between us, we had two incendiary grenades, later called thermite grenades. When the pin was pulled and the incendiary compound was exposed to air, it poured out like solder, flowing over the gears and crevices setting and hardening up like a weld. I used them to weld and fuse fast the traversing mechanisms of two of the guns. I also silently smashed the sights off all five guns with my gun butt. I had wrapped my field jacket around my submachine gun stock to silence any sound that could possibly be heard. Then Jack and I ran back down the sunken road about 200 yards out of sight of the Germans to the blocking position, got more thermite grenades from our guys, and hurried back to finish the job of rendering the remaining three guns inoperable. Since thermite grenades make no noise, we managed to do our job quickly and escape without being discovered.

All of our especially chosen 225 Rangers had the same mission, but not our good luck. Our Ranger front moving inland searching for the guns was well over a mile wide. S/Sgt. Kuhn and I just stumbled onto the guns in our efforts to find them. We were at the right place at the right time. Luckily, we were a couple of well-trained Rangers on patrol doing our job. The guns were rendered totally and completely inoperable by 8:30 AM D-Day morning, as ordered.

From the time we landed at 7:10 AM until the time we crested the Pointe, no more than 15 minutes had passed. Because we moved very quickly, kept our objective in focus, and worked as a disciplined team, we had completed the operation in little more than one hour. Sergeants Harry Fate and Gordon Lunning of D Company, using different routes back to our command post on the Pointe, notified Col. Rudder, our CO, “mission accomplished” before 9:00 AM.

Our work at the alternate gun positions completed, we rejoined the other D Company men at the roadblock and began to consolidate our defensive position for the rest of D-Day and to protect our D Company roadblock. In the meantime, Sgt. Koenig of our platoon destroyed all the German communications along the coast road. About this time, the remnants of our 1st platoon of D Company joined us (only about 11 men); they had been helping to defend the Pointe where half their platoon became casualties. We needed them now to strengthen the roadblock. Our third LCA, with the rest of D Company, had earlier sunk offshore. Ranger companies consisted of 68 men. At this point we only had 20 men left.

The original battle plan indicated we would be relieved by noontime on D-Day by the American troops on Omaha Beach. It didn’t happen; they were over two days late. We had gathered about 85 other Rangers during the afternoon to defend our roadblock on D-Day night. Our orders were to hold our blocking position on the coastal road until relieved, which we did until D+2. Despite on and off shelling and three counterattacks, as well as being massively outnumbered by 10-1, we never lost control of our D-Day roadblock. No German troops ever got through to help their comrades at Omaha Beach.

Of the 225 Rangers who attacked Pointe du Hoc, only 90 were left standing when we were relieved on D+2 (June 8, 1944). Eighty-one had been killed in action, and the rest of the casualties were unable to fight. Many of the 90 left standing were lightly wounded; nevertheless, they fought on. D Company had the highest number of casualties at Pointe du Hoc.

Like everyone else that day, we did what we were trained to do. With a lot of luck and a lot of casualties, I like to think we did it well. The Ranger Force consisted of the 2nd and 5th Ranger Bns of the U.S. Army, under the command of Lt. Col. James Earl Rudder, 2nd Bn. CO D, E, F, and part of Headquarters Co. of the 2nd Bn. We were assigned to assault Pointe du Hoc. All of these Rangers had the same three part mission: First, destroy the guns of Pointe du Hoc as quickly as possible. Second, destroy all German communication along the blacktop coast road. Third, create a roadblock to prevent any Germans from coming through from the west coast road to help the Germans on Omaha Beach.

Our D Company of the 2nd Ranger Battalion accomplished this important and dangerous mission. C Company of the 2nd Ranger Bn took Pointe de la Percee and accomplished their mission. A and B Companies landed at the Vierville Draw and successfully did their part, and the 5th Ranger Bn, led by Lt. Col. Max Schneider, landed east of them, later leading the troops off Omaha Beach to the high ground above at the command of General Coda of the 29th Infantry Division, when the General, at the top of his voice, shouted his command, “Ranger, lead the way!” It has become our motto ever since. All Rangers eventually gathered at Pointe du Hoc and prepared for their next objective on D+3.

The angry tidal drifts, underwater obstacles, and the terrible pounding from the enemy caused the early landings at Omaha Beach to experience extremely high casualties, and scattered units up and down the beach. The unplanned landing and fighting of Rangers on Omaha Beach added an element of stability just at the right time to overcome the enemy and establish the beachhead. Captain James W. Eikner, our 2nd Bn. Communication Officer, explained that the above information distracts nothing from the heroic efforts of the combat engineers, the troops of the 1st and the 29th Div., and other forces including the Navy, Air Corps, Marines, and allied troops. Fighting together, we got the job done.

For their bravery and combat excellence, the 2nd Ranger Bn. was awarded the U.S. Presidential Unit Citation. There were no Medals of Honor awarded by Congress to a Ranger in World War II. The highest medal for valor the Army can award is the Distinguished Service Cross, which Col. Rudder presented to me. S/Sgt. Kuhn received the Silver Star. General Omar Bradley, Commanding Officer of all American ground forces, who assigned this mission to the Rangers, said it was the most dangerous and one of the most important missions of D-Day.

The Rangers of World War II fought in nine campaigns, 13 invasions, 11 major battles, and six Ranger raids. They conducted innumerable combat patrols and just as many recon patrols. Many of our missions were classified or secret. The Rangers also cleared up and resolved many pockets of resistance and successfully completed the many missions assigned to them by various divisions they were attached to. In World War II, there were only 3,000 Ranger volunteers chosen after testing and qualifying, plus many chosen volunteer replacements. Their casualties were very high, with almost 500 Rangers killed in action or dying of their injuries, and countless more wounded. Few escaped without a Purple Heart.

Our 2nd Ranger Bn., while in Europe in 1943-45, trained in Scotland and England, later fighting through France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Germany, finally meeting the Russians on the River Elbe in Czechoslovakia. The war in Europe ended in May, 1945. I was wounded three times, and honorably discharged on December 30, 1945.

The two Rangers who found and rendered the “Big Guns of Pointe du Hoc” inoperable, Len Lomell and Jack E. Kuhn, each returned to a successful civilian life. Jack E. Kuhn had been promoted in service from platoon sergeant to First Sergeant of D. Co. 2nd Ranger Bn, and retired as the Chief of Police in his hometown of Altoona, PA. While still in service, I was promoted from 1st Sergeant of D. Company in June 1944 to Sgt. Major of 2nd Ranger Bn. In October 1944, I was given a battlefield commission to 2nd Lt. And was assigned to D. Company 1st Platoon. In civilian life, with the help of the G.I. Bill to complete my legal education, I became a lawyer. I am now retired and live in Toms River, NJ.

Incidentally, the French people of Normandy have erected another monument to the Rangers on Pointe du Hoc, part of which is a large 155MM coastal gun like the D-Day artillery previously described. Over a million tourists visit Pointe du Hoc every year.

The Ranger volunteers of World War II were America’s brightest and most proficient counterpart to the commandos of other nations; Special Forces for dangerous missions. The Ranger motto was “Be the best of the best” and “Rangers lead the way,” and still is today. Many generals and other members of the “high brass” as well as some historians thought the Rangers were the best soldiers in any army. Please excuse my modesty, or the lack thereof…whatever, “C’est la guerre.”

This article has been reproduced courtesy of the WW II Veterans Committee of the American Veterans Center. Visit their web site via our links page!