Rangers led the way in the D-Day landings 80 years ago

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James Sandy, University of Texas at Arlington

(THE CONVERSATION) Among the 150,000 soldiers who landed on and fought across the hostile beaches of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, were 1,000 members of a new, specially trained unit – the U.S. Army Rangers.

Most of them fought across the German beachfront defenses, supported by nearly 7,000 naval vessels and 11,000 Allied aircraft. More than 200 Rangers fought vertically – up the sheer cliff face of Pointe du Hoc, a craggy outcropping overlooking the two American landing beaches – in an effort to capture what was thought to be a key location of German artillery.

As a military historian of what I call the American Ranger tradition, I’ve traced this martial phenomenon from the colonial period to the 21st century. Their pathway to Normandy and their exploits that fateful morning represent a core component of the modern U.S. Army’s culture and evolution in the decades since.

Ranger rebirth

The idea for the U.S. Army Rangers was inspired by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s idea for what he called a “butcher and bolt” force – small teams that would conduct surprise attacks, kill or destroy key enemy targets, and escape undetected. The Commandos, as these...