Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
The Rangers After Point Du Hoc
Ronald Reagan made the Second Ranger Battalion famous with his 1984 “Boys of Point Du Hoc” speech. There he extolled the exploits of the Rangers who scaled those heights on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Ever since then, many believe the Rangers started and ended their World War II efforts on that day in June.
“The Last Hill: The Epic Story of a Ranger Battalion and the Battle That Defined WWII,” by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin shows that D-Day was the start of the Battalion’s World War II combat. They faced other challenges throughout 1944.
Their greatest came six months later, in December 1944, at the Hürtgen Forest. The 512 men of the battalion were to take and hold Castle Hill, 1320-f00t tall, flat-topped mound that once held a medieval castle. The key to the Hürtgen battlefield, several Wehrmacht regiments were defending the hill. Holding it was critical to Germany’s upcoming Ardennes offensive. The US 28th Infantry Division, thirty times larger than the Ranger unit, tried and failed to take it.
Drury and Clavin show why US Army commanders assigned the Rangers the job and why the brass felt the Rangers could succeed based on the unit’s earlier performance. The book covers the Second Ranger Battalion’s history throughout the war.
The authors start by presenting the battalion’s organization and early training in the United States. They show how the arrival of James Rudder changed everything. Rudder, a Texas A&M graduate and football coach pre-war transformed the trainees from a collection of oddballs to a finely-honed combat unit. The book follows the Rangers through their arrival in Europe, showing their combat exploits between June and December 1944. They fought at D-Day and helped liberate the fortified French port of Brest before going to the Hürtgen.
The heart of the book is their struggle for Castle Hill. The Rangers arrived at the Hürtgen on November 14 and fought for a month. Of the 130 Rangers that occupied the hill, only 16 came down uninjured at the battle’s end. “The Last Hill” offers readers a gripping account of men in battle, one that will keep you reading until the end. Drury and Clavin provide a reminder of why the soldiers who fought World War II came from what was called the Greatest Generation.
“The Last Hill: The Epic Story of a Ranger Battalion and the Battle That Defined WWII,” by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, St. Martin’s Press, 2022, 416 pages, $29.99 (Hardcover), $14.00 (E-book), $18.20 (Audiobook) $39.99 (Audio CD)
This review was written by Mark Lardas who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com. It appeared in a different form in American Essence magazine and Epoch Times.
Published in History
Thanks for posting, Mark. I will need to check that book out. It is an honor and privilege to be be part of that club. I was happy to be able to take my wife and kids to Pointe du Hoc for the 75th anniversary to meet many of my brothers. Something else many may not realize is that we consider the 5307th Composite Unit (Merrill’ Marauders) operating in Asia throughout the summer of 1944 a major part of our lineage, too. We actually got our Regimental DUI (Distinctive Unit Insignia) from them and the colors on our beret flash come from the colors of their six combat teams.
RLTW!
Mark, I add my thanks to you for this post and review albeit perhaps for a different reason from those so eloquently stated by @chrishutch13. It was this speech, which I have watched more times than I can remember, which inspired me to sign up for a D-Day to the Rhine Tour by the Steven Ambrose Historical Tour Company as the brochure offered a stop at Pointe du Hoc; when I saw that, I immediately signed up for the trip and have regarded it ever since as one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my life. It was only because of that visit, and reading done after, that I was able to proudly know that I knew what the abbreviation used in Chris’ comment stood for: Rangers Lead The Way! To Chris I say, as a former USAF, SAC member long, long ago: Thank you very much for your service! Here is a shot of me standing on the spot where President Reagan stood while making that famous speech; I hesitated about sending it out of concern for the computers of all those receiving this comment but send it anyway as it was one of my proudest moments to be able to stand there in front of the Rangers’ Sword!
It goes without saying that I will be getting this book ASAP!
Mark, I would be remiss if I did note how much I appreciate your posts; they are some of the best on Ricochet. Jim.
I, in turn, am glad the Ricochetti get value out of these reviews.
Thank you for the kind words and thank you for your service, Sir. USAF SAC… now that is part of an interesting and complicated lineage! I’ve been heavily engaged in space discussions here in Poland since 2015. There’s a lot of contact with USSPACECOM and other space folks on Polish/US cooperation in that area and from what I understand some functions of SAC passed on to AF Space Command which then passed on to US Space Command.
That’s a great shot of you! A proud moment for me, too! https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02VYAPmVVnaF8hq8WY8PPQ8HXBPPQrDcSaurw1ydNKHJ9W4cehaz4Dc8FeNQCF9pRMl&id=580902945
My wife gave me that book for Christmas. It was one of a handful of books I got this year, so I haven’t read it yet. It will be next.