Hitler's Third Reich and World War II in the News is a daily edited review of WWII news, providing thought-provoking collection of hand-picked WW2 information.

WW2 category: US Army Rangers  -- See latest WWII news here. See also 'Special Forces & Missions', 'Japanese Kamikazes', 'HitlerJugend', 'Medals: Heroes with Military Decorations', 'SAS'.

Pointe-du-Hoc memorial: US to spend millions restoring legendary D-Day landmark     redorbit.com :: 2009-05-24
The US is leading a campaign to stop erosion from destroying the clifftop of Pointe-du-Hoc on Normandy coast, an area that has become sacred ground for the American sacrifices of June 6, 1944. New efforts are being extended to stabilize the cliff, on top of which sits a monument and a Nazi bunker. Decades of tides, rain and wind dug deep into the rock forced the Pointe-du-Hoc memorial to be closed in 2000. However, the memorial site should reopen in 2011. Historian Stephane Simonet, of the Caen Peace Museum, called it a memorial to American valor, as just 90 of the 225 Rangers survived attacking the insurmountable cliff.     [WWII Ruins, Bunkers, Battlefields & Historic sites]

U.S. Army Ranger Robert Prince: the assault force commander of the Great Raid     nwsource.com :: 2009-01-06
Army Ranger Robert Prince, who as a captain in World War Two was the assault force commander of the daring mission to free Allied POWs that became known as "The Great Raid," passed away aged 89. Prince was only 25 when he was hand-picked by Lt. Col. Henry Mucci to lead 120 Rangers of the 6th Ranger Battalion, Alamo Scouts and Filipino guerillas to rescue POWs from a Japanese prison camp near Cabanatuan. The victorious Jan. 30, 1945 mission, depicted in a film "The Great Raid (2005)" was announced across the U.S., but the Rangers' moment in history faded from the public eye with the invasion of Iwo Jima a month later.     [US Army Rangers]

World War II ranger Leo Strausbaugh joins Army Ranger Hall of Fame     jg-tc.com :: 2008-06-21
When first approached about volunteering for a new Ranger Battalion during WWII, Leo Strausbaugh - whose mule pack battery in the 98th Field Artillery Battalion had just been disbanded - said he didn't know what being a Ranger meant. "I thought 'Hell, I am going to try out the Rangers.' I did and I am glad I did. The camaraderie of it is worth a lot." Ranger units and regimental associations nominate a maximum of 3 Rangers per year for induction into the Hall of Fame. Each candidate must be a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School and must have served in a Ranger unit in combat.    

Monthly elite reunions bring together World War II Army Rangers     startribune :: 2008-01-10
There's an elite meeting on the first Saturday of each month in Bloomington as a small group of WW II Army Rangers get together. Every year their number grows smaller. The Rangers weren't numerous back in 1942, for that matter, when they were organized to give the U.S. a urgently needed capability to do commando raids. Then at Cisterna, Italy, in 1944, they were nearly annihilated. The 1st Ranger Battalion was "the fighting-est unit in World War II," said Don Frederick. Training in Achnacarry, Scotland, included savage speed marches, cliff-scaling and the "death ride": a rope slide over a river while live ammo was fired and demolition charges exploded.    

Joseph Fineberg was with the legendary "Darby's Rangers"     philly :: 2007-06-30
When Army Capt. Joseph N. Fineberg traveled back to Philly on a 21-day leave in May 1944, the 2500 block of North Corlies Street went wild. American flags fluttered from the windows; a huge banner read "Welcome Home." Joe was embarrassed by the attention, and uniformed soldiers who had not yet tasted the sting of battle plied him for tips. Joe was a bona fide war hero, receiving 3 battlefield commissions as an Army Ranger and the Bronze Star for valor. He was with the "Darby's Rangers" in the Italian campaign. Life ran a story about him in July 1944, and his exploits were written in books and the 1958 film "Darby's Rangers" included a character based on him.    

Army Ranger who helped plan 1944 D-Day invasion dies     sptimes :: 2007-03-10
Russell "Ranger Russ" Worman, an Army Ranger who helped plan the Normandy invasion of WWII, died at 82. In Dec 1943, he was sent to England, where he trained for 4 months with British commandos, studying intelligence, map-reading and booby-trap rigging. Then he spent two months poring over photos and models of the landing area. Working in General Dwight D. Eisenhower's office, he helped plan Operation Overlord. Eisenhower had a nickname for him: "the young Ranger with a big cigar." With the elite 2nd Ranger Battalion he landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, as part of the first wave of Allied soldiers invading Normandy on D-Day.    

2nd Ranger Battalion - Cliffs west of Omaha Beach on D-Day     timesunion :: 2006-07-15
O'Keefe was with the Army's 2nd Ranger Battalion. He and 225 Rangers used grappling hooks to scale 100-foot cliffs west of Omaha Beach on 1944 D-Day. They climbed with strength through a storm of grenades and withering enemy fire to take the high ground at Pointe du Hoc and eliminate German artillery batteries. Only 90 of the Rangers survived the assault. He travelled back to Normandy 3 times and met with presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton during the 40th, 50th and 60th D-Day anniversary ceremonies. He never made a fuss about his military service, other than attending reunions and funerals of fellow Rangers.     [D-Day, Normandy & Operation Overlord]

Army Rangers: an elite fighting force - first invasion forces     ljworld :: 2006-06-07
Army Rangers were a small, elite fighting force referred to as "spearheaders" for being the first invasion forces on beaches. On D-Day the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions stormed ashore at Normandy. There were 16 million Americans in uniform during World War II, and 8.3 million of them were in the Army. The six Ranger Battalions totaled 3,000 men; replacements raised that figure to 7,000. The 5th Rangers were diverted to Omaha Beach on D-Day when Lt. Col. Max Schneider did not receive the code word to land at Pointe du Hoc. 2nd Rangers were to scale the cliffs and destroy the heavy German guns that could rake the Omaha Beach and annihilate the invasion force.     [US Army Rangers]

Rangers Battalion played heroic role in camp liberation     ljworld :: 2006-05-23
By the end of Jan 1945, as Allied forces advanced against Japanese positions, the writing was on the wall for any Japanese military leader who cared to read it. But as US forces neared PoW camps, it became more dangerous for the men. That fact was shown at Palawan when more than 150 Allied POWs were herded into air raid shelters, doused with gasoline and burned alive to prevent them from being liberated. Concerns grew about the 512 survivors of the Bataan Death March. A daring raid by an volunteer force consisting of 120 members of 6th Ranger Battalion, a dozen Alamo Scouts and more than 200 Filipino guerrillas was formed to rescue the POWs.    

Reunion of World War II Rangers     ljworld :: 2006-03-03
Historians argue whether the demise of Darby's Rangers was the result of faulty intelligence and poor planning on their mission to capture Cisterna, or was due to the German General Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's strategic deployment of forces. But the fight that ensued was the end of 3 battalions of untested replacements and battle-hardened veterans, most of whom had spearheaded invasions and fought their way through Africa, Sicily and Italy. Only a handful of men from the 1st and 3rd Ranger Battalions escaped after an overwhelming force of German soldiers - equipped with mortars and tanks - surrounded them.    

See also:
'Special Forces & Missions'
'Japanese Kamikazes'
'HitlerJugend'
'Medals: Heroes with Military Decorations'
'SAS'.

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