The story of this place
At dawn on 6 June 1944, 225 US Army Rangers under Lt. Col. James Rudder landed beneath the sheer 100-foot cliffs of Pointe du Hoc, between Omaha and Utah, to destroy a battery of six 155mm guns that threatened both beaches. Firing rocket-propelled grappling hooks and climbing rope ladders under German fire, they scaled the cliff—only to find the guns had been moved inland. A patrol located and destroyed them in an orchard. The Rangers then held the position against fierce counterattacks for two days; of 225 men, only about 90 remained fit to fight. The cratered clifftop, still pitted by bombardment, is preserved as an American memorial.