Army Rangers to receive Congressional Gold Medal & More News Here

A ‘fairly unhealthy present’ on the seashore

“The gunfire was just pouring into the area we were coming into,” now-retired Maj. Gen. Raaen recalled. Fires had been everywhere in the seashore. Burning autos emitted robust odors of gasoline, oil, and leather-based. The ammunition contained in the autos was exploding.

“I don’t think anyone who went through it has forgotten a single moment,” stated Raaen, who not too long ago turned 100. “It was a pretty bad show that we had waiting for us on that beach.”

D-Day marked a brand new chapter in World War II, by which hundreds of Allied troops from the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Canada landed on the seashores of Normandy and commenced to confront Nazi-occupied Europe.

The unique plan was for Raaen and the remainder of the fifth Ranger Battalion to comply with one other Ranger battalion at Pointe du Hoc, scaling 100-foot cliffs to discover and destroy German artillery that may very well be used to assault American troops on the seashore. Instead, timing delays precipitated Raaen and his battalion to land on Omaha Beach, the place he stated their intense preparations as Army Rangers served them properly.

“We were too well-trained. We didn’t see anything in that landing that we hadn’t seen in training before, so there were no surprises,’ said Raaen, who remembers the use of live ammunition during that training.

The Rangers would be the first to make it off the beach. Exposing themselves to enemy fire, they placed Bangalore torpedoes — long tubes with explosives hooked together — underneath the barbed wire surrounding the beach. When the torpedoes exploded, the Rangers achieved a critical breakthrough.

“We blew 4 holes within the wire about 50 yards aside,” Raaen said. “As quickly because the wire was blown, the folks that had been caught on the seashore might comply with our troops by way of the gaps within the wire and rise up on the bluffs.”

That day, Raaen recalled hearing Brig. Gen. Norman Cota, one of the top officers on the beach, say, “You males are Rangers. I do know you will not let me down.”

‘Rangers, lead the way!’

Cota’s rallying cry, “Rangers, cleared the path!” would outlive the war and become the official motto of the Army Rangers.

Modeled after the highly trained British commandos, the US Army Rangers were an all-volunteer force tasked with carrying out special operations and raids during World War II. Beyond Normandy, Ranger battalions were active across the world. They executed nighttime attacks and participated in landings in Italy and North Africa. In the Philippines, they infiltrated Japanese-held territory and freed more than 500 prisoners from a POW camp.

More than 70 years after the end of the war, Congress has taken action to honor this group of elite soldiers.

Combat veteran lawmakers leading the effort

Both chambers passed a bill awarding a Congressional Gold Medal to the Army Rangers of World War II. The Senate approved it last October while the House followed on May 11 with a vote of 418-0.

The legislation now heads to Biden’s desk to be signed into law. The White House did not comment.

Behind the effort on Capitol Hill was a bipartisan group of lawmakers with military backgrounds. In the Senate, Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Iowa Army National Guard, introduced the bill. Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who lost both her legs while serving in Iraq, signed on as an original co-sponsor.

“I’m thrilled that the House has taken motion and cleared the way in which for the president to signal this essential invoice into legislation to acknowledge the valor and extraordinary service of those brave Army Rangers with the Congressional Gold Medal—a small token of appreciation from a grateful nation,” Ernst said in a statement.

The House bill was introduced by Colorado Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, an Army Ranger veteran himself. Republican Reps. Michael Waltz of Florida, the first Green Beret to serve in Congress, and Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, a 24-year Army veteran, came on as original co-sponsors.

Crow joined the Army in the wake of September 11, feeling the need to serve the country. After graduating from college, he was first commissioned as an infantry officer and eventually became an Army Ranger, completing three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Some of an important battles of the warfare relied on their talent and sacrifice of Army Rangers. When I served our nation, I used to be humbled to comply with within the footsteps of hundreds of Army Rangers who served earlier than me,” Crow said in a statement.

Declining numbers

Ron Hudnell, whose father, Pfc. James Hudnell, served in the 2nd Ranger Battalion, began the initial push for the Congressional Gold Medal eight years ago. Hudnell himself received the Ranger Tab after completing Ranger school and served in Vietnam.

After two unsuccessful attempts in prior sessions of Congress, Hudnell credits the third try’s success to the House and Senate bills being introduced sooner; more endorsing organizations, museums; and authors; and more families of World War II Rangers urging their members of Congress to get behind the legislation.

With solely 13 Rangers remaining from World War II, Hudnell and lawmakers additionally knew time was operating out to honor these heroes.

“I’m very regretful that we did not begin sooner,” Hudnell, who has been involved with the Descendants of World War II Rangers as a member and board member over the last 20 years, told CNN. “I want that I had been extra aggressive a few years in the past when there have been many extra Rangers with us.”

Hudnell’s father died in 2007. After years of recruiting lawmakers to sponsor and support this effort, he said the bill clearing Congress is a “very thrilling second.”

“I do know that [my father] can be very happy with the work that not solely myself, however quite a few the opposite descendants of World War II Rangers have put into this venture,” Hudnell said. “He can be very blissful that the nation acknowledges what the Rangers did in World War II.”

Maj. Gen. Raaen went on to serve in Korea and Vietnam earlier than retiring in 1979. From his dwelling in Florida, he continues to share his D-Day expertise.

“The invasion made my profession and I admit it,” Raaen said. “I grew to become a hero, which I did not really feel I used to be. But to them I used to be a hero, so I obtained the cream jobs. I obtained the cream of commanders. It simply made my life very simple, in contrast to those that hadn’t actually accomplished something in fight.”

He said he felt great when he learned the bill passed through Congress and now awaits the president’s signature.

“It shall be an important honor to every certainly one of us,” Raaen said.