Bill Text: TX HR2200 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Paying tribute to the heroism of Lieutenant Colonel James E. Rudder and the members of the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion--the "Boys of Pointe du Hoc"--during the D-Day invasion of 1944.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-05-29 - Reported enrolled [HR2200 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HR2200-Enrolled.html
H.R. No. 2200 |
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WHEREAS, During the D-Day invasion of Normandy 75 years ago | ||
this June, Lieutenant Colonel James E. Rudder and the men of the | ||
U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion displayed exceptional courage and | ||
fortitude in their assault on the German position at Pointe du Hoc; | ||
and | ||
WHEREAS, Regarded as one of the most dangerous enemy | ||
positions along the Normandy coast, Pointe du Hoc is a promontory | ||
with sheer 100-foot cliffs, and it was the site of six large German | ||
guns that posed a direct threat to the Allied troops coming ashore | ||
at Utah and Omaha beaches; capturing the position and silencing | ||
those guns was vital to the success of D-Day, and Allied Supreme | ||
Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower assigned this difficult | ||
mission to the 2nd Ranger Battalion under the leadership of | ||
Lieutenant Colonel Rudder, a native Texan and a graduate of the | ||
Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets; and | ||
WHEREAS, At 7:10 on the morning of June 6, 1944, Lieutenant | ||
Colonel Rudder and his Rangers jumped from their landing craft and | ||
waded through the surf to the foot of the cliffs; braving withering | ||
machine gun fire and hand grenade explosions, these valiant men | ||
shot rope ladders over the cliffs and began pulling themselves up; | ||
as one Ranger fell, another began to climb in his place, and by 9:30 | ||
a.m. the battalion had taken the promontory and destroyed the guns; | ||
they continued to hold the position in the face of fierce | ||
counterattacks until they were relieved on June 8; after two days of | ||
fighting, only 90 of the original 225 who came ashore could still | ||
bear arms; and | ||
WHEREAS, The heroes of this engagement were later | ||
immortalized by the historian Douglas Brinkley in his best-selling | ||
book The Boys of Pointe du Hoc, and their sacrifice was further | ||
recognized by the French, who erected a monument to the 2nd Ranger | ||
Battalion atop Pointe du Hoc; this striking memorial consists of a | ||
granite pylon atop what had once been a German bunker, with tablets | ||
in French and English at the base; and | ||
WHEREAS, During the 40th anniversary of D-Day, on June 6, | ||
1984, the Ranger memorial was the site of a stirring address by | ||
President Ronald Reagan, who commemorated the invasion with these | ||
words: "The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was | ||
right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just | ||
God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was | ||
the deep knowledge--and pray God we have not lost it--that there is | ||
a profound, moral difference between the use of force for | ||
liberation and the use of force for conquest. . . . Here, in this | ||
place where the West held together, let us make a vow to our dead. | ||
Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died | ||
for. . . . Strengthened by their courage, heartened by their valor, | ||
and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals | ||
for which they lived and died."; and | ||
WHEREAS, In 2019 our nation is commemorating the 75th | ||
anniversary of D-Day and the liberation of Europe, and this | ||
milestone occasion provides a fitting opportunity to reflect on the | ||
remarkable leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Rudder and the selfless | ||
bravery of the "Boys of Pointe du Hoc"; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas | ||
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the heroism of Lieutenant Colonel | ||
James E. Rudder and the members of the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger | ||
Battalion during the D-Day invasion of 1944. | ||
Price | ||
______________________________ | ||
Speaker of the House | ||
I certify that H.R. No. 2200 was adopted by the House on May | ||
27, 2019, by a non-record vote. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||