James Earl Rudder (1910 - 1970)

Born 6 May 1910 in Eden, Concho County, Texas

Died 23 Mar 1970 at age 59 in Houston, Brazos County, Texas

Biography

James Earl Rudder as a Lt. Colonel, led a raid to disable artillery on Pointe du Hoc. on D-day which was part of the Normandy Invasion. Their mission was to disable the artillery atop the cliff which threatened the battleships going to other beach heads. After dealing with current drift in their landing crafts they had to parallel the the beach to get to the deployment zone drawing heavy machine gun fire. They then used a series of rope guns to get ladders to the top. There they found the guns they were supposed to destroy had been removed and decoys had been put in place. They moved inland to find the artillery had been moved rearward and used thermite grenades to disable the carrraiges. He also commanded US forces at the Battle of Hertgen Wood and the Battle of the Bulge. A PBS about WWII and the profile of Rudder inspired me to create this profile here. There are many more accomplishments in military and civilian life to be added here by people that knew him or that are more familiar with his later life.

Sources

• Bio on find a grave gives much more detail and is worth a read.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 15 November 2020), memorial page for James Earl Rudder (6 May 1910–23 Mar 1970), Find a Grave Memorial no. 17137858, citing College Station Cemetery, College Station, Brazos County, Texas, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave .

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17137858/james-earl-rudder