Dog Company: The Boys of Pointe du Hoc--the Rangers Who Accomplished D-Day's Toughest Mission and Led the Way across Europe
Patrick K. O'Donnell
Language: English
Pages: 250
ISBN: 2:00182266
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
An epic World War II story of valor, sacrifice, and the Rangers who led the way to victory in Europe.
It is said that the right man in the right place at the right time can make the difference between victory and defeat. This is the dramatic story of sixty-eight soldiers of the U.S. Army’s 2nd Ranger Battalion, D Company—Dog Company—who made that difference, time and again.
From D-Day, when German guns atop Pointe du Hoc threatened the Allied landings and the men of Dog Company scaled the ninety-foot cliffs to destroy them; to the thickly forested slopes of Hill 400, in Germany’s Hürtgen Forest, where the Rangers launched a desperate bayonet charge across an open field, captured the crucial hill, and held it against all odds. In each battle, the men of Dog Company made the difference.
Dog Company is their unforgettable story—thoroughly researched and vividly told by acclaimed combat historian Patrick K. O’Donnell—a story of extraordinary bravery, courage, and determination. America had many heroes in World War II, but few can say that, but for them, the course of the war may have been very different. The right men, in the right place, at the right time—Dog Company.
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emplacements and into an apple orchard about a thousand yards away. They draped heavy camouflage nets over the twenty-foot-long guns and placed telephone poles in the casements to deceive Allied photo reconnaissance. The movement of the guns did not go unnoticed by French Resistance cells working in the area. Although accounts vary, the French partisans apparently did attempt to alert the Allies of the guns’ movements. According to one person on the scene, the French attempted to use carrier
Slater, and the core of D Company boarded a troop train and headed south to Nashville, Tennessee. Southeast of the city near the town of Tullahoma, the men arrived at Camp Nathan Bedford Forrest, named for the southern cavalry general. During World War II, Camp Forrest was largely a tent city nestled in the sandy hills and lush pines of southern Tennessee. Shoved in one corner of the facility, Dog Company had its own street of pyramidal U.S. government-issued tents. But the weather of April 1943
Company, this is our mission. . . . These [men] were dedicated and would give their life for this roadblock if it needed it. My wife gives me hell for saying this. I’ve been quiet for forty-some years. What am I going to do, go to my grave for all the guys that died with me? Seven guys died with me here, and not tell the truth? We didn’t retreat. We didn’t withdraw. We all did what we were told to do.” Completely surrounded and cut off nearly a mile behind German lines, Dog was now alone.
According to Petty, “It seemed like it was taking an eternity to arm the torpedoes.” Bullets filled the air around the men. Almost hysterical, Petty screamed down at Anderson, “Get the God damn things armed and let’s get out of here. What the hell is the hold up?” Anderson finished placing the charge and finally ignited the fuse. German fire rained down on their position. Petty’s adrenaline was pumping as he charged, once again firing from the hip. Anderson yelled, “Drop, L-Rod, drop! It’s
Petty and Bill Anderson28 ran into an eight-foot hallway and encountered another large steel door leading into the heart of the bunker. Affixed to the door was a small metal slot “like a mail flap.” Petty opened it and jammed his BAR into the slot. Pulling the trigger, he emptied the entire magazine while Anderson lobbed two grenades through the aperture. Anticipating the blast from the grenades, L-Rod tried to yank his BAR back through the hole, but the front sight of his BAR was hung up on
