The Boys Of Pointe Du Hoc

Ronald Reagan, D-day, And The U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion

by Douglas Brinkley

Historian Douglas Brinkley tells two related stories: the 40th anniversary D-Day remembrance speeches of Ronald Reagan in 1984, and the June 6, 1944 attack on Pointe du Hoc, Normandy, by U.S. Rangers, who took out a major gun site of the German defense, thus making the beach landing possible. That mission was the central focus of Reagan's well-crafted and powerful speeches, which Brinkley examines from genesis to delivery and impact. He interviews the speechwriters Peggy Noonan and Tony Dolan, and he deepens our knowledge of that historic, heroic mission for a modern audience. (The ranger assault on Pointe du Hoc was the scene that opened the film SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.)

Editions of The Boys Of Pointe Du Hoc

	ISBN 9780060565275	Binding/Format Hardcover	Publisher Harpercollins	Date 2005	Price $1.00	Very Good
	ISBN 9780060759599	Binding/Format Compact Disc	Publisher Harperaudio	Date 2005	Price $51.95	New

Publisher Notes

Acclaimed historian and New York Times bestselling author of Tour of Duty Douglas Brinkley brings the riveting account of the brave U.S. Army Rangers who stormed the coast of Normandy on D-Day and the President, forty years later, who paid them homage.

U.S. and British warships poised in the English Channel had eighteen targets on their bombardment list for D-Day morning. The 100-foot promontory known as Pointe du Hoc -- where six big German guns were ensconced -- was number one. Under the bulldoggish command of Colonel James E. Rudder of Texas, these elite forces -- "Rudder's Rangers" -- took control of the fortified cliff. The liberation of Europe was under way.

Based upon recently released documents, The Boys of Pointe du Hoc is the first in-depth, anecdotal remembrance of these fearless Army Rangers. With brilliant deftness, Brinkley moves between two events four decades apart to tell the dual story of the making of Reagan's two uplifting 1984 speeches, considered by many to be among the best orations the Great Communicator ever gave.