Colonel Max Schneider 5th Ranger Battalion Memorial Page

The 5th Battalion Rangers on Omaha Beach D-Day The 5th Ranger Battalion's Mission on D-Day was to act as support for the 2nd Ranger Battalion in their attack on Pointe du Hoc.  The 5th Rangers were  brought in as a back-up force in case the 2nd Battalion failed in their mission.  the 5th was to be landed where they could approach Pointe du Hoc from the rear.   The 2nd Battalion was to send a prearranged radio signal if their mission was successful.  However no signal was received and the alternate plan practiced ahead of time was to land the 5th amidst the Omaha Beach area behind the 29th Division.   Naval gunfire supported this area of the beach; including fire from the Battleship Texas and German resistance was extremely heavy. Due to heavy casualties on the beach the Ranger Commander Colonel Max Schneider ordered the boats be run parallel with the coast line and landed them in the strategically important area of The Vierville Draw. The 5th Rangers took the beach cutting through the German defenses and taking the hills overlooking the beach area; eventually the 5th would link up with the 2nd but not until after weathering some of the most deadly beaches of Normandy.

29th Infantry Division Memorial OMAHA Beach

Battleship Texas (BB-35) In support of the American landings at Utah and Omaha beaches, the USS Texas (BB-35) slugged it out with German heavy gun emplacements during the D-Day landings.  Shortly afterwards she was hit twice in a duel with German coastal defense artillery near Cherbourg, suffering 1 fatality and 13 wounded. Quickly repaired, she shelled Nazi positions in Southern France before transferring to the Pacific where she lent gunfire support and anti-aircraft fire to the landings on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. She is preserved as a State Historic Site east of Houston at the San Jacinto Battlefield.

Visit BB-35 Battleship Texas State Historic Site 3523 Highway 134 LaPorte TX 77571 281/479-2431