[Lee Stewart]

As part of their Atlantic defenses, the Germans placed artillery pieces atop Pointe du Hoc, 100-foot cliffs overlooking Omaha and Utah beaches and the English Channel. Those artillery units could have annihilated Allied forces landing on the beaches below, but U.S. Army Rangers scaled the cliffs, seized the guns, and held the terrain against significant German counterattacks. The Rangers’ efforts to secure Omaha Beach’s left flank came at a tremendous loss of life.

[Pictured: A command post is established on the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc at during the invasion at Omaha Beach in Normandy, France.]