Dog Company: The Boys of Pointe du Hoc--the Rangers Who Accomplished D-Day's Toughest Mission and Led the Way across Europe

384 Pages·2012·4.88 MB·English

by  Patrick K. O'Donnell

Table of Contents

Title Page
Dedication
Prologue

CHAPTER 1 - Dog Company
March 1943—Fort Meade, Maryland

CHAPTER 2 - “Rangers? Bullshit!”

CHAPTER 3 - Big Jim

CHAPTER 4 - Fort Pierce and Overseas

CHAPTER 5 - Bude

CHAPTER 6 - The Needles

CHAPTER 7 - The Mission

CHAPTER 8 - Final Preparations

CHAPTER 9 - A Tough Spot for a Landing

CHAPTER 10 - “Into the Valley of Death”
Late evening on board the Amsterdam, June 5, 1944

CHAPTER 11 - “The Sky Was Burning”
Early morning hours, Pointe du Hoc, France, June 6, 1944

CHAPTER 12 - The Landing
CHAPTER 13 - The Climb

CHAPTER 14 - Atop the Fortress

CHAPTER 15 - Bunkers and Farms

CHAPTER 16 - The Guns of Pointe du Hoc

CHAPTER 17 - Swimmers

CHAPTER 18 - The First Counterattack

CHAPTER 19 - Nighttime Attacks
Rudder’s command bunker, early morning hours, June 7,
1944
Behind the L-shaped line, early morning hours, June 7,
1944

CHAPTER 20 - June 7

CHAPTER 21 - The Relief of Pointe du Hoc

CHAPTER 22 - Survivors

CHAPTER 23 - The Assault on Brest

CHAPTER 24 - Hill 63

CHAPTER 25 - The Fabulous Four

CHAPTER 26 - Interlude

CHAPTER 27 - A Factory of Death
CHAPTER 28 - Moving Out

CHAPTER 29 - Bergstein
Two days earlier, December 4, 1944, Combat Command
Reserve’s attack on Bergstein

CHAPTER 30 - Counterattack

CHAPTER 31 - The Church

CHAPTER 32 - The Charge

CHAPTER 33 - Hill 400

CHAPTER 34 - Their “Longest Day”

CHAPTER 35 - Nightfall

CHAPTER 36 - December 8

CHAPTER 37 - Final Assault on Bergstein

CHAPTER 38 - Relief Finally Arrives

CHAPTER 39 - The Bulge

CHAPTER 40 - Back to Hürtgen

CHAPTER 41 - Crossing the Roer

CHAPTER 42 - The Last Act

Epilogue
Notes
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INDEX
Copyright Page
To the courageous men of
the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions whose collective actions
accomplished D-Day’s toughest mission and whose
legacy lives on in the next greatest generation of Rangers.

To my many friends of the World War II generation—
your legacy is abiding and inspiring.

To all the Continental soldiers buried in unmarked graves.

For Lily,
the apple of my eye,
the greatest daughter in the world.