Reader mail from Ranger Reunion

We got an email last night from a young lady who attended the WWII Ranger Reunion this last weekend in Columbus, GA.

I just returned from the WW II Ranger reunion in Columbus and have been reading and viewing media reports of the event, all of which primarily focus on D-Day, Pointe du Hoc and the brave Rangers of the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions. Though virtually unmentioned in the accounts I have read, also attending the reunion were members of Darby’s Rangers (1st, 3rd and 4th Bns). Men of those battalions invaded Africa, helped to defeat Rommel’s Afrika Corps, invaded Sicily, battled every step of the way through Italy’s freezing, muddy mountains and spearheaded the Anzio invasion. All 1st and 3rd Bn Rangers who attended the reunion were POWs captured at Cisterna after being encircled by an overwhelming number of Nazi troops . . . with one notable exception: an unassuming Ranger in attendance was one of only eight men of two entire battalions who escaped being killed or captured at Cisterna. Many men of the 4th Ranger Bn, who tried desperately to reach their surrounded comrades, joined the First Special Service Force after their unit was disbanded and continued their fight against the Nazis. The 1st, 3rd and 4th Battalions, known as Darby’s Rangers, were leading the way long before the phrase was uttered at Omaha Beach. I know. I am the proud daughter of the late Lt. L. Lew Henry, a 4th Battalion Ranger.
(I also wrote the news releases for the Columbus reunion and I focused on the heroics of all SIX Ranger Battalions.)

Category: Historical