Bio
James E. Rudder graduated from Texas A&M in 1932 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry. He served in the reserves until June 1941 when he was accepted for active duty.
Major Rudder was selected to command the 2nd Ranger Battalion at Camp Forrest, Tennessee, on 30 June 1943. Leading by example in training, be built morale and esprit before conducting amphibious training at Fort Pierce.
In the first wave on D-Day, 6 June 1944, Rudder, the Provisional Ranger Group Commander (2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions) personally led three 2nd Ranger Battalion companies up the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc to seize the German coastal artillery guns. Rudder received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC).
Afterwards, LTC Rudder led ‘Rudder’s Rangers’ in the capture of France’s Atlantic ports. He fought with his Rangers in the Hürtgen Forest, Germany, until 7 December 1944, when he took command of the 109th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division.
Following WWII, Rudder remained in the Army Reserve, retiring as a Major General on 30 June 1967. He was the president of Texas A&M University from 1960 to 1970.
