Army Rangers have had a very proud tradition of service with the United States Military. They have seen battle in every war since the early 1900s and they have preformed with pride and honor. In World War II the 1st Ranger Battalion was created and trained in Scotland with British Commando units. Additional 3rd and 4th units of Army Rangers worked with the 1st Ranger Battalion to fight bravely in Italy and North Africa, there was nothing that was too tough for the valiant Army Rangers to scale, no mission too dangerous. They were the equivalent in their day of Special Operations Commandos today.
The Army Rangers fought hard in the Pacific Theater as well as the European theater during the War. The actions of the 5th Ranger Battalion were very prominent during their assistance in landing on Normandy France, during D-Day, they landed in the White Dog Sector of Omaha beach. The 2nd Ranger battalion successfully knocked out a gun emplacement of the Germans on Pointe du Hoc located a few miles to the West. The German troops had a set of 155 mm artillery guns located on the cliffs and the brave Army Rangers had to scale a raw face cliff of 150 feet in order to take out the gun emplacement.
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Two other Army Ranger units saw battle in the Pacific Theater. The 98th Field Artillery Battalion was created on December 16th 1940 and was instrumental in several battles. The 98th FA was converted to light infantry and formed into a Army Ranger Unit on September 26th of 1944 and were renamed the 6th Ranger Battalion. The 6th Ranger Battalion fought and led the retaking of the Philippines and only suffered light casualties.
The Raid at Cabanatuan was another raid that the 6th Ranger Battalion led and it was considered one of the most successful daring raids of World War II. Other Army Ranger Units fought in the Burma Campaign, shut off supply lines through the Himalayan Mountains, and fought additional battles against the Japanese in Maingkwan. The Myitkyina airfield in Burma was captured by Army Ranger forces on May 17th, 1944, and all the members of the Army unit involved were awarded the Bronze Star. The lessons learned in forming these World War II units were valuable and some of the experience and training procedures is still being put to good use today.
