John Raaen was captain of Headquarters Company, 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion at the time of D-Day on 6 June 1944 [Annotator's Note: Raaen retired as a major general]. He had sailed to Normandy aboard the HMS Prince Bodwin [Annotator's Note: ship name not confirmed]. The company loaded aboard assault boats at about 4:30 in the morning. There was a 12 mile run-in to the beach. The company's primary mission was to follow Ranger force A composed of Companies D, E and F of the 2nd Ranger Battalion. The objective was to follow them up the cliffs and exploit the adjacent areas. The 2nd Battalion ran about 40 minutes late in reaching the cliffs. The revised plan became for Raaen's force to land at Vierville and progress overland to Point-du-Hoc. Unable to land at Vierville, the boats were diverted to the Dog White sector on Omaha Beach. The landings began with Companies A and B of the 2nd Ranger Battalion. Landing under extremely heavy fire from WN70 [Annotator's Note: a fortified German position] and the bluffs above, the companies were virtually wiped out. Raaen's boats moved 1,000 yards to the left where a series of breakwaters existed. The structures would provide partial shielding from the enemy rifle and machine gun fire coming from the right. After exiting the boats, the men took cover in the breakwaters and used them as small forts. There were 50 or 60 yards of beach to cross. The seawall was piled high with men trying to escape the enemy fire from the right. The fire came primarily from the right because brush fires on the bluffs directly in front of the assault troops had driven the Germans from their emplacements. To the left was a nose which shielded the Americans from the enemy on the opposite side. Raaen and his outfit landed in a lucky spot. There were breakwaters, a seawall and a short span of beach to cross. Raaen could not get his life preserver off. Corporal Soper [Annotator's Note: unsure of spelling] used his knife to cut away the unneeded gear. Seeing the seawall was made of heavy wood, Raaen realized that he was on the wrong beach. The wall was supposed to be concrete at the planned landing location. He looked at the maps he had studied and regained his bearings. He knew where he had to go. Looking down the beach, he observed tanks driving back and forth from the water to the dunes. Infantrymen were taking cover behind the armor as it progressed toward the bluffs. There were three or four tanks doing this duty. To Raaen's left, he saw an LCI, Landing Craft, Infantry, unloading troops when a man with a flame thrower was hit by artillery. The jellied gas spread all across the LCI and killed quite a few men. Most of the troops aboard were able to get off unharmed. Raaen next located Major Sullivan [Annotator's Note: US Army Major Richard Sullivan] and reported to him. Raaen was told to stay with his men and Sullivan would report to the battalion commander. The commander was located when the Rangers shouted to each other requesting information about Colonel Schneider's [Annotator's Note: Lieutenant Colonel Max F. Schneider] whereabouts. In 30 seconds, word returned that he was three bays away. Sullivan communicated with Schneider and returned to tell Raaen that he was to follow a machine gun section of Company C through a gap soon to be blown in the wire. Before that happened, the Rangers spotted what appeared to be a plump, crazy man about 100 to 150 yards away who was walking about and shaking his hands and shouting at the men. There were questions about who the individual was. He approached Raaen's men. Raaen was concerned the wild man would mix up his men so he went over to him and discovered that the man had a star on his uniform. When Raaen identified himself, the officer recognized him as being the son of Jack Raaen. The officer then told Raaen that he was General Cota [Annotator's Note: US Army Major General Norman Daniel Cota, Sr.]. Raaen informed him that the 5th Ranger Battalion had landed on the beach intact. Raaen assessed that the battalion was spread over a 250 yard area along the beach. Cota asked where the battalion commander was. As he was leaving to find Schneider, Cota expressed his confidence that the Rangers would not let him down. Raaen then took a platoon size group three bays down where Colonel Schneider was located. The gap in the wire had been blown. When the Company C machine guns passed in front of them, Raaen followed behind them. All this time, there was heavy fire from the right. The breakwaters were used as protection against the incoming fire. The men climbed up the seawall and crossed a small road. The barbed wire beyond the road had been blown. He passed the wire without a problem. Raaen proceeded 50 yards or so beyond the road to the base of the steep cliffs. Four gaps in the wire had been blown. There were only Companies C and D ahead of Raaen. The other Rangers went through other gaps and were parallel to Raaen and his advancing group. When Raaen reached the top of the cliffs, he sat on a small wall and observed the boats still coming in with troops. There were troops making their way through the holes that had been blown in the wire. The men coming up the cliffs included quite a few Navy men who had lost their boats. They had grabbed helmets and weapons to follow any officer or noncom's [Annotator's Note: non-commissioned officer] orders and take part in the assault.

John Raaen and his company [Annotator's Note: Headquarters Company, 5th Ranger Battalion] had a mission to proceed to the west [Annotator's Note: after reaching the bluffs above Omaha Beach at Normandy on D-Day]. They joined up with Company C who already had their mortars in position. Raaen conferred with Captain Wise [Annotator's Note: US Army Captain Wilmer Wise] and determined where Major Sullivan [Annotator's Note: US Army Major Richard Sullivan] was located. Wise noted enemy positions for Raaen who was then able to avoid that German fire. Raaen met up with Sullivan who ordered him to reconnoiter a massive field nearby. After passing through the field, Raaen came upon a hedgerow and a dead German. Raaen had been shot at several times on the way through the field. It was most likely friendly fire. Raaen returned to Sullivan and advised him of the capability to progress through the field. It was as a proper route for the battalion. The battalion followed an irregular pathway into a field. Artillery fire landed near them, and they hit the dirt. It was their baptism to artillery fire. By the time they left that field, they could predict the spot where the shell would hit. They responded to the incoming fire accordingly. When Raaen met up with Sullivan again, he was given another mission. He was to find the left flank of the battalion. Company B, which was the lead company, had tried to go around Vierville to the south. They were prevented from doing so by machine guns in the hedgerows. Several platoons sent to aid the company had the same hold-up. Five companies of the battalion were spread out in the wrong direction at the time. Raaen went out on his own and found a platoon and the linkup point for the 1st and 29th Divisions. [Annotator's Note: The 1st Infantry Division and the 29th Infantry Division both landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-Day. Raaen references various lettered points on his map multiple times.] The platoon Raaen encountered was a group of paratroopers who had been dropped off target in the water. He returned with them to headquarters. He then went on toward Vierville because the Company B commander could not advance through the machine gun fire coming from the hedgerow. They adjusted their plan and simply marched through the town even though there was sporadic sniper and machine gun fire. The mission was to relieve Point-du-Hoc. General Cota [Annotator's Note: US Army Major General Norman Daniel Cota, Sr.] and the commander of the 116th Infantry Regiment [Annotator's Note: US Army Colonel, later Major General, Charles D. W. Canham commanded the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division] thought the beach situation was so fragile that they had to keep the Ranger battalion with them. Consequently, the Rangers stayed that night to defend the beachhead. They took up positions in two farmhouses near the main Vierville intersection. There were no counterattacks during the night. Raaen had lost his entrenching tool. His men offered to dig his foxhole for him but he opted to borrow one of their shovels. Meanwhile, he went to a haystack and rested. The hay was full of bugs. He ran out of the haystack after being bit and tormented. His men got a laugh out of his dilemma. They provided him with flea powder which he spread liberally around his body. That night a meeting was held between Raaen's battalion and the 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry. Colonel Canham and General Cota were together for the meeting. Plans were made for the next day. The advanced guard was to be the 5th Ranger Battalion and seven tanks from the 743rd [Annotator's Note: the 743rd Tank Battalion was attached to the 29th Infantry Division from 17 May to 14 June 1944] and the provisional company made up of survivors from Companies A, B and C of the 2nd Ranger Battaion. Following the guard, the regular forces would come. That would be composed of the 2nd Battalion, 116th then the 3rd Battalion and scattered tanks and engineers as well as others.

John Raaen woke up the next morning [Annotator's Note: the morning of 7 June 1944 following the D-Day invasion the previous morning] and there was a German counterattack about 250 yards away. When he saw American tanks sitting by and not responding, Raaen banged on the turret with his rifle and got the tank commander's attention. He told him of the company sized German force nearby. Raaen asked him if he thought the tanks should get involved. The tanker said that he would but then he only used his coaxial machine guns on the enemy. He told Raaen that the shells for the main gun were too valuable to waste on such a small engagement. Nevertheless, the Germans were beaten back. Sullivan [Annotator's Note: US Army Major Richard Sullivan] gave Raaen an order to form a four man patrol and reconnoiter the North Sea side of the road that ran toward Vierville. Raaen took two sergeants and a corporal with him and made a diamond formation to patrol ahead. They flushed two Germans and chased them across the main road from Vierville to the beach. The pursuit continued beyond the military crest where Raaen discovered a Feldgrau cap that was penetrated by a bullet. He assessed that the shot that hit the cap must have been his. When he and his patrol returned to the road, they could hear the grinding of motors. The tanks were on the move. The two sergeants left to return to their units. Raaen was left with Corporal Sharp [Annotator's Note: no given name provided]. They returned to the beach and the 29th [Annotator's Note: 29th Infantry Division] headquarters. They ran through a gauntlet of MPs [Annotator's Note: military police]. General Gerhardt [Annotator's Note: US Army Major General Charles H. Gerhardt] knew Raaen's family. The General wanted Raaen to report his status directly to him. When Raaen was asked by the General what he needed, his response was ammunition. The Rangers needed machine gun and mortar ammunition. They had enough for their rifles. The General told his aide de camp to get a jeep for Raaen and take him to the ASP [Annotator's Note: ammunition supply point] and load him up with ammunition. Sharp was driving. They headed back to Vierville after getting what they needed. It appeared that all the troops had left. It was spooky, but he continued on toward Point-du-Hoc. He could tell the tanks had been there. There was small brass from their machine guns and large brass from the cannons. Small brass also means infantry had been there. Blood could also be seen. Damaged items are also around. As the jeep proceeded, the enemy fired on the riders. Raaen's helmet was hit and it spun around and ended up in his lap. There was a gap in the hedgerows, but the jeep could not pass because the road was pretty chopped up. He and Sharp got under the jeep and carried it over their heads through the destroyed road for 50 yards. After getting the jeep through the open area of the hedgerows, the two men got back in. They noticed that the vehicle had been hit several times by rifle or machine gun fire. After awhile, they ran into the rear of the advanced guard. The ammunition was distributed. The jeep then ran out of gas, likely because the gas tank had been hit by a stray bullet. When Raaen reported to Sullivan, the Major ordered him to check the positioning of the tanks to maximize their defensive posture for the night. Sullivan knew that Raaen had armor experience. Raaen saw that the tankers knew their business. They were positioned well for hull defilade behind walls where they could. When Raaen reported his findings to Sullivan, he was told that the tanks, Sullivan and Metcalf [Annotator's Note: Ralph W. Metcalf was in the 5th Ranger Battalion on D-Day] had to immediately report back to the beach. The tanks and the two commanders took off leaving Raaen in command. He gathered as many company commanders as he could. They developed a defensive plan for the night predicated on the position of each company. Passwords and countersigns were determined. Two men were sent to Point-du-Hoc to locate it. Raaen and his group were situated at Saint-Pierre-du-Mont which was only about 1,000 yards from Point-du-Hoc. Night fighting positions were established. The next morning, Raaen checked to see if Moody and Makissic [Annotator's Note: annotator cannot verify names] were back from their patrol to find the Point. The two men on patrol were well known to Raaen. They had been in his platoon when he was a company commander. Raaen got an update from them. They had reached the Point and met with Colonel Rudder [Annotator's Note: US Army Colonel James Rudder]. They had even laid a cable so that Raaen could speak with Rudder. Raaen was planning to relieve Rudder with his force. It consisted of Company C of the 116th [Annotator's Note: Company C, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division] and a provisional company of the 2nd Battalion [Annotator's Note: 2nd Ranger Battlion] plus Companies C and D of the 5th Battalion [Annotator's Note: 5th Ranger Battalions] as well as a few miscellaneous troops. Before Raaen could commence his effort to relieve Rudder, the 5th Ranger Battalion from Vierville approached his force. The two groups merged and followed the plan to move on Point-du-Hoc in a diagonal fashion. When Raaen reached the Point, there were about 100 of the 225 original assaulting 2nd Battalion Rangers remaining there. Many of the 100 were walking wounded. It was a nice homecoming. While Raaen was sitting on a turret, tanks of the 743rd [Annotator's Note: the 743rd Tank Battalion was attached to the 29th Infantry Division from 17 May to 14 June 1944] burst out of the underbrush and started shooting at them. Despite the force on the Point waving a flag, the firing continued. An officer of the 2nd Battalion ran over to a tank and banged on the turret and told them that they were firing on the wrong people. They finally stopped firing but not before eight were killed. Raaen reorganized his men and headed to Grandcamp and then Maisy. In Grandcamp, Raaen was told to find any stragglers. He had his men worked both sides of the streets but did not find any Germans. That was good. [Annotator's Note: Raaen chuckles.] They pushed in doors and searched but no Germans were left behind. Instead, they found frightened Frenchmen taking shelter in basements from the battle above. The Americans with bayonets searching for Germans had intimidated them. Raaen's outfit bivouacked on the opposite side of Grandcamp. Raaen went on to advance past Maisy without participating in that action. He bivouacked beyond Maisy ending his second day following the start of the invasion.

John Raaen landed after the first wave [Annotator's Note: on Omaha Beach on D-Day, 6 June 1944]. The first wave had included two companies of the 2nd Battalion [Annotator's Note: 2nd Ranger Battalion]. The first wave had been wiped out. Raaen's wave moved 1,000 yards along the beach to where the breakwaters were located and landed there. About 1,000 yards out, the assault crafts moved into position for two parallel waves to make the final run in to the beach. Schneider [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant Colonel Max F. Schneider] had the first wave of seven boats. Sullivan [Annotator's Note: US Army Major Richard Sullivan] had the second wave of seven boats. The waves were about 500 yards apart. Within 500 yards of the beach, artillery fire was noticeable. About 200 yards from the beach an LCT, Landing Craft, Tank, was hit by artillery fire. Closing in, the small arms fire could be heard. Maneuvering through the obstacles, Raaen spotted one of Rommel's asparagus with a Teller mine on top. When the boat crashed down on the mine, Raaen knew that the end had come. He was virtually emotionless. The next moment, another wave tossed the boat a different direction and Raaen's boat was saved. From that point, the artillery was constantly hitting the water or other vessels. The earliest landings had 300 yards of beach for the assault troops to traverse. By the time Raaen hit the beach, the tide had come in quickly. The water was moving in a yard per minute. Only 60 yards of beach were exposed when Raaen's ramp dropped. Previous casualties were floating in the water. The smells of blood, bursting artillery and burning oil and gasoline was prevalent. It was very ugly. There were casualties on the beach. Most were dead. There was nothing Raaen and his Rangers could do except follow their training to always move forward. When they saw the breakwaters, Raaen chose the one on the right and Sullivan chose the one on the left. Each man picked the bay of his choice. The situation was bad. The beach artillery was hitting the large boats as they approached for a landing. Raaen and his men were closer in by 60 or 70 yards so they were not bothered by artillery except for the noise and smoke. Only minor fragments hit them. The medics were heroically working the wounded. The cries of the wounded were for medics or their mother. The noise of the rifle and machine gun fire coming in from the Rangers' right drown out much of the noise on the beach. Rather than hear the bang of the guns, the noise most obvious was the supersonic sound of the bullet going overhead or nearby. The bullet's sound wave runs about 45 degrees from its track and gives the wrong impression about the shooter's position. There was an Oerlikon 20mm cannon shooting tracers. As the tracer expended its force, it exploded over the top of the Rangers. That added to the noise. The beach was covered with burning vehicles, knocked out tanks, and other debris. Many boats were hit by artillery fire, including the one Raaen was on. It was hit on the fantail. Chaplain Lacy [Annotator's Note: US Army First Lieutenant Joseph R. Lacy was a chaplain in the 5th Ranger Battalion] had been on Raaen's boat. He did not scale the bluffs. Instead, he stayed on the beach where the artillery was hitting. He pulled the wounded from the water as the tide rose. He was blessing the dead and stayed there all day being heroic. Raaen hit the beach at 7:50 Double British Daylight Time. Raaen met General Cota [Annotator's Note: US Army Major General Norman D. Cota, Sr.] while on the beach. He came around the breakwater and Raaen noticed his star. Raaen reported to Cota that the Ranger Battalion had landed intact but was spread across 250 yards of the beach. The battalion commander had given the order "tally-ho" which meant to proceed to the assembly points by platoon instead of the full battalion or even by company. The platoons were to move independently. Cota asked the location of Raaen's battalion commander. Raaen was going to escort him to Schneider, but Cota told him to stay with his men. Cota could see Schneider. Raaen rejoined his men. Cota turned and said, "You men are Rangers. I know you won't let me down." Cota moved on to Schneider. He told the battalion commander that orders had changed because of the situation. The battalion was to proceed and fight its way to Point-du-Hoc. That changed everything. The lead companies were already up the bluffs. Runners had to be sent up to advise company commanders. The 1st Platoon of Company A never got the word. Ace Parker [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant Charles Parker] proceeded on his own because the runners never reached him. Parker actually reached Point-du-Hoc before sunset that night. He reached the Point with about 22 men. When Raaen reached the top of the bluffs, he realized that the resistance from on top the bluffs had been light. The brush fires on the bluffs resulted in the Germans abandoning their machine gun and mortar positions. The weight of their weapons and ammunition precluded them from being able to escape the flames with it. Despite the loss of a few people, the fighting was not as severe at Raaen's landing site. His battalion had five casualties crossing the beach because the breakwaters provided some level of protection from the rifle and machine gun fire. By the time Raaen reached the crest, Company B had moved out ahead. Meanwhile, the remainder of the battalion was reorganizing. During that time, Companies A and B of the 2nd Battalion [Annotator's Note: 2nd Ranger Battalion] were composited as Company F under Captain Arnold [Annotator's Note: US Army Captain Edgar L. Arnold]. After landing, Raaen and his men were on the beach for only about 20 minutes. He made the top of the crest within a half hour. At 9:00, Grieves [Annotator's Note: name not confirmed] sent a message from Schneider to Bradley [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General Omar Bradley] on the Augusta [Annotator's Note: USS Augusta (CA-31)] that the Rangers had reached the coastal road. It is questionable as to whether the SCR-300 radio had the range to transmit the message successfully the distance that was required to reach Bradley. The Rangers were about a mile inland and the ship was 12 miles out to sea. Bradley had considered withdrawing some of the troops after he saw that Dog Green, where the 1st Battalion, 116th [Annotator's Note: 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division] had landed was a disaster. Only eight men in Company A who had landed in the first wave were not casualties. The company executive officer was not in that count because he arrived in the second wave. Company B was scattered all over the beach because the coxswains driving the assault boats sought to find safer landing spots. One boat went to the right and joined Company C. Other boats went to the left and joined up with Ace Parker at the farm. Company C landed intact and stuck with the 5th Rangers all the way to Point-du-Hoc. The heavy weapons company, Company D, managed to get out of the water eventually. Baumgarten was part of that crew. [Annotator's Note: US Army Private Harold Baumgarten was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division and landed in the firswt wave on Omaha Beach. Baumgarten's oral history interview is also available on the Digital Collections website.] Bradley had received the report that the battalion had been wiped out. He did not get the report of the action at Le Moulin or The Mill. That was Raaen's landing point where he had made it off the beach quickly. He and his men were off the beach within 20 minutes and made it to the coastal road within an hour.

John Raaen reached the coastal road and the wide open field adjacent to it. The field was approximately 200 to 300 yards wide before reaching the hedgerows. It seemed to Raaen that all was working well except that the plans had been changed. He preferred the new plan to the previous plan calling for forward advance by platoons. With 11 or so platoons, it would have been uncoordinated and resulted in the risk of friendly fire incidents and errors made with respect to the units nearby. [Annotator's Note: A reorganization of the forces had been accomplished at the crest of the bluffs. It was decided that the troops were to advance by battalion rather than piecemeal by platoon as had been necessitated to get off the beach.] Using the battalion command and the strong-willed company commanders leading the way, it was sure to be a more coordinated operation. The situation was well under control as long as the Germans did not mount an armored counterattack. They did not. They lacked the armor. No one had stopped the oncoming invasion troops. Company B [Annotator's Note: Company B, 5th Ranger Battalion] had worked its way around the German machine gun positions in the hedgerows and took them out from the rear. [Annotator's Note: A brief interruption ensues from an incoming telephone call.] The battalion was in column as was Company C of the 116th [Annotator's Note: Company C, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division] which fell in beside the Rangers. They were a full infantry company, approximately three times the size of the Rangers. Their company commander was Hawks [Annotator's Note: US Army Captain Berthier B. Hawks]. He had his foot crushed by the ramp as he was getting off the boat on the beach. He was using his rifle as a crutch. Hawks and his men were valuable in support of the Rangers. This was at the time when they had scaled the bluffs, reorganized and were headed to Vierville on the road. Company C of the 116th assumed a position beside Company B of the Rangers who were on the road. Although the two companies made it through Vierville without problems, they ran into the enemy defending a fort beyond Vierville. They were temporarily stopped until Raaen and the remainder of the battalion drew up. At that time, the objective was changed from Point-du-Hoc. They were going to stay. The original assembly point was about two or three miles from Vierville. Ace Parker [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant Charles Parker] was the only one to use it. He had made his rally point at a farmhouse and then proceeded to the assembly point. He waited a few hours and then moved on to Point-du-Hoc when no one else joined him there. Parker was the only leader to go to the assembly point because the runners did not manage to reach him with the change in plans. Raaen and his men had encountered heavy smoke while scaling the bluffs at the beach. There were brush fires above the beach. The smoke was dense. They had to work their way up the slope carefully as a skier does when he climbs a slope. The smoke was so heavy that Raaen finally agreed to his men and their request to don their gas masks. When Raaen opened his gas mask on his left thigh, his apple and orange and maps fell out. He had to prioritize retrieving his maps even though the smoke was rough. He had put his mask on but had not pulled the plug which allowed him to breathe through it. He pulled the mask off and got his maps back. He put his helmet between his legs, but it came loose and rolled down the hill. Sergeant Grieves [Annotator's Note: unsure of spelling], Raaen's communications sergeant, was his senior enlisted man. The sergeant brought Raaen's helmet back to him. Raaen noticed the smoke had lightened but decided to keep his mask on until he reached the crest. That was his self-punishment for having given in to his men and allowed them to put on their gas masks. [Annotator's Note: Raaen chuckles.] Over the next two days and nights, Raaen proceeded toward Point-du-Hoc and then on to night positions near Saint Pierre-du-Mont. While this was ongoing, the advance guard had gotten past the road to Point-du-Hoc and reached a crest where they could see Grandcamp. They were observed by the batteries at Maisy. The Americans withstood incoming fire from the German field pieces. Consequently, tanks could not accompany the infantry. Being without supporting armor put the infantry at risk. They were forced to withdraw along with the provisional company of the 2nd Rangers. They pulled back to Saint Pierre-du-Mont. The artillery chased them all the way. Raaen was just 150 yards away and could see the explosions. This was about mid-afternoon of the 7th [Annotator's Note: 7 June 1944]. The retreating forces did not encounter any of the men from Point-du-Hoc during their advance toward Maisy battery. The Germans must have determined by the progress of the Americans that they were surrounded. They began to pull back. It was the men of the 2nd Rangers using German weaponry that caused the American tanks to fire on their fellow Americans. [Annotator's Note: During one instance. elements of the 743rd Tank Battalion, 29th Infantry Division mistakenly fired on American troops.]

John Raaen witnessed nothing but military success during the Normandy invasion. They succeeded in relieving the 2nd Battalion. [Annotator's Note: Elements of the 2nd Ranger Battalion had the mission of taking the cliff fortifications and batteries at Point-du-Hoc. They succeeded in taking the cliffs though the artillery had been relocated.] The artillery batteries at Maisy were captured. There were three or four batteries there. The success of the operation went a long way to ending Hitler's [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] regime. It was capped by the 29th Division [Annotator's Note: 29th Infantry Division] taking St. Lo. A major factor was that the 5th Ranger Battalion managed to land intact and was unstoppable. They brushed opposition aside. The tanks and artillery supported them significantly on D plus 1 and D plus 2. The fact that the guns at Point-du-Hoc were not there did not make the Ranger mission a failure. The priority was to prevent the guns in the Maisy area from supporting a counterattack. The 2nd Battalion accomplished that mission as well as finding the guns [Annotator's Note: those relocated from Point-du-Hoc]. The 5th Rangers moving toward 2nd Ranger on D plus 2 sealed the deal. Afterward, companies were scattered and positioned to repeal potential German movements toward the beaches and the invasion force. The Rangers were part of a giant first step to victory by preventing early counterattacks on the beachhead itself. [Annotator's Note: An ensuing conversation evolves concerning John Raaen's book "Intact: a First-hand Account of the D-day Invasion from a Fifth Rangers Company Commander" and the fact that The National WWII Museum is working to develop a publishing capability with its new Institute for the Study of War and Democracy in conjunction with others.]