Texas historical marker in the German observation bunker at Pointe du Hoc
After attending John Tarleton Agricultural College and then graduating from Texas A&M in 1932 with a degree in industrial education,[1] Rudder had been commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry in the United States Organized Reserve Corps. After being called into active duty in 1941, Rudder took part in the D-Day landings as commanding officer of the United States Army's 2nd Ranger Battalion.
His U.S. Army Rangers stormed the beach at Pointe du Hoc, scaling 100-ft (30-m) cliffs under enemy fire to reach and destroy a German gun battery. The battalion's casualty rate for this perilous mission was greater than 50%. Rudder himself was wounded twice during the course of the fighting. By the time of preparations for D-Day, the Wehrmacht-run battery at the top of the Pointe was marked on the Allied D-Day maps as a Rangers D-Day target - confirmed in records found in the early 21st century.[1] By the time of the invasion, Pointe du Hoc's artillery pieces had been moved to another nearby site, replaced by telephone poles. By 0900 hours on D-Day, a two-man patrol from the Rangers located the Pointe's missing guns. Sergeant Lomell and Staff Sgt. Jack E. Kuhn, using thermite grenades, disabled two of the five artillery pieces and destroyed the sighting mechanism of another. While retrieving more grenades to finish the job, a second patrol, led by Staff Sgt. Frank A. Rupinski, also located the artillery pieces, and disabled the remainder using thermite grenades. They started a fire in the powder charges and left the area, accomplishing the goal of destroying the artillery pieces that had been targeted at Utah Beach, but were also in range of Omaha Beach.[2] Rudder ordered his men to dig in, and they fought off German counterattacks for two days until relieved.[3] He and his men helped successfully establish a beachhead for the Allied forces. The siege was replicated in the 1962 epic film The Longest Day.
After returning home from the war, Rudder was asked to run for mayor of his hometown of Brady, Texas. He did not campaign, yet defeated the incumbent.[4] He served as mayor of Brady for six years, from 1946 to 1952, then chose to move on.[5]
In 1953, he became vice president of Brady Aviation Company. On January 1, 1955, he assumed the office of Texas Land Commissioner after Bascom Giles was convicted and sent to prison for defrauding veterans. At that time, the Veterans Land Board was under scrutiny for mismanagement and corruption. Rudder undertook the task of reforming policies, expediting land applications, and closely supervising proper accounting procedures. He also oversaw the proper leasing of state lands by employing more field inspectors for oil and gas sites and adding a seismic exploration staff. In addition, he improved working conditions for his staff and instigated a program to preserve the many deteriorating General Land Office documents.
Rudder won the 1956 state land commissioner election as a Democrat. He became vice president of Texas A&M University in 1958 and was named its president in 1959. He was president of the entire A&M System from 1965 until his death in 1970. In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented him with the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Army's highest peacetime service award. Rudder and his wife Margaret were Johnson's White House guests on multiple occasions.[6]
Since his death in 1970, an annual service has been held in Normandy, France, in Rudder's honor.
While president of Texas A&M, Rudder is credited for transforming it from a small, all-male land-grant college to the university of today. Specifically, he made membership in the Corps of Cadets optional, allowed women to attend, and led efforts to integrate the campus. While the changes were hugely unpopular to the former students (it has been said only a president with Rudder's heroic military record could pull off such drastic changes), these changes freed Texas A&M to become the largest university in the United States by enrollment. Many reminders of Rudder are on campus, including Rudder Tower, next to the Memorial Student Center. A special training unit within the Corps of Cadets, known as "Rudder's Rangers",[7] is named in his honor. Cadets within the Corps of Cadets at A&M are expected to be able to recite an excerpt from the inscription on Rudder Tower, a "Campusology" that reads:
In memory of James Earl Rudder, 1910–1970, Class of 1932, Heroic Soldier, Commissioner of the General Land Office of Texas, Sixteenth President of Texas A&M University ... Third President of the Texas A&M University System.
Earl Rudder was architect of the dream that produced this center. In this, as in all he did, he demonstrated uncommon ability to inspire men and lead them to exceptional achievement.
Personal life
Rudder married his wife, Margaret (Williamson), in 1937. They had five children.[8][9] Margaret passed away in 2004.[10]
He was a Freemason, and a member of Parsons Lodge No. 222 in downtown Austin, Texas[citation needed].
Death
Rudder died on March 23, 1970, after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage.
Rudder was posthumously selected as an inaugural member of the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame in 1992.[11]
J. Earl Rudder Tower and Theatre Complex — a 12-story building with a theatre and auditorium attached on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas
TS General Rudder — training ship for the Texas A&M "Texas Maritime Academy" at Galveston (2012)
Major General James E. Rudder Medal, annual award by the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) to an Army Reserve Soldier - serving or retired - whose career in the Army Reserve exemplifies the Army Reserve Citizen-Soldier modeled by General Rudder
References
^Todd, William N. IV; Knape, Gerald (June 1, 1995). "Rudder, James Earl (1910–1970)". Handbook of Texas. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
Black, Robert W. (1992), Rangers in World War II, Presidio Press, ISBN978-0-8041-0565-1
Brinkley, Douglas (2006), The Boys of Pointe du Hoc: Ronald Reagan, D-Day, and the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion, Harper Perennial, ISBN978-0-06-056530-5
Lane, Ronald L. (2005), Rudder's Rangers, Ranger Associates, Inc., ISBN978-0-934588-15-7
Mauro, Gary (1986), The Land Commissioners of Texas: 150 Years of the General Land Office, Texas General Land Office
