06/07/2026
“These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war.”
-President Ronald Reagan
82 years later, the unwavering courage and unrelenting pursuit of freedom heroically displayed on D-Day continue to define who we are as Americans, as leaders and as Aggies.
On June 6, 1944, James Earl Rudder '32 successfully led his men up the cliffs at Pointe Du Hoc as part of the D-Day invasion of Normandy.
Rudder would later become the 16th President of Texas A&M University, laying the groundwork for its transformation from a small, all-male military school to the premier institution of higher education it is today.