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James Earl Rudder
James Earl Rudder
Tarleton Agricultural College. He was called into active duty in 1941.
Military career
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 and, under constant enemy fire, scaled 100-foot (30 meter) cliffs[1] to reach and destroy German gun batteries. The battalion’s casualty rate for this perilous mission was greater than 50 percent. Rudder himself was wounded twice during the course of the fighting. In spite of this, they dug in and fought off German counter-attacks for two days until relieved. He and his men helped to successfully establish a beachhead for the Allied forces. Seven months later, Rudder was assigned to command the 109th Infantry Regiment, which saw key service in the Battle of the Bulge. Rudder became one of the most decorated soldiers of the war, with honors that included the Distinguished Service Cross, Legion of Merit, Silver Star, Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, French Legion of Honor with Croix de Guerre and Palm, and Belgian Order of Leopold with Croix de Guerre and Palm. By the end of the war, he was a full Colonel and was promoted to Brigadier General of the United States Army Reserves in 1954 and Major General in 1957.
James Earl Rudder James Earl Rudder (May 6, 1910 – March 23, 1970) was a United States Army Major General, Texas Land Commissioner, and President of Texas A&M University.
Early life
Rudder was born on May 6, 1910, at Eden, Texas, the son of Dee Forest and Annie (Powell) Rudder. He attended John Tarleton Agricultural College in 1928-29. He went to Texas A&M in 1930 and graduated in 1932 with a degree in industrial education. After graduation he was commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry in the United States Army Reserves. In 1933 Rudder worked as a football coach and teacher at Brady High School. He married Margaret E. Williamson (b. 1916, d. March 4, 2004) on June 12, 1937. They had five children: James Earl "Bud" Rudder, Jr., Jane Rudder Roach (d. 1984), Robert Dee Rudder, Anne Rudder Erdman, and Linda Rudder Williams. In 1938 he worked as a football coach and teacher at
The Politician & Educator
Rudder served as mayor of Brady, Texas, from 1946 to 1952 and was vice president of Brady Aviation Company in 1953. On January 1, 1955, he assumed the office of state Land Commissioner after the abandonment of the position by James Bascom Giles. At that time the Veterans Land Program was under scrutiny for mismanagement and corruption. Rudder undertook the task of reforming policies, expediting land applications, and closely
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James Earl Rudder
statue. Additionally, a special training unit within the Corps of Cadets known as "Rudder’s Rangers" 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 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.
Tributes
Rudder’s statue on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station, Texas. 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. On the strength of his many reforms, Rudder won the election for land commissioner in 1956 and served until February 1, 1958. That year, he became vice president of Texas A&M University. Rudder became president in 1959 and president of the entire A&M System in 1965 until his death in 1970. In 1967 President Lyndon B. Johnson presented him with the Distinguished Service Medal, the highest peacetime service award. Since his death in 1970, an annual service has been held in Normandy, France, in his honor. While President of Texas A&M, Rudder is credited for transforming the University from a small land-grant college to a renowned university. Specifically, he made membership in the Corps of Cadets optional and allowed women to attend. There are many reminders of Rudder on campus, including Rudder Tower, next to the Memorial Student Center, and a • — the portion of Highway 6 that runs through Bryan and College Station, Texas. • — a middle school in San Antonio, Texas; home of the Rudder Rangers • — the second high school, opened in August 2008, of the Bryan Independent School District in Bryan, Texas. • — Main public office of the Texas Secretary of State, 1019 Brazos St., Austin, Texas 78701 • — 12 story building on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.
References
[1] 1 • James Earl Rudder Papers - Texas A&M’s Cushing Memorial Library Online • 2nd Ranger Battalion - How Much Of It Is Real? The Saving Private Ryan Online Encyclopedia • Texas Handbook biography of James Earl Rudder • Excerpt from: The VICTORS : Eisenhower and His Boys: The Men of World War II
Further reading
• Black, Robert W. (2006), The Battalion: The Dramatic Story of the 2nd Ranger
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Battalion in World War II, Stackpole Books, ISBN 9780811701846 • Black, Robert W. (1992), Rangers in World War II, Presidio Press, ISBN 9780804105650 • The Boys of Pointe du Hoc: Ronald Reagan, D-Day, and the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion, Harper Perennial, 2006, ISBN 978-0060565305
James Earl Rudder
• Lane, Ronald L. (2005), Rudder’s Rangers, Ranger Associates, Inc., ISBN 978093588157 • Mauro, Gary (1986), The Land Commissioners of Texas: 150 Years of the General Land Office, Texas General Land Office
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Earl_Rudder" Categories: 1910 births, 1970 deaths, American military personnel of World War II, United States Army generals, Recipients of US Distinguished Service Cross, Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal, Recipients of the Silver Star medal, Recipients of the Legion of Merit, Recipients of the Bronze Star Medal, Recipients of the Purple Heart medal, Légion d'honneur recipients, Recipients of the Combat Infantryman Badge, United States Army Rangers, Operation Overlord people, Presidents of Texas A&M University, Texas A&M University faculty, Croix de guerre (Belgium) recipients, Croix de guerre (France) recipients This page was last modified on 13 May 2009, at 11:43 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) taxdeductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
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