The Point by Larry Selman at Ozark Airfield Artworks Aviation and military Art

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It was a nearly 100-meter-high cliff, with perpendicular sides jutting out into the Channel. It looked down
on Utah Beach to the left and Omaha Beach to the right. There were six 155mm cannon in heavily
reinforced concrete bunkers that were capable of hitting either beach with their big shells. On the
outermost edge of the cliff, the Germans had an elaborate, well-protected outpost, where the spotters had
a perfect view and could call back coordinates to the gunners at the 155s. Those guns had to be
neutralized. The Allied bombardment of Pointe-du-Hoc had begun weeks before D-Day. Heavy bombers
from the U.S. Eighth Air Force and British Bomber Command had repeatedly plastered the area, with a
climax coming before dawn on June 6. Then the battleship Texas took up the action, sending dozens of
14-inch shells into the position. Altogether, Pointe-du-Hoc got hit by more than ten kilotons of high
explosives, the equivalent of the explosive power of the atomic bomb used at Hiroshima . Texas lifted her
fire at 0630, the moment the rangers were scheduled to touch down.

At 0630, as Rudder's lead LCA approached the beach, he saw with dismay that the coxswain was headed
toward Pointe-de-la-Perc`ee, about halfway between the Vierville draw and Pointe-du-Hoc. The error was
costly. It caused the rangers to be thirty-five minutes late in touching down, which gave the German
defenders time to recover from the bombardment, climb out of their dugouts, and man their positions. It
also caused the flotilla to run a gauntlet of fire from German guns along four kilometers of coastline. One
of the four DUKWs was sunk by a 20mm shell. Sgt. Frank South, a nineteen-year-old medic, recalled, "We
were getting a lot of machine-gun fire from our left flank, alongside the cliff, and we could not, for the life
of us, locate the fire.

The beach at Pointe-du-Hoc was only ten meters in width as the flotilla approached, and shrinking rapidly
as the tide was coming in (at high tide there would be virtually no beach). There was no sand, only
shingle.

The basic method of climbing was by rope. Each LCA carried three pairs of rocket guns, firing steel
grapnels which pulled up plain three-quarter-inch ropes, toggle ropes, or rope ladders. The rockets were
fired just before touchdown. Grapnels with attached ropes were an ancient technique for scaling a wall or
cliff, tried and proven. But in this case, the ropes had been soaked by the spray and in many cases were
too heavy. Rangers watched with sinking hearts as the grapnels arched in toward the cliff, only to fall
short from the weight of the ropes. Still, at least one grapnel and rope from each LCA made it; the
grapnels grabbed the earth, and the dangling ropes provided a way to climb the cliff.

The second problem for the disembarking rangers was craters, caused by bombs or shells that had fallen
short of the cliff. They were underwater and could not be seen. "Getting off the ramp," Sergeant South
recalled, "my pack and I went into a bomb crater and the world turned completely to water." He inflated
his Mae West and made it to shore.

As First Sergeant Leonard Lomell climbed the cliff next to him was Robert Fruhling the radioman
struggling with his "500" radio set with a big antenna on it. We were approaching the top, and I was
running out of strength. Bob yelled, "Len, help me. Help me! I'm losing my strength." I said, "Hold on! I
can't help you. I've got all I can do to get myself up." Then I saw Sergeant Leonard Rubin. He was all
muscle, a born athlete, a very powerful man. I said, "Len, help Bob! Help Bob! I don't think he's going to
be able to make it." He just reached over, grabbed Bob by the back of the neck and swung him over. Bob
went tumbling, and the antenna was whipping around, and I was worried that it was going to draw fire.
That's all I was thinking about. I was also worried about falling off the cliff with him. I yelled, "Get down!
You're gonna draw fire on us!" You know, you get excited.

On the beach there were wounded who needed attention. Sergeant South had barely got ashore when
"the first cry of 'Medic!' went out and I shrugged off my pack, grabbed my aid kit, and took off for the
wounded man. He had been shot in the chest. I was able to drag him in closer to the cliff. I'd no sooner
taken care of him than I had to go to another and another and another." Captain Block set up an aid
station.

Surprisingly, the massive concrete observation post at the edge of the cliff remains intact. It was the key
to the whole battery; from it one has a perfect view of both Utah and Omaha Beaches ; German artillery
observers in the post had radio and underground telephone communication with the casemates.

When they got to the casemates, to their amazement they found that the "guns" were telephone poles.
Tracks leading inland indicated that the 155mm cannon had been removed recently, almost certainly as a
result of the preceding air bombardment. The rangers never paused. In small groups they began moving
inland toward their next objective, the paved road that connected Grandcamp and Vierville, to set up
roadblocks to prevent German reinforcements from moving to Omaha .

Sergeant South remembered "the wounded coming in at a rapid rate, we could only keep them on litters
stacked up pretty closely. It was just an endless, endless process. Periodically I would go out and bring in
a wounded man from the field, leading one back, and ducking through the various shell craters. At one
time, I went out to get someone and was carrying him back on my shoulders when he was hit by several
other bullets and killed."

The fighting within the fortified area was confused and confusing. Germans would pop up here, there,
everywhere, fire a few rounds, and then disappear back underground. Rangers could not keep contact
with each other. Movement meant crawling. There was nothing resembling a front line. Germans were
taken prisoner; so were some rangers. In the observation post a few Germans held.

The primary purpose of the rangers was not to kill Germans or take prisoners, but to get those 155mm
cannon. The tracks leading out of the casemates and the effort the Germans were making to dislodge the
rangers indicated that they had to be around somewhere.

There was a dirt road leading south (inland). It had heavy tracks. Sgts. Leonard Lomell and Jack Kuhn
thought the missing guns might have made the tracks. They set out to investigate. At about 250 meters
(one kilometer inland), Lomell abruptly stopped. He held his hand out to stop Kuhn, turned, and half
whispered, "Jack, here they are. We've found 'em. Here are the goddamned guns."

Unbelievably, the well-camouflaged guns were set up in battery, ready to fire in the direction of Utah
Beach , with piles of ammunition around them, but no Germans. Lomell spotted about a hundred
Germans a hundred meters or so across an open field, apparently forming up. Evidently they had pulled
back during the bombardment, for fear of a stray shell setting off the ammunition dump, and were now
preparing to man their guns, but they were in no hurry, for until their infantry drove off the rangers and
reoccupied the observation post they could not fire with any accuracy.

"There was nobody at the emplacement. We looked around cautiously and over about a hundred yards
away in a corner of a field was a vehicle with what looked like an officer talking to his men. We decided let’
s take a chance. I said "Jack, you cover me and I’m going in there and destroy them." All I had was two
thermite grenades – his and mine. I went in and put the thermite grenades in the traversing mechanism
and that knocked two of them out because that melted their gears in a moment. Then I broke their sights.
We ran back to the road...and got all the other thermites from the remainder of my guys manning the
roadblock and rushed back and put the grenades in traversing mechanisms, elevation mechanisms, and
banged the sights. There was no noise to that. There is no noise to a thermite, so no one saw us."

And with that the rangers had completed their offensive mission. It was 0900. Just that quickly they were
now on the defensive, isolated, with nothing heavier than 60mm mortars and BARS to defend themselves.

In the afternoon Rudder had Eikner send a message -- by his signal lamp and homing pigeon -- via the
Satterlee: "Located Pointe-du-Hoc -- mission accomplished -- need ammunition and reinforcement --
many casualties."

The rangers took heavy casualties. A number of them were taken prisoner. By the end of the battle only
fifty of the more than two hundred rangers who had landed were still capable of fighting. But they never
lost Pointe-du-Hoc.

Leonard G. Lomell, Born, 1920 and adopted by Scandinavian parents he was drafted into the army in
June of 1942. He quickly rose in rank as a member of the 76th division. He attended Ranger training and
was among the 60 who graduated the rigorous training. Accepting a promotion to First Sergeant in D Co.
2nd Ranger Battalion. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his action in taking out the
guns. After the war distinguished himself as a prominent lawyer in Tom’s River NJ

Frank E. South, Born, 1924 at Norfolk Nebraska . A combat medic in 2 HQ Co. attaining the rank of T-4.
He received 2 purple hearts for wounds in action and 2 bronze stars. After the war he graduated from the
University of Berkeley California and later became professor emeritus of biological sciences at the
University of Delaware .

Larry Selman, A South-Central Pennsylvania native, Larry Selman was raised in a military family. His
love of history and art has been nurtured all of his life. These interests led him to enroll at The York
Academy of Art and earn a commercial art degree in l982. Following graduation, Selman built a successful
career with paperback novel illustration. He collaborated with top art directors and major publishers from
all over the country. After a long and successful career as a commercial illustrator he moved into the
Western fine art and recently the historical print market.

His original works are included in private collections and public museums throughout the United States
and Canada .. The release of his first print, "Hour of Liberation", followed by "Down to Earth" and “The
Stonewall Brigade” all depict action on June 6th, 1944 in Normandy France. "Echoes Thru Time" The
Sergeants Major from Yorktown to Baghdad was the first ever commission by the United States
Sergeants Major Academy and in July 2005 the DDE Class of the Army War College purchased the work
covering the 3rd ID during Operation Iraqi Freedom titled “Can Do”. The following DDE class 2006
commissioned “Coming Home” depicting American soldiers returning from the global war on terror. His
latest print release is” The Point” the 2nd US Rangers assaulting Point Du Hoc Normandy France. A short
list of future works are; The 2nd Engineers at Kuna Ri Korea, 10th Mt 1-87th in Afghanistan, 42nd Division
in Iraq, the first commission for the Chaplin’s Corp titled “They Were Always There” followed by the 2-4th
in Iraq, JASOC, Class of 95 from West Point titled “See You on The High Ground” and the night drop at
Ste. - Mere-Eglise Normandy France. Future works include creating additional paintings and prints
portraying significant moments in American history.

"THE POINT"

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