James Earl Rudder (May 6, 1910 – March 23, 1970) was a
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
major general. As a lieutenant colonel, he commanded the historic
Pointe du Hoc
La Pointe du Hoc () is a promontory with a cliff overlooking the English Channel on the northwestern coast of Normandy in the Calvados '' department'', France.
In World War II, Pointe du Hoc was the location of a series of German bunkers and ma ...
battle during the
Invasion of Normandy
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 ( D-Day) with the ...
. He also commanded the
2nd Ranger Battalion
The 2nd Ranger Battalion, currently based at Joint Base Lewis–McChord south of Seattle, Washington, United States, is one of three ranger battalions belonging to the United States Army's 75th Ranger Regiment.
History
World War II
Formation ...
at the
Battle of the Hürtgen Forest, and led a series of delaying actions and ambushes during the
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...
. General Rudder also at various times served as
Texas Land Commissioner
The Texas General Land Office (GLO) is a state agency of the U.S. state of Texas, responsible for managing lands and mineral rights properties that are owned by the state. The GLO also manages and contributes to the state's Permanent School Fund ...
, the 16th president of
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...
, third president of the
Texas A&M University System
The Texas A&M University System is a state university system in Texas and is one of the state's seven independent university systems.
The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the United States, with a ...
, mayor of
Brady, Texas
Brady is a city in McCulloch County, Texas, United States. Brady refers to itself as the "Heart of Texas", as it is the city closest to the geographical centre, geographical center of the state, which is about 15 miles northeast of Brady. Its popu ...
, and a high school and college teacher and coach. Rudder went by his middle name.
Early life
James Earl Rudder was born on May 6, 1910, in
Eden, Texas
Eden is a city in Concho County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,100 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.
The community is a rural trading center for agricultural products for the many large ranches and farms in West Texas. ...
, the fifth son to survive to adulthood of Dee Forest and Annie Rudder (nee Powell). Rudder attended
Eden High School, where he was a member of the first football team at the school, graduating in 1927. After graduating from high school, Rudder clerked at the local drug store, where the football coach for
John Tarleton Agricultural College found him. Rudder enrolled at Tarleton, with a declared major of civil engineering in the fall semester of 1927. After spending three years at Tarleton, Rudder transferred to the
Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. ...
.
Military career

After attending
John Tarleton Agricultural College and then graduating from Texas A&M in 1932 with a degree in industrial education, 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
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
landings as commanding officer of the United States Army's
2nd Ranger Battalion
The 2nd Ranger Battalion, currently based at Joint Base Lewis–McChord south of Seattle, Washington, United States, is one of three ranger battalions belonging to the United States Army's 75th Ranger Regiment.
History
World War II
Formation ...
.
His
U.S. Army Rangers
The United States Army Rangers are U.S. Army personnel who have served in any unit which has held the official designation of "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the Ranger School, even if they have never served in a ...
stormed the beach at
Pointe du Hoc
La Pointe du Hoc () is a promontory with a cliff overlooking the English Channel on the northwestern coast of Normandy in the Calvados '' department'', France.
In World War II, Pointe du Hoc was the location of a series of German bunkers and ma ...
, scaling 100-ft (30-m) cliffs under enemy fire to reach and destroy a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
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.
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. Rudder ordered his men to dig in, and they fought off German counterattacks for two days until relieved. 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''.
Seven months later, Rudder was reassigned to the
109th Infantry Regiment, which saw key service in the
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...
. Rudder earned military honors, including the
Distinguished Service Cross,
Bronze Star
The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone.
Wh ...
with
Oak Leaf Cluster
An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a spec ...
,
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...
with Oak Leaf Cluster,
French Legion of Honor
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...
with
Croix de Guerre
The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...
and Palm, and
Order of Leopold (Belgium)
The Order of Leopold (, , ) is one of the three current Belgian national honorary orders of knighthood. It is the oldest and highest order of Belgium and is named in honour of its founder, King Leopold I. It consists of a military, a ma ...
with
Croix de Guerre
The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...
and Palm. He was a full
colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
by the war's end, and was promoted to
brigadier general of the United States Army Reserve in 1954 and major general in 1957.
Political and academic career
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. He served as mayor of Brady for six years, from 1946 to 1952, then chose to move on.
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
James Bascom Giles (September 21, 1900 – July 7, 1993) was an American politician who was the Texas Land Commissioner from 1939 to 1955. Implicated in the Veterans' Land Board scandal, he gave up his office and served three years in prison.
Ea ...
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
Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic ...
exploration staff. In addition, he improved working conditions for his staff and instigated a program to preserve the many deteriorating
General Land Office General Land Office may refer to:
Government
* Texas General Land Office, state agency (1836–Present)
* United States General Land Office
The General Land Office (GLO) was an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent ...
documents.
Rudder won the 1956 state land commissioner election as a
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY)
**Democratic Part ...
. 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
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served as ...
presented him with the Army
Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation, state or country.
Examples include:
*Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in act ...
, the Army's highest peacetime service award. Rudder and his wife Margaret were Johnson's White House guests on multiple occasions.
Since his death in 1970, an annual service has been held in
Normandy, France
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular Normandy (mostly the British Chann ...
, 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", 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:
Personal life
Rudder married his wife, Margaret (Williamson), in 1937. They had five children. Margaret died in 2004.
He was a
Freemason
Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
, and a member of Parsons Lodge No. 222 in downtown Austin, Texas.
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.
Tributes
* Earl Rudder Freeway — the portion of
U.S. Highway 190
U.S. Route 190 (US 190) is an east–west United States Highway in Louisiana and Texas. Segments of US 190 will be upgraded to Interstate 14 (I-14); the first segment was opened on January 26, 2017.
Route description
, -
, TX
,
, -
, ...
/
State Highway 6 that runs through Bryan and College Station, Texas
*
Earl Rudder Middle School — in San Antonio, Texas
*
James Earl Rudder High School — the second high school of the
Bryan Independent School District opened in Bryan in August 2008; appropriately, the athletic teams are known as the Rangers
*
James E. Rudder State Office Building — main public office of the
Texas Secretary of State
The secretary of state of Texas is one of the six members of the executive department of the State of Texas in the United States. Under the Constitution of Texas, the appointment is made by the governor of Texas, with confirmation by the Texas ...
, 1019 Brazos St., Austin, Texas 78701
* 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)
*
Camp James E. Rudder, subpost of Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, training site for the Florida phase of
U.S. Army Ranger School
*Rudder Way, a walking path on the campus of
Tarleton State University
Tarleton State University is a Public university, public research university in Stephenville, Texas, United States. It is a founding member of the Texas A&M University System and enrolled over 15,000 students in the fall of 2022. It is Carnegie C ...
in Stephenville, Texas
*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
James Earl Rudder Papers– Texas A&M's Cushing Memorial Library Online
– How Much Of It Is Real? The
Saving Private Ryan
''Saving Private Ryan'' is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set in 1944 in Normandy, France, during World War II, it follows a group of soldiers, led by Captain John Miller ( Tom Hanks) ...
Online Encyclopedia
*
Excerpt from: The VICTORS : Eisenhower and His Boys: The Men of World War II
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudder, James
1910 births
1970 deaths
United States Army Infantry Branch personnel
United States Army personnel of World War II
United States Army generals
United States Army Rangers
Chancellors of Texas A&M University System
Presidents of Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University alumni
Texas A&M University faculty
Texas land commissioners
Texas Democrats
Tarleton State University alumni
Tarleton State Plowboys football coaches
Mayors of places in Texas
People from Concho County, Texas
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States)
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army)
Recipients of the Silver Star
Recipients of the Legion of Merit
American recipients of the Legion of Honour
American recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium)
American recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France)
20th-century mayors of places in Texas
Military personnel from Texas
20th-century American academics