Intact: A First-Hand Account of the D-Day Invasion from a 5th Rangers Company Commander

Intact: A First-Hand Account of the D-Day Invasion from a Fifth Rangers Company Commander is an enthralling eyewitness account of the landing of the Fifth Ranger Infantry Battalion on Omaha Beach during the Normandy Invasion. The Fifth was one of the few units to land intact as a full battalion on Bloody Omaha and played a major role in establishing the Omaha Beachhead. Told from the viewpoint of Headquarters Company Commander John C. Raaen, Jr.a US Army Captain at the time who eventually rose to the rank of Major General-the story begins a few hours before the invasion launched. It recounts Raaen’s trip from the troopship to shore, the assault up the bluffs and off the beach, the battles inland through the hedgerows and villages of Vierville-sur-Mer and St. Pierre du Mont, the thrust to relieve the Ranger force at Pointe du Hoc, and finally the battle at Maisy Battery.