James Earl Rudder | |
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| Born | (1910-05-06)May 6, 1910 Eden, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | March 23, 1970(1970-03-23) (aged 59) Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service | U.S. Army |
| Years of service | 1941–1967 |
| Rank | Major General |
| Battles / wars | World War II
|
| Awards | Distinguished Service Cross Distinguished Service Medal Silver Star Legion of Merit Bronze Star Medal (2) |
| 16th President of Texas A&M University | |
| In office July 1, 1959 – March 23, 1970 | |
| Preceded by | Marion Thomas Harrington |
| Succeeded by | Alvin Roubal Luedecke (Acting) |
James Earl Rudder (May 6, 1910 – March 23, 1970) was aUnited States Armymajor general. As a lieutenant colonel, he commanded the historicPointe du Hoc battle during theInvasion of Normandy. He also commanded theUS troops at theBattle of the Hürtgen Forest, and led a series of delaying actions and ambushes during the Battle of the Bulge. General Rudder also at various times served asTexas Land Commissioner, the 16th president ofTexas A&M University, third president of theTexas A&M University System,mayor ofBrady, Texas, and a high school and college teacher and coach. Rudder went by his middle name.
James Earl Rudder was born on May 6, 1910, inEden, Texas, the fifth son to survive to adulthood of Dee Forest and Annie Rudder (nee Powell).[1] Rudder attendedEden High School, where he was a member of the first football team at the school, graduating in 1927.[2] After graduating from high school, Rudder clerked at the local drug store, where the football coach forJohn Tarleton Agricultural College found him.[3] Rudder enrolled at Tarleton, with a declared major of civil engineering in the fall semester of 1927.[4] After spending three years at Tarleton, Rudder transferred toTexas A&M University.[5]
After attendingJohn Tarleton Agricultural College and then graduating from Texas A&M in 1932 with a degree in industrial education,[6] Rudder had been commissioned asecond lieutenant of infantry in the United States Organized Reserve Corps. After being called into active duty in 1941, Rudder took part in theD-Day landings as commanding officer of the United States Army's2nd Ranger Battalion.
HisU.S. Army Rangers stormed the beach atPointe du Hoc, scaling 100-ft (30-m) cliffs under enemy fire to reach and destroy aGerman 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.[1] 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.[7] Rudder ordered his men to dig in, and they fought off German counterattacks for two days until relieved.[8] He and his men helped successfully establish a beachhead for the Allied forces. The siege was replicated in the 1962 epic filmThe Longest Day.
Seven months later, Rudder was reassigned to the109th Infantry Regiment, which saw key service in theBattle of the Bulge. Rudder earned military honors, including theDistinguished Service Cross,Bronze Star withOak Leaf Cluster,Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster,French Legion of Honor withCroix de Guerre and Palm, andOrder of Leopold (Belgium) withCroix de Guerre and Palm. He was a fullcolonel by the war's end, and was promoted tobrigadier general of the United States Army Reserve in 1954 and major general in 1957.
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.[9] He served as mayor of Brady for six years, from 1946 to 1952, then chose to move on.[10]In 1953, he became vice president of Brady Aviation Company. On January 1, 1955, he assumed the office of Texas Land Commissioner afterBascom Giles was convicted and sent to prison for defrauding veterans. At that time, theVeterans 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 aseismic exploration staff. In addition, he improved working conditions for his staff and instigated a program to preserve the many deterioratingGeneral Land Office documents.
Rudder won the 1956 state land commissioner election as aDemocrat. He became vice president of Texas A&M University in 1958 and was named its president in 1959. He was president of the entireA&M System from 1965 until his death in 1970. In 1967,President Lyndon B. Johnson presented him with the ArmyDistinguished Service Medal, the Army's highest peacetime service award. Rudder and his wife Margaret were Johnson's White House guests on multiple occasions.[11]
Since his death in 1970, an annual service has been held inNormandy, France, 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 theCorps 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",[12] 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 the 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.
Rudder married his wife, Margaret (Williamson), in 1937. They had five children.[13][14] Margaret passed away in 2004.[15]
He was a Freemason, and a member of Parsons Lodge No. 222 in downtown Austin, Texas[citation needed].
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.[16]
Media related toJames Earl Rudder at Wikimedia Commons| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forLand Commissioner of Texas 1956 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Texas Land Commissioner 1955–1958 | Succeeded by |
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