Honoring PFC Bob Brown (1919-2011)

Alongside other brave Rangers, Bob climbed the high cliffs using rope ladders to take out the enemy guns stationed at the top. The Germans rained down machine gun fire on them. Bob’s rope ladder could have been cut by the enemy at any moment.

The Rangers scrambled across the beach and eventually made it to the top, taking out the heavy cannons, saving hundreds of American lives.

Most of the famed “Boys of Pointe du Hoc” were either killed or severely wounded during the fight on the beaches of Normandy.

Standing atop the historical rocky cliffs of Normandy, President Ronald Reagan commemorated the 40th anniversary of D-Day in a June 6, 1984 speech. He paid tribute to these brave Rangers in a moving speech saluting “the Boys of Pointe du Hoc … the champions who helped free a continent … the heroes who helped end a war.”

Bob Brown attended our Annual Conference to tell his story to hundreds of students, and to record his history for generations to come. Two-weeks after speaking at the Conference last year, Bob Brown passed away at the age of 92.

Bob’s daughter, Cheryl Messmore, expressed her utmost gratitude to the organizers of the Conference through a written letter:

“You may never know what it means to me that my dad passed away knowing that his service was still appreciated, and that his story and legacy will live on, thanks to the World War II Veterans Committee”

Many of the attendees to the Conference are high school students as well as young soldiers and cadets. Having the opportunity to share in the heroic stories of people like Bob Brown make this year’s Conference even more remarkable.