Rangers from 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment bid farewell to Col. Gregory K. Anderson during a change of command ceremony at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., July 24.

The 2nd Ranger Battalion continued this tradition by recognizing commendable acts of civilians and Rangers during an award ceremony on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, September 11.

The 500-man 2nd Ranger Battalion, known as Rudder’s Rangers after their outsize commanding officer Lt. Col. James Rudder, was born into a regular Army that little appreciated special-operations ...

The best of the applicants formed the nucleus of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, activated on April 1, 1943, at Camp Forrest in Tennessee. The initial intake was 62 officers and 1,024 enlisted men.

In the summer of 1944, the soldiers of 2nd Ranger Battalion arrived in France, driving into Europe from the edges of Normandy, eventually pushing deep into Nazi-held territory.Among them was Pvt ...