Five years ago, a craggy spit of land in Normandy, France, jutting into the English Channel and the site of a monument to U.S. veterans of World War II was in danger of washing away.

The monument sits atop a German bunker on the cliff overlooking Omaha Beach. It was built by the French to honor the Second Ranger Battalion led by Lt. Col. James Earl Rudder.

Rudder and his men scaled the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc, taking out powerful German cannons that could have been turned on the Allied troops storming the nearby beach.

Pointe du Hoc overlooks Omaha Beach and is home to a monument honoring Lt. Col. James Earl Rudder’s battalion.

U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, said erosion control work is shoring up the monument. He said the site, which has been fenced off for nearly a decade, will be reopened this fall.

“Pointe du Hoc will not be a victim of Mother Nature and the English Channel washing this point away,” said Max Cleland, secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission, who joined Edwards during a conference call Tuesday.

The commission, which is overseeing the ongoing erosion prevention work, maintains American cemeteries and monuments for U.S. soldiers in foreign countries, including the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.

The assault of the heavily fortified cliff was chronicled by Stephen E. Ambrose. It carries particular poignancy for people connected to Texas A&M University, where Rudder went on to become president.

Edwards, an Aggie, represents the congressional district in which Texas A&M sits.

Texas A&M has long been involved with Pointe du Hoc, collecting artifacts there and in 2006 performing the initial study showing the site could be preserved.

Cleland, a former Democratic U.S. senator from Georgia and decorated Vietnam War veteran, credited Edwards with preserving Pointe du Hoc.

As a member of the House Appropriations subcommittee that sets the monuments commission’s budget, Edwards secured $800,000 to study preserving the site. After becoming chairman of the subcommittee, he secured $6 million for erosion control efforts.

Barring a major cost overrun in shoring up the cliff, more than a third of the $6 million will go toward improving a visitor’s center and build a walking tour at the battle site.

“He’s fought a lonely battle, preventing this vital piece of real estate from falling into the ocean,” Cleland said of Edwards.

Edwards said Pointe du Hoc backers have made significant progress since initial congressional hearings in 2005, when he was told it “would not be practical” to save the battle site from erosion.

“We’re not only going to be able to save Pointe du Hoc for the ages, but after a decade of visitors not being able to visit this incredibly hallowed ground, it will once again be opened up — we hope as early as this September,” he said.

mshapiro@wacotrib.com

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