Leonard Lomell

Leonard G. "Bud" Lomell (January 22, 1920 – March 1, 2011) was a highly decorated former United States Army Ranger who served in World War II. He is best known for his actions in the first hours of D-Day at Pointe du Hoc on the coast of Normandy, France.

Pointe du Hoc was the site of the German Army's largest coastal weapons, five 155-millimeter German guns with a range that endangered the tens of thousands of troops landing on Omaha Beach and Utah Beach, and thousands of watercraft in the English Channel supporting the Normandy invasion. Unbeknownst to the Allied intelligence, the Germans had concealed the guns in an orchard, but left them operational and ready to fire. Lomell was recognized by historian Stephen Ambrose as the single individual—other than Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower—most responsible for the success of D-Day. Six months later, in the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, he would again distinguish himself, earning a Silver Star for his heroism and leadership as the 2nd Ranger Battalion captured and held Hill 400. After the war he returned to Ocean County, New Jersey, becoming an attorney in Toms River.

Life before Normandy

According to journalist Tom Brokaw, who devoted a chapter to Lomell in the "Heroes" section of his bestseller The Greatest Generation, Lomell "was the adopted son of Scandinavian immigrant parents who took him into their family as an infant in Brooklyn." Due to heavy seas and the fog of battle, Lomell's landing craft arrived thirty-five minutes late, away from its mark, and lost any element of surprise. As Lomell was bringing in a box of rope and a hand-projector rocket, he was wounded in the side by a machine-gun bullet, but reached shore without pausing. overlooking the successes that were soon to come.

After 1st Sgt Lomell's company took up positions along both edges of the coastal highway to prepare for the expected German reinforcements, Lomell and Staff Sergeant Jack E. Kuhn formed a patrol to head south down a double-hedgerowed lane.

Lomell and Kuhn found five of the missing 155s, concealed under camouflage in an orchard. In Lomell's words, "it was pure luck."

On December 7, 1944, companies of the Second Ranger Battalion were ordered to attack Hill 400, a commanding battlefield position that four divisions of the First Army had tried and failed to take. The Rangers caught the Germans by surprise, Before the day was over the Germans would counterattack five times. "Too weak to hold everywhere, Lomell had to learn where the Germans were building to attack. . . . He boldly sent out two-man recon patrols to check out likely enemy assembly areas down hill. These crafty patrols were eminently successful, so Lomell was able to meet each thrust with what little strength he had." As a result, Taylor wrote, "Hill 400 was saved by brains and bravery at the junior level."

During his lifetime, he participated in a number of television and radio interviews about D-Day. He died of natural causes at his Toms River home on March 1, 2011, at 91 years old.

Honors

For his actions in disabling the Pointe du Hoc guns, Lomell received the U.S. Army's Distinguished Service Cross the British Military Medal, and the French Légion d'honneur.

On December 4, 1999, the Borough of Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey dedicated a monument to Lomell at the Veterans Park on Arnold Avenue. The Monument has a replica of the grapnel hook used by the Rangers at Pointe Du Hoc, which was given by the residents of Grandcamp-Maisy, France, along with a plaque detailing the contribution that Lomell made during the war effort.

In 2007, Lomell received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Monmouth University.