Today we’re going to talk about a man named James, who was born in a very small Texas town, but went on to become a hero in World War II. After that, he got into government and then became an educator, but hardly anyone remembers his name. So, stay tuned and we’ll be right back.
TRANSCRIPT
Hi and welcome to The Traveling Fool, the show where we talk about travel destinations, the history and culture around those destinations, as well as travel tips and news. I’m your host, Bob Bales, and today we’re going to talk about a man named James, who was born in a very small Texas town, but went on to become a hero in World War II. After that, he got into government and then became an educator, but hardly anyone remembers his name. So, stay tuned and we’ll be right back.
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Small Town Roots And Cadet Life
But As I was saying, today we’re going to talk about a man named James. Now James was born on May 6th, 1910, in a very small town named Eden, Texas. Had a population of about 600 at the time. So, it’s one of those places where, you know, everybody knows everyone. Now after high school, he went on to attend John Tarleton Agricultural College, which later evolved into Tarleton State University today. Now he went there for one year before he transferred and attended Texas A&M, where he graduated with a degree in industrial education in 1932. Now at that time, Texas A&M was an all-male college, and all students were members of the Cadet Corps. And upon graduation, James was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves. After he left Texas A&M, James went on to become a high school football coach and a teacher in Brady, Texas, where he met and married his wife, Margaret. Now by 1938, he had accepted a job as a football coach at Tarleton Agricultural College where he had once attended. Life was good, but things would change as the world erupted into war, and James, a U.S. Army reservist, was called to active duty.
Point Du Hoc And Ranger Leadership
In 1943, he was assigned to become a trainer and subsequently the commanding officer of the 2nd Ranger Battalion. Now, James is a Lieutenant Colonel. Lieutenant Colonel James Earl Rudder, at the age of forty-four, found himself in command of the 2nd Ranger Battalion on D Day with the mission of taking out the German guns at Point Duhoc. Scaling the one-hundred-foot cliffs in Normandy under heavy enemy fire, Lieutenant Colonel Rudder and the Second Ranger Battalion destroyed the German gun batteries. The battalion’s casualty rate was over fifty percent, and Rudder was wounded twice during the battle. Despite this, Rudder and his Rangers dug in and fought off the German counterattacks for two days until relieved, helping to establish a beachhead for Allied forces.
Now if you’ve ever seen any World War II movies about D-Day, like the Longest Day or something like that, it’s depicted in there what these what these guys had to go through to get up Point Duhoc and climb that hundred foot cliff with enemy fire raining down all on you. And then you get wounded twice. So that right there is enough. I mean, that right there is a bona fide hero. But he would go on to command the 109th Infantry Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division during the Battle of the Bulge. This is when his unit was outnumbered ten to one. So, it’s not enough that you go through D-Day, scale Point Duhoc with your Rangers, lose over half of your men, take out the German gun positions, but then you wind up at the Battle of the Bulge. Rudder’s regiment expended 280,000 small arm rounds, 5,000 mortar rounds, 3,000 grenades, and 300 bazooka rounds in just three days of fighting, but he wound up delaying the German 5th Panzer Unit until reinforcements could arrive.
Medals, Service, And Texas A&M
James Earl Rudder retired in 1967 as a Major General after 35 years of active and reserved service, having been awarded, listen to this, the Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Cross, Legion of Merit, Silver Star, Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, French Legion of Honor with Croix de Guerre and Palm, and Belgian Order of Leopold with Croix de Guerre and Palm. That’s pretty impressive. Rudder would go on to serve as Commissioner of the General Land Office in Texas. In 1955 he was named Vice President of Texas A&M in 1958. He was selected the 14th president of Texas A&M in 1959 and additionally the president of Texas A&M University Systems in 1965, which currently includes eleven universities, eight state agencies, and a health science center. So, he just kept getting promoted until he wound up in charge of the whole system. Now, General Rudder died March 23rd 1970, and he is buried at the College Station Cemetery, just a few blocks from Texas A&M.
College Station Sites For History Fans
Today you can visit College Station, and visit Texas A&M, where on the campus a statue of General Rudder stands. There’s also a small, but really good, little museum dedicated to the Corps of Cadets and some of the achievements of previous graduates there. In fact, the Corps of Cadets today has one unit called Rudder’s Rangers. And that’s an elite unit of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets where people join to get very intensified infantry tactics because these guys are serious about going into the military and become future leaders of soldiers.
Texas A&M produced over 14,000 officers that served in World War II, with nine former students being awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Texas A&M opened in 1876, and a post office named College Station was built in 1877 right next to the railroad tracks. You see, when they built Texas A&M, it was pretty much out in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing around it. But by 1884, the community had 350 inhabitants, two general stores, and it’s just grown from there. Now I’ve visited Texas A&M and College Station and Bryan several times.
Now something about Bryan/College Station, that’s how people around Texas refer to it. When you leave Texas A&M, you’re right in the middle of the town of College Station. So, when you leave there, you’re in College Station. You’re driving down the street, and next thing you know, you’re in Bryan because there’s no distance between these two towns. They’re right next to each other. So, you have a lot of college students and people that work at the university that live in Bryan and surrounding areas.
But there’s a lot of stuff you can see and do there. College Station is only about an hour and a half from Houston. From most parts of Houston. I say that because if you’re in South Houston, you’re talking about a two and a half, three hour drive. But there’s a lot of stuff there. In addition to paying your respects to General Rutter and seeing his statue on campus, they also have the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum on the campus of Texas A&M. Right down the road, just before you get into College Station on Highway 6, they have the Museum of the American GI. This is a fantastic little museum. I’ve stopped there a couple of times. You know how guys like to collect things? Well, in some instances, guys wind up collecting military memorabilia. And then it gets so big that you wind up having to open a museum. So that’s how some of these things get started, and that’s kind of what happened with the museum of the American GI. They have got some cool stuff. And a couple of times a year they pull everything out and run it in public, and oh man, people show up and it’s big time. But I mean they have tanks and all types of vehicles there. It’s a really cool museum if you can, stop by and check it out. And then you’ve got Texas A&M University, which you can tour the campus. You can visit that museum that’s dedicated to the Corps of Cadets, which is a really cool little museum.
And just there’s a lot of things on that campus. Go to Kyle Field. That itself, the stadium, is fantastic. Check it out. Now if you’re visiting and it happens to be football game day, you’re not gonna get anything done. That place is crowded. But they also have something there that’s run by the Agricultural College and the Vet College. Texas A&M is known for producing fantastic veterinarians. And they have a meat market that is run there. It’s tucked away. You have to look it up. It’s tucked away in a little parking lot over by some office buildings. But you go in there and it’s run by the students. They produce their own meat. And they have some fantastic cuts of jerky and beef sticks and all kinds of stuff in there. And it’s not that expensive, but it’s also not very well known. So, if you’re ever there, check out that place and you can pick up some goodies.
Veterans Memorial Park is another thing you might want to check out while you’re there. It’s a beautiful park. And if you notice, there’s a lot of military-related things here. That’s because for many, many, many years, Texas A&M was an all-male university. Everyone was a member of the Corps of Cadets, which meant at the end of that time period, well, when they first started, everybody wound up with some kind of a commission. And then it went to you’re going to be in the Corps Cadets for three years, and the fourth year you can kind of decide not to. Nowadays, the Corps Cadets is optional. And it’s co-ed, Texas A&M, as everybody knows. But College Station has a big history with the U.S. military dating back since its founding. So, you’re going to find a lot of military-related things there, and a lot of very patriotic people, and a lot of veterans and former military, and it’s a great place to visit with a lot of that stuff.
Hotels, Food, And Local Drinks
But they also have fantastic places to eat and some really cool places to stay. I mean, you’ve got the George Hotel, which is just off campus, very beautiful hotel, and it’s right next door is Cavalry Court. That’s run by Valencia Hotel Collection. They’ve got two or three hotels. They’ve got the Calvary Court in College Station, they’ve got Texican Court up in Irving, Texas, and they’ve got a couple of others. But it’s actually a core cadets or military-themed upscale cross between a motel and a hotel. I mean, it’s just a really, really cool place. It’s got a lot of open space there where you can gather with friends and do all kinds of stuff. They got big bonfires out there in the winter and pits with open pit flames and all this stuff in the winter. It’s just a really cool hotel. I stayed there for a couple of nights. I’ve also been to the Texican court up in Irving. If you get a chance to stay at either one of those places, they’re really, really good places to stay. And there’s also a lot of B&Bs and Airbnbs and stuff, but I stayed at an actual bed and breakfast in Bryan when I went up there one time also. Fantastic places.
And as far as places to eat, you’re thinking, okay, it’s college town. Well, they’re gonna have beer joints and crazy little, you know, snack places. They have got some really, really good restaurants there. And some fabulous places for breakfast and brunch. So when you get to College Station, the food scene is definitely something to check out. Some of the other things you can do while you’re there, I’m a big, big fan of visiting distilleries and breweries. They have the Brazos Distillery there. In fact, I’ve got some of his Texas bourbon sitting on my shelf right now. Great distillery run by a guy that’s actually related to the owner of the George Hotel, if I’m not mistaken. That family, uh part of that family.
You also have Aggie Land drive-through Safari with over 300 species of animals, including giraffes and kangaroos and bison and just a whole lot more. That’s a big place that a lot of people love to visit. There’s another distillery right next door to College Station in Bryan, which is called the Hush and Whisper Distillery. And then you’ve got Messina Hoff Estate Winery. Big draw. People love going out to this place. It’s just outside of Bryan. I’m not a big wine guy, but even I’ve heard of Messina Hof wine. So, this is one of their estates and wineries just outside of Bryan.
Then you’ve also got the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History in Bryan. So Bryan has a small town country vibe just right next door to a college town. And they’re both just that entire area there is a fantastic place to visit.
Planning Your Weekend And Avoiding Crowds
And you’re nearby to all kinds of stuff. You’re not that far from Brenham, Texas, and Washington, Texas, which is where Texas independence was signed, Washington on the Brazos. So that entire area up there is really cool. If you ever get a chance, I would definitely recommend going to College Station. Visiting next door, Brian, while you’re there. Check out that Core of Cadets museum because it is really impressive. And then while you’re there, visit that Museum of the American GI. It’s a small museum, but it’s really cool. Doesn’t take you that long to go through it.
There’s just a ton of things to do and up there, whether it’s a day trip, for me it’s a day trip. It takes me about an hour to get there. But you can go up and spend the entire weekend if you want. I mean, there’s just a lot of things to see and do there. Just beware. If you go up there during football season, you’re gonna have a hard time trying to find a place to stay. Those places, I mean everything is booked out months in advance. You’re not gonna get an Airbnb, you’re not gonna get anything. So, schedule your trip unless you’re just a huge football fan, and then book it now for next football season.
Closing Thanks And Subscribe Request
But that’s it for this week. I really appreciate you listening. If you can, check out some of the other podcasts. I’m gonna be hitting the road very shortly and going to some other places here in Texas, and we’ll be talking about them on some future podcasts. But until then, please like, subscribe, and share this thing, however you do it. I’d really appreciate it. It’s just me doing these little one man shows. And until next time, take care.
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