The U.S. Army Rangers earned their motto on the morning of June 6, 1944. At Pointe du Hoc, a clifftop between the invasion beaches, Lieutenant Colonel James Rudder's 2nd Ranger Battalion scaled a hundred feet of sheer rock under fire to destroy a German battery that could sweep both Omaha and Utah — only to find the guns had been moved, then hunted them down and knocked them out inland. On Omaha itself, with the assault pinned and dying at the water's edge, Brigadier General Norman Cota turned to the 5th Rangers and said, "Rangers, lead the way!" They did, spearheading the breakout that finally carried the beach. The phrase became the Rangers' motto, and it was earned in blood.

The four figures catch a Ranger rush up the sand: three advancing at speed with M1 Garands, net-covered helmets and full assault gear, while a fourth crouches to put down covering fire with the Browning Automatic Rifle — the squad's base of fire, keeping the enemy's heads down while the others close. They sit at the heart of a D-Day '44 American display: fall them in with the American Patrol Rifleman and BAR Gunner of the 2nd Division moving up behind, and set them alongside the British landing the same morning in the Gold Beach Set. As the centerpiece of an Omaha diorama — sand, obstacles, men rushing the seawall — they are hard to beat.

Model: DD321 / King & Country / 1/30 (60mm) scale / matte finish / 4 piece set