Under a barrage of enemy German shell fire, US Army Rangers on June 6, 1944, scaled limestone cliffs rising 100 feet above the English Channel, neutralizing guns capable of targeting both Omaha and Utah Beaches, and threatening to thwart the massive and crucial Allied forces in World War II.
The assault on Pointe Du Hoc on the northwest coast of France opened a major front against Nazi Germany and ultimately led to the end of the war. It is permanently remembered in Grafton, Illinois, a town of about 750 people in southwestern Illinois, nestled along the picturesque limestone bluffs where the Illinois and Mississippi rivers meet.
Mayor Michael Morrow, a retired U.S. Army Corps of Engineers colonel who has visited Normandy Beach several times, was inspired in 2022 to establish a Veterans Commission and raise funds to create the National Military Ascension Memorial, an exhibit featuring 12 life-size bronze replicas of rangers scaling natural 50-foot limestone cliffs on the bluffs. I do.
“We have these beautiful limestone cliffs in Grafton, and one time when we drove by, my wife pointed to them and said, look, ‘Pointe Du Hoc,’ and I said, “Yeah. It seems,” he says.
That interaction planted the seed in Morrow’s mind for the $3.5 million memorial.
It is the first phase of a project that will eventually include the installation of a plaza with five limestone pillars to recognize the individuals, committees and groups who funded the project that is expected to have a second phase to build a new 2,500 square meter interactive museum to honor those who served in the Vietnam War.
Veterans make up about 17 percent to 17.5 percent of Grafton’s adult population, which is more than double the national average of about 6.2 percent and more than triple the Illinois state average of 4.8 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The plan is also to recognize Grafton’s key role as a manufacturing site for Navy Seal Team assault boats during the Vietnam War era.
The memorial of the Ascension is located on land given by a private owner to the town.
Installing the bronze figures, which weigh between 500 and 800 pounds each, was no easy task, says Mike Jones, project manager for Tarlton, based in St. Louis, who built the monument designed by Henderson Associates Architects in Edwardsville, Illinois. The bronze statues were created by Carolina Bronze of Sea Grove, NC.
“We 3D-scanned real ranger reenactors who basically stood on the cliff,” says Jones. “We had the boys standing in particular poses, scanned them and were able to sculpt their likenesses.”
Figures include a ranger on the ground using a radio and another falling off a cliff as it would have happened during the actual invasion.
“This represents those who didn’t make it,” says Jones.
D-Day photo of US Army and German prisoners at Pointe du Hoc. Photo: US National Archives.
Of the 225 US Army Rangers who began the assault, 135 were killed during the operation and subsequent two-day defense.
Morrow is fascinated by the details of the statues.
“They were [created] down to the exact detail of the bayonets, the little creases in the uniforms, the shoulder patches, the facial expressions, the nails, everything,” he says.
In order to arrive in time for the D-Day celebration, the task of installing the figures took place over a rainy weekend in May.
“Our team anchored the heavy bronze statues by excavating the limestone rock and pouring concrete. We performed rigorous tensile tests to verify the structural integrity of the cliff and ensure the statues were securely and permanently attached,” says Jones.
The tensile tests involved installing epoxy anchors into holes drilled into the limestone cliff, similar to how epoxy rods are placed in concrete. Epoxy was injected into each hole, about two feet of unthreaded stainless steel rod was inserted, and then a hydraulic pull test was performed to apply a specified load. Anchors were tested to 5,000 psi to confirm they met performance requirements. All tests were successful, with no pulling, cracking or other problems observed, according to Jones.
A large crane was used to place the statues.
Limestone Cliffs in Grafton, Ill. Photo: Curiosityger/Getty Images
“Because of how the site is along the cliff, we needed a larger crane with enough reach to reach out and lift the parts safely,” says Jone.
A crane was also used to place the limestone pillars, each measuring about 8 feet tall by 4 feet wide, into a concrete plaza that sits beneath the memorial. In total, around 50 people, some of them volunteers, worked on the project.
“The sheer scale and weight of these items made the whole operation quite remarkable,” says Jones.
The team worked on a tight schedule to complete the installation during the memorial’s three-day period which also includes steps where rangers are stationed.
“”We only rode two the first day,” says Morrow. “So we knew Saturday was going to be the tough one. We had to align everything with lasers to get the ladders at the correct 12-degree angle to the top where they would attach.”
Realizing that rain could hamper the work, Phil Halliday, owner of Godfrey, Illinois-based JEN Mechanical, who partners with Tarlton on other jobs, stepped in to help.
“We had a couple of storms, so I sent a few guys over there to help out,” he says. “I think it’s all for a good cause. History is important. It should be preserved.”
The region is known for attracting migratory birds, including hundreds of bald eagles that fly north each winter to hunt fish in the Mississippi.
Tarlton kept wildlife safety in mind when installing outdoor lighting at the monument.
“We dimmed the lighting to about 35% to account for migrating birds. Even at that level, it creates a great atmosphere,” notes Jones.
Visitors from Texas and Norway
The team, motivated to honor veterans and the sacrifices the Rangers made, worked through the night and finished a substantial installation Sunday. As the day wore on, Morrow remembers a worker telling him he wouldn’t quit until the job was done.
“He came up to me and said, ‘Mayor, I just want to tell you one thing.’ If this was another project, the only thing I would see right now are my taillights. But why is that? Let’s do it.”
Morrow says the memorial has already drawn visitors from as far away as Texas and Norway.
Now that the country is celebrating its 250th anniversary, Jones sees the monument so closely replicating the real-life threat the rangers faced, with a sense of “reverence, just gravity. It’s very compelling.”
