CPT Stanley E. White, 2d Platoon Leader, A Company, 2d Ranger Battalion, passed away in his sleep Monday morning, 27 April 2015. Stan was one of the original members of the 2d Ranger Battalion when it activated at Camp Forrest, TN in 1943. He participated in the Normandy Invasion on 6 June 1944, where he was severely wounded.

Stan’s military career began as an enlisted soldier in the Pacific Theater. He saw action as a machine gunner in the 25th IN Division during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. He attended OCS in 1943 before joining the 2d Ranger Battalion later that year. During D-Day his platoon landed on Omaha Beach (Dog Green sector). During combat action on Omaha, he directed fire from a recently arrived tank from B Company, 743d Tank Battalion to eliminate fire of a German machine gun raking the beach. He was subsequently wounded by German artillery fire and evacuated from the beach.

After WWII, Stan served in the Korean War before being medically retired from the Army as a captain.

Stan’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Distinguished Unit Badge (2d Ranger Battalion), European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Medal (with Bronze Star for Normandy Campaign and Bronze Arrowhead for the Normandy Invasion), Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon (with two Bronze Stars for Pearl Harbor and the Midway Campaigns), American Theater Medal, American Defense Service Medal (with two Bronze Stars), WWII Victory Medal, and the Combat Infantry Badge.

France awarded Stan its Legion of Honor Medal on 28 April 2014. France previously awarded Stan the Medaille de la France Liberee and the Croix de Guerre for his service in the liberation of France.

Stan was truly a Ranger hero who played a critical role in the liberation of France and the Allied victory in Europe during WWII.

Stan will be interred in Arlington National Ceremony at a date to be determined.

Rangers Lead the Way! And Stan was at the front of the pack!