The 75 th Ranger Regiment is the U.S. Army’s elite light infantry, special operations unit. The Rangers specialize in direct action and counterterrorism, often capturing or killing high-value targets.

In January 1944, two Ranger battalions walked into an ambush at Cisterna, Italy. Only six of 767 men escaped, forever reshaping the Army Rangers. On the morning of Jan. 30, 1944, two battalions of U.S ...