*Note: The author is considered the ‘Father of the Modern Army Rangers’. William Orlando Darby was a career United States Army officer & graduate of the United States Military Academy (West Point) who fought in World War II, where he was killed in action at age 34 in Italy in 1945. He was posthumously promoted to brigadier general 13-days after his death. Darby was the founding commander of the First Ranger Battalion in 1942, which evolved into the United States Army Rangers. In 1992, Darby was inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame.