In 1944 Battle of the Bulge, Albert Darago, then 19, took on a German tank by himself

washingtonpost.com ^ | December 15, 2014 | Michael E. Ruane

[Berlin_Freeper]

Albert Darago had never fired a bazooka before. He was an “ack-ack” guy, a fuse-cutter on a 90mm antiaircraft gun. But on Dec. 19, 1944, the brass was looking for volunteers to go after some German tanks. And Darago said sure.

He was a 19-year-old, color-blind draftee, a native of Baltimore’s Little Italy and a musician who played piano and clarinet. He was no hero, he said.

But when Adolf Hitler launched the massive attack that began World War II’s bloody Battle of the Bulge, he had not reckoned on GIs like Darago.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Starting on 16 December 1944, and for nearly six weeks, more than 600,000 American soldiers, fighting in freezing conditions and often hungry and dog-tired, took part in desperate efforts to contain, then throw back, a surprise German counteroffensive masterminded by Adolf Hitler himself.

The British prime minister, Winston Churchill, hailed the ultimate result as “an ever-famous American victory”. But it came at a high cost: 80,987 US casualties, including 10,276 dead, 47,493 wounded and 23,218 missing, according to the US army’s official history.

[skinkinthegrass]

nor did he (Hitler) reckon w/Texan Audie Murphy either.

[cartoonistx]

Nor did he count on my father, 1st Army Ranger R.G.Campbell, 2 purple hearts, bronze star.

[teeman8r]

Bless 1st Army Ranger R.G.Campbell for his service and dedication to the principles of freedom.

[buckalfa]

Have been reading a WW2 history compiled from interviews with and local newspaper articles about veterans from a small southern Ohio county. Aside from the horrifying carnage of war, the suffering from the weather conditions these men endured during the winter of 44-45 in the Ardennes was unimaginable. My esteem of the town's people who served in that conflict has increased immeasurably. I am truly not worthy.

[longfellow]

My uncle in the101st said they were the hole in the donut.

God bless your dad.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Memoirs of the operation described diarrhea-plagued GIs being rushed to the front on open trucks on Christmas Eve during one of the coldest winters ever experienced in Western Europe.

"The men in Belgium, I'm told, really suffered," Ogden said.

[RinaseaofDs]

A man in my church was in 3rd Army during the Bulge. He was willing to talk about it too. Under Patton, he ‘felt safe’. That’s how he put it.

Patton kicked their butts, but most of them got it. Them that didn’t, they didn’t stay long.

He died about seven years ago. He was an accountant. Amazing how that works. You change history, literally, then you go home and keep books.

[Bogey78O]

Meanwhile, today, 19 year olds fall apart because someone they dont know punched a cop and was shot dead for it.

[skinkinthegrass]

Nor did he count on my father, 1st Army Ranger
R.G.Campbell, 2 purple hearts, bronze star.please, thank him (if possible) for his service to the country and Western Civilization.

[Berlin_Freeper]

“I think about those poor souls who were wounded and killed all the time,”

[wordsofearnest]

Nor the “Sharpshooters of Munshausen”.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Seventy years ago, Army Pfc. Bill Beckett needed help from above to survive a suicide mission in Bastogne, Belgium.

Beckett and another member of the 101st Airborne were handed a bazooka and five shells and ordered to stop seven advancing German Panzer tanks.

[Berlin_Freeper]

“The tank commander fired his gun, and I knew it would take five or six seconds for the shells to hit us,”

[Berlin_Freeper]

“He called together the chaplains after five days” of battle, telling them, “We’re not going to win this battle militarily. We’ve got to pray.”

They did, and after the early, terrible weather had limited U.S. aerial power, the skies began to clear, U.S. planes could start to target German positions, and the tide began to turn.

[Berlin_Freeper]

As the group of old friends was getting ready to leave, Lou Dworkin, 89, turned to Charles Woodman, 91.

"You remember the two guys who were killed in the foxhole?" Dworkin asked in a sandpaper voice.

"Yeah," Woodman said wearily. "It was a direct hit. Nothing left but smoking rags and shoes.

[Berlin_Freeper]

There are just a few years left to express our appreciation of these veterans in preserving our freedom. May God bless all of our troops, past and present.

[Berlin_Freeper]

"I think of all those young men that died alongside of me. It's hard. We were all only 18, 19 years old, the majority of us. If a guy was 25 he was called pops," said Foy.

[muir_redwoods]

A friends father survived a wound at the battle of the bulge because the bleeding froze. Tough S.O.B.s, those guys.