Posted on 12/15/2005 5:28:32 PM PST by OKSooner
December 15th, 1944: The Bulge begins.
I wish as much as well. My uncle Charles was felled by a Nazi sniper in that part of the war.
Truly we honor their sacrifices and heroism. One of my scout committemen carries around an arm full of schrapnel from that campaign. We salute the efforts of our men and women in todays military as well as those that have passed on. And we remember.
Mine was a POW: captured in that battle and spent time in a German stalag.
He had the good fortune to come home.
My father was guarding a camp full of German POWs at the time.
How many American soldiers died in that one battle, either from German bullets, or from the brutal cold?
"For a period of six weeks (Dec. 16, 1944 to Jan. 25, 1945), troops faced superior enemy numbers, rugged terrain in the heavily-forested Ardennes region and bitter winter weather as German forces launched a desperate attempt to halt the steady advance of the Allied Forces.
The cost paid was 81,000 American casualties, including 19,000 dead. The Britsh had 1,400 casualties, including 200 dead. German casualties were estimated around 100,000."
excerpted from:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~txgilles/bob.html
Nineteen thousand American dead in six weeks. Four times that number wounded.
Makes the War on Terror look like a Sunday school picnic, doesn't it?
Yeah, and imagine if they had the Dems of today then!
There would never had been this battle. They would have cut and run long before!
Twenty-five years ago, qwhile playing golf in SoCal on a 105 degree day, I complained about the excessive heat to a fellow player. He responded that it didn't bother him at all. When I asked why not, he said, "I fought at the Battle of the Bulge, and I was so cold I swore I would never again complain it was too hot. You're away."
Where was Neville Chamberlain (the weak, pro-appeasment British PM who allowed Hitler to rise to power) when JFKerry was conceived?
For your reading pleasure - I think I've got them all:
The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Battle of The Bulge - Dec. 16th, 2002
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/807234/posts
The FReeper Foxhole Remembers the 110th Infantry at the Bulge (12/16-19/1944) - Dec 16th, 2003
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1041184/posts
The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Operation Nordwind - Jan. 1st, 2003
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/815038/posts
The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Malmedy Massacre (12/17/1944) - Sep. 2nd, 2003
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/974317/posts
The FReeper Foxhole Revisits - The Malmedy Massacre (12/17/1944) - Dec. 31st, 2004
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1311422/posts
The FReeper Foxhole Remembers John Kline The Bulge (Dec. 16-19, 1944) - July 23rd, 2003
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/951027/posts
The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Will Rogers Jr. the Battle for St.Vith (Dec/1944) - Oct. 1st, 2003
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/992775/posts
The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Gen. Anthony McAuliffe at Bastonge - Dec. 22nd, 2002
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/810690/posts
The FReeper Foxhole Revisits Gen. Anthony McAuliffe at Bastogne - March 27th, 2004
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1106053/posts
The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The 101st Airborne's Defense of Bastogne (12/1944) - Sep 15th, 2004
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1216393/posts
The FReeper Foxhole Remembers the Pathfinders at Bastogne (12/1944) - Dec. 22nd, 2004
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1306385/posts
Ah, my old home. Long live D/2/325, 82nd Abn.
My grandfather was part of Patton's 3rd Army by this point in time and helped cut through the Germans to the south of Bastonge....
Thanks for the links; I'll check them all out and one that's of particular interest.
BTW, when he's talked about it, which isn't much, dad always said that The Bulge was no suprise to the Allied commanders. When I asked him how he knew that, he just said "Just stuff that I heard and saw moving around and stuff. They knew. They just didn't know exactly when or where." That's his story, and he sticks to it to this day.
Looks like I jumped the gun a day early. Here's a December 16th correction.
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