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Posted on 12/31/2006 5:51:17 AM PST by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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Jan 1 - 7, 1945 The campaign star on the European Theater ribbon for the bitter winter combat during December 1944 and January 1945 is titled "Ardennes-Alsace". Over the past 50 years the "Battle of' the Bulge" in the Ardennes region in northern France and Belgium has received as much publicity as Gettysburg.  The German First Army launched its initial attacks on schedule a few hours before New Year's Day, with Simon's XIII SS Corps pushing south over the Sarre River valley and Petersen's XC and Hoehne's LXXXIX Corps heading in the same general direction through the woods of the Low Vosges. In both cases the leading German echelons began to hit the main American lines about midnight. In the Sarre valley the assault force was met by determined resistance from the 44th and 100th Infantry Division troops, who were well dug in and deployed in depth. Expecting the major attack in this area, Patch and Haislip had jammed the XV Corps zone with three infantry divisions buttressed by the two regiments of Task Force Harris and-if the theater reserve units are counted-two armored and another infantry division in reserve, with a third armored division arriving. The Germin attack barely made a dent in the beefed-up Allied line. In some cases the SS troopers advanced in suicidal open waves, cursing and screaming at the American infantrymen who refused to be intimidated. The infantry of the 36th Volksgrenadier did little better. Although Simon's forces finally managed to poke a narrow hole, about two miles in depth, at Rimling on the right wing of the 44th Division, the 100th Infantry Division held firm. In the days that followed the Germans saw their small advances continuously eroded by repeated counterattacks from the 44th, 100th, and 63d (TF Harris) Division infantry supported by elements of the French 2d Armored Division. Allied artillery and, when the weather broke, Allied air attacks, together with the bitter cold, also sapped the strength of the attackers. On 4 January the German high command formally called off the effort. As General Simon, the attacking corps commander, caustically observed, the Sarre assault had shown only that the German soldier still knew how to fight and how to die, but little else. Blaskowitz, with Hitler and von Rundstedt's approval, obviously chose not to throw the German armored reserves into the battle there, as planned, and sought weaker links in the American lines.  During Operation NORDWIND, the last German offensive on the Western Front, three German divisions attempted to encircle and annihilate the 100th Infantry Division. Near Lemberg, on the Division's right, the XC Corps attackers were stopped by the 399th and elements of the 398th Infantry Regiment after three days of ferocious fighting. On 5 January, after NORDWIND's main effort had failed, Himmler's Army Group Oberrhein finally began its supporting thrusts against the southern flank of Brooks' VI Corps, with the XIV SS Corps launching a cross-Rhine attack north of Strasbourg. Two days later, south of the city, the Nineteenth Army launched Operation SONNENWENDE ('WINTER SOLSTICE'), attacking north, astride the Rhone-Rhine Canal on the northern edge of the German-held Colmar Pocket. These actions opened a three-week battle, whose ferocity rivaled the Ardennes fighting in viciousness if not in scope and threatened the survival of the VI Corps. SONNENWENDE sparked a new crisis for the 6th Army Group, which had too few divisions to defend every threatened area. With Brooks' VI Corps now engaged on both flanks, along the Rhine at Gambsheim and to the northeast along the Low Vosges mountain exits, Devers transferred responsibility for Strasbourg to the French First Army, and de Lattre stretched his forces to cover both the city and the Belfort Gap 75 miles to the south. But the real danger was just northeast of Strasbourg. There, the XIV SS Corps had punched out a 10-mile bridgehead around the town of Gambsheim, brushing off small counterattacks from Task Force Linden. Patch's Seventh Army, reinforced with the newly arrived 12th Armored Division, tried to drive the Germans from the Gambsheim area, a region laced with canals, streams, and lesser watercourses. To the south de Lattre's 3d Algerian Division defended Strasbourg, while the rest of the French First Army kept the Colmar Pocket tightly ringed. But the fate of Strasbourg and the northern Alsace hinged on the ability of the American VI Corps to secure its besieged flanks.  Having driven several wedges into the Seventh Army, the Germans launched another attack on 7 January. The German XXXIX Panzer Corps, with the 21st Panzer and the 25th Panzergrenadier Divisions, attacked the greatly weakened VI Corps center between the Vosges and Lauterbourg. Quickly gaining ground to the edge of the Haguenau Forest 20 miles north of Strasbourg, the German offensive rolled along the same routes used during the successful attacks of August 1870 under Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke. Moltke's successors, however, made no breakthrough. In the two Alsatian towns of Hatten and Rittershoffen, Patch and Brooks threw in the Seventh Army's last reserve, the 14th Armored Division. Assisted by a mixture of other combat, combat support, and service troops, the division halted the Germans. While the VI Corps fought for its life in the Haguenau Forest, the enemy renewed attacks on both flanks. During an intense battle between units of the 45th Division and the 6th SS Mountain Division in the Low Vosges, the Germans surrounded an American battalion that had refused to give ground. After a week's fighting by units attempting its relief, only two soldiers managed to escape to friendly lines. Although gaining ground the enemy had achieved no clear-cut success. Hitler nevertheless committed his last reserves on 16 January, including the 10th SS Panzer and the 7th Parachute Divisions. These forces finally steamrolled a path along the Rhine's west bank toward the XIV SS Corps' Gambsheim bridgehead overrunning one of the green 12th Armored Division's infantry battalions at Herrlisheim and destroying one of its tank battalions nearby. This final foray led Brooks to order a withdrawal on the twenty-first, one that took the Germans by surprise and was completed before the enemy could press his advantage.  Forming a new line along the Zorn, Moder, and Rothback Rivers north of the Marne-Rhine Canal, the VI Corps commander aligned his units into a cohesive defense with his badly damaged but still game armored divisions in reserve. Launching attacks during the night of 24-25 January, the Germans found their slight penetrations eliminated by vigorous counterattacks. Ceasing their assaults permanently, they might have found irony in the Seventh Army's latest acquisition from SHAEF reserves-the "Battling Bastards of Bastogne," the 101st Airborne Division, which arrived on the Alsace front only to find the battle over.
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I ended up working for about 14 days out of 15 over Christmas time. I have had the last few days off and quite frankly I have not done a whole lot. Recovering mostly.
We did pick up a new dining room table Sunday. We had stopped at the Nebraska Furniture Mart Sat Eving to walk off dinner. In the clearance room there was a nice chestnut table that opened up to just over 8' for $170. One catch though, it wouldn't close :-) I got down on the deck with my pocket flashlight and checked out the slider gizmo. I told Mrs alfa6 that I could probably replace the gizmo if I couldn't fix it but i would have to check to see if I could get one and how much.
Got home and checked out the sliders in some catalogs I have and figured at worst I would have to spend another $65 to fix table. Hmm about $250 for a new table that lists for $850, works for me :-)
So we go back out to The Mart Sunday to look at the table one more time and there is another table exactly like the first one only this one works. Same price to boot. Almost sprained my wrist trying to get the wallet out, he he. There went my holiday money.
So we are on the way home with the table and the Mrs goes, "you know this is the first new table we have had in almost 32 years of being married"
I had to pop her bubble and point out that it was probably a return. But at least it was the first table that we had bought at a store :-) That mollified her soomewhat. So that all the excitement here at the alfa6 domicile
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Well good, the matter is tabled then! LOL
Glad you got a chance to laze around that's a long stretch of work.
You know, your right Snippy!
They are making clothes smaller too.
Thanks Mayor, I 've been wondering about that...
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Well that't what I think anyway. : )
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
January 3, 2007
READ: Colossians 3:1-7
Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. —Colossians 3:2
In the movie Gladiator, General Maximus Decimus Meridius seeks to stir his cavalry to fight well in the imminent battle against Germania. Addressing his troops, he challenges them to give their very best. He makes this profound statement: "What we do in life echoes in eternity."
These words from a fictional military leader convey a powerful concept that is of particular significance to believers in Christ. We are not just taking up time and space on a rock that’s floating in the universe. We are here with the opportunity to make an eternal difference with our lives.
Jesus Himself said, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matt. 6:20). Having the perspective of living for eternity can make all the difference in this world.
How can we learn to set our minds "on things above"? (Col. 3:2). A good way to begin is to discover what our eternal God values. Throughout the pages of the Bible, He reminds us that He values people above possessions and our character above our performance. Those are the truths that last forever. Embracing them can bring an eternal perspective to our daily living.
The rumor du jour is that a major drug dealer and his "entourage" were waiting in line at the night club and were p.o.'e the athletes were allowed to jump the line to get into the party. Officially, though, the police are saying they have no suspects, yet.
One of the all time best threads I've seen on FR was posts of IDF spankentruppen!
Agreed!
LOL. You're so right.
Hey, regarding the smaller print, Sam says "Think about it. What did you read on one page when you were a kid? Run Spot run. That took up a whole page!"
Geez, what ever happened to just beating someone up or calling them names.
Sarge squeaks. It's really annoying. Of course his bark vibrates my eardrums but that squeaking was getting awful.
Good thing God makes 'em cute and loveable.
The betting today is that SUV may already be in L.A., undergoing a transformation. Besides being extremely dangerous, those people have a lot of money.
All in all, I like my idea of DVD's and champagne at home on New Years Eve a lot better than doing the "club" scene!
I've always preferred staying home. Too many drunks on the road. I can have fun at home and be safe. ;-)
He's right on that! Hi Sam..
Oh, yeah. Although I can still remember a time when I wasn't so smart and went out - even though back then I knew everything! :-))
Y'all have a great day
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
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