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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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Posted on 01/01/2003 12:01:39 AM PST by SAMWolf
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are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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to the dreams you create...
The Freeper Foxhole wishes you the best of everything throughout the New Year
We are thankful for the men and women who have volunteered to put themselves in harm’s way to seek out and eliminate the cancer of terrorism. We pray for the safe return of America’s fighting sons and daughters.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. We hope to provide an ongoing source of information about issues and problems that are specific to Veterans and resources that are available to Veterans and their families. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.
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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. Unfortunately Nordwind, Hitler's last offensive in Alsace which, in spite of 40,000 German and American casualties, is practically unknown. The Army Chief of Military History's World War II 50th Anniversary Commemorative Pamphlet for the battle of Ardennes-Alsace wryly noted in its "Further Reading", which listed extensive sources on the Ardennes fighting, that "fighting in the Alsace region has been sparsely covered" and highlights the book "When Odds Were Even" by Keith Bonn for further information on Nordwind.  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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This flavorful ham gravy contains no flour, so lumps are never a problem.
5 or 6 slices of Country Ham (about ¼" thick)
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup strong black coffee
Dash of salt
Slash the edges of the ham slices so they won't curl up while they're cooking.
Over medium to low heat, sauté the ham in the butter, turning frequently to lightly brown both sides of each slice.
Remove the ham from the pan and keep warm.
Over low heat, stir the brown sugar into the pan juices,
stirring constantly until it dissolves.
Stir in the coffee and simmer for 4 or 5 minutes.
Makes 5 or 6 servings. I've heard good things about Red-Eye Gravy made with Coca-Cola, but I've never tried it, myself. You omit the brown sugar and coffee altogether, and substitute ½ cup of Coke.
credit to:
http://www.texascooking.com/features/oct2000plm.htm
Have you eaten the real thing cooked by a southern girl, or just had some lumpy, gluelike globby stuff passed off on you?
Real grits are a delicacy - especially salted and peppered and dripping in butter.
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The "Real" New Year in Afghanistan
 Four U.S. Army soldiers belonging to the 82nd Airborne Division prepare to enter a house during a search mission Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2003 in a village in Khost in Afghanistan. The soldiers conducted the search based on a report from one of the U.S. aircraft that they were allegedly fired upon coming from village. (AP Photo/Pat Roque)  Members of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division position themselves along an alley before they start with their search Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2003 in a village in Khost in Afghanistan  Members of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division keep a close watch on firearms found in different houses during a search Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2003 in a village in Khost, Afghanistanconfiscating some and returning the rifles to the owners . The soldiers conducted the search based on a report from one of the US aircraft that they were allegedly fired upon coming from village. (AP Photo/Pat Roque)  Some members of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division position themselves on higher grounds as they secure the area while conducting the search operations Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2003 in a village in Khost, Afghanistan
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 U.S. soldiers search a room for firearms Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2003 in a village in Khost, Afghanistan  A U.S. soldier searches a boy as others wait for their turn during a search mission Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2003 in a village in Khost, Afghanistan  A group of Afghan children cast a curious glance to an American soldier outside their house during a search misson Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2003 in a village in Khost, Afghanistan  A crowd of Afghans watch members of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division leave the area after their search operation Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2003 in a village in Khost, Afghanistan
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 A U.S. soldier positions himself outside a house as they conducted the house to search on a compound Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2003 in a village in Khost, Afghanistan  A U.S. Army soldier positions himself on a higher ground as he provides security on the ongoing search mission Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2003 in a village in Khost, Afghanistan
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Paul
I gave you a birthright of freedom born in the Constitution and now your children graduate too illiterate to read it.
I fought in the snow barefoot to give you the freedom to vote and you stay at home because it rains.
I left my family destitute to give you the freedom of speech and you remain silent on critical issues, because it might be bad for business.
I orphaned my children to give you a government to serve you and it has stolen democracy from the people.
It's the soldier not the reporter who gives you the freedom of the press.
It's the soldier not the poet who gives you the freedom of speech.
It's the soldier not the campus organizer who allows you to demonstrate.
It's the soldier who salutes the flag, serves the flag, whose coffin is draped with the flag that allows the protester to burn the flag!
"Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. I ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen."
[From a sermon by John Hagee]
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