Battle of the Bulge

So a week ago I was perusing the internet when I came across a Battle of the Bulge tour being offered by the USO for the coming Saturday.  I jumped all over it.  Somehow we had to get on that tour.  Ben was totally game too, of course, having served with the 101st including two combat tours.  First we considering taking all the kids... but riding on a bus from the crack of dawn to late at night with numerous stops in-between... none of which were exactly kid friendly seemed like a recipe for disaster.  So we reconsidered.  We found a sweet newly returned sister missionary in our ward who was willing to come spend all day with the girls so we could go.  Yea!!  It's so nice when the stars align.  Of course, James would stay with us.  

So in preparation we hit this book pretty hard the days leading up to the tour .  

Nope, I had never read it, but had heard lots about it from my brothers and dad and had seen parts of the HBO miniseries.  What an awesome story it is.  I'm sure many of you are already familiar with it, but it's tells the story of Easy Company, part of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division in WWII.  They participated in the most difficult campaigns on the Western Front including D-day, Operation Market Garden, and Battle of the Bulge.

So, it was so fun to read the book and go on the USO tour at the same time.  I'm weird, but I really do love military history.  My dad beat it into us kids. (I remember having FHE lessons on the Battle of Gettysburg, he more than once talked about Lincoln over the pulpit, his shelves were full of military history books, and the first time I remember him ever seeing an R movie --gasp!-- was when Saving Private Ryan hit the theaters.)  So having that background and then MARRYING into a military family, it was inevitable.  Oh, and did I mention I have my masters in military history?  Ha!  I know, it's comical, and I like to keep it on the down low... that is unless the History Channel would like to feature me in one of their productions.  I'd be sitting in an armchair smoking a (fake) pipe offering my two cents on the strategical blunders of Pickett's Charge.  It's one of my fantasies.  But moving on...

Easy Company... notice the screaming eagle patch, which my husband also dons with pride

So let me use this map to explain what happened at the battle:

Um, never mind.  

In a nutshell, Hitler decided to make a last ditch surprise attack on the allied front in Belgium in December of 1944.  While Easy Company was getting ready to enjoy a peaceful Christmas after their intense fighting in France and Holland, they were called on to defend the crucial city of Bastogne, which was an important crossroads.  Because the allies were caught off guard, the 101st did not have adequate food, clothing, medical supplies or ammunition.  They fought during what would be the coldest winter on record.   The Germans pushed through the allied front forming a salient known as the "bulge" (you can see it on the left) and the 101st quickly became surrounded. They were able to eventually prevail upon the Germans, but it was the largest and most costly battle for America in WWII, 89,000 casualties and 19,000 deaths. 

Our first stop was at an American cemetery in Luxembourg.  This cemetery contains over 5000 graves mostly of servicemen who died in the Battle of the Bulge.   

The sea of white crosses is overwhelming to behold.  We got there just as the sun was coming up, the grass was still wet with dew, it was a beautiful and peaceful morning. 

Especially overwhelming is looking at the dates on which these men died... most of them from December '44-February '45.  So much death and destruction in such a short time. 

This is a member of Easy Company, who died in his foxhole with his buddy where they took a direct hit from an artillery shell. 

Another member of Easy Company who died on a patrol... shot in the neck.

And who else is buried here?  None other than General George S. Patton himself!

So just a kilometer away we skipped on over to the GERMAN cemetery, which was really quite interesting.  This cemetery is filled with the Germans who died in the same battle.

A list of their Missing in Action

Most of the graves had four people per plot.  Notice there are two names on this cross.  And on the backside are two other names. 

I couldn't help but compare the two experiences.

The American cemetery invokes the feelings of awe, reverence, sadness, respect, gratitude, and pride.

What do the Germans feel when they visit their cemetery?  Sure they feel sadness for the loss of their loved ones.  But to have that sadness in addition to the knowledge that their loved ones fought on the wrong side, the side that was so grossly misguided and then completely defeated.  I had never considered it before.   

And sites from the rest of the day:

A honkin' memorial in Belgium

I loved this memorial to Easy Company along a rural Belgian road, in the background you can see part of the Ardennes where the fighting took place

Ben in the Ardennes.  Can't you just see a German Panzer crashing through the forest behind him?  Creepy. 

The Bois Jacques in the Ardennes where E Company was surrounded.  Just imagine it being covered in a foot of snow.  And dark.  They fought in the darkest month of the year, about 16 hours of darkness per day.  No thanks.

The original foxholes are still there!!  This was my favorite part of the tour.  Being in the exact location where the fighting took place.  Such a reverent place.  It's hard to describe.

Standing in one of the foxholes

Easy Company's view of Foy, one of the towns they recaptured from the Germans.  That's No Man's Land out there where they would have to go on patrol.  Again, no thanks. 

Supposedly the house where the German sniper was hiding out who Shifty Powers killed

And I love this:

A bust of General McAuliffe who refused to surrender Bastogne to the enemy at all cost.  When the 101st was surrounded the German general wrote to him asking him to surrender.  He famously replied, "Nuts!"  So, yeah, the Belgians, and most especially the Bastogn-ians, are forever grateful to the 101st.  

And by the way, the Belgian Waffles were DIVINE.  Definitely made the trip worth it :)