Battle of the Bulge Remembrance

The battle began on December 16, 1944. It would last through five weeks of the coldest winter Europe had seen in 50 years.

American forces, outnumbered, confused and overrun at first, would with incredible courage and sacriface stiffen, take the worst the Germans and the weather hit them with, and then turn the battle tide and achieve victory.

American forces suffered roughly 95% of the Allied battle casualties including almost 20,000 dead and 70,000 wounded, missing or captured.

From the forward to Hugh M. Cole’s The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge:

[U]nder the goad of Hitler's fanaticism, the German Army launched its powerful counteroffensive in the Ardennes in December 1944 with the design of knifing through the Allied armies and forcing a negotiated peace.

The mettle of the American soldier was tested in the fires of adversity and the quality of his response earned for him the right to stand shoulder to shoulder with his forebears of Valley Forge, Fredericksburg, and the Marne.

During the next five weeks I’ll be posting concerning the battle.

The following links may interest you:

The Department of Defense’s 60th Anniversary Battle of the Bulge site.

The American Experience Battle of the Bulge documentary site

Battle of the Bulge Veterans Assoication site. It includes links to fact sheets of American divisions that fought in the battle.