December 16th, 1944: The Bulge

Various sources ^ | 12-16-2013 | Vanity

[ken5050]

There are many who believe that McAuliffe did in fact suggest a scatalogical impossibility to the Germans. Supposedly the orders to scrub McAuliffe's comments came directly from Ike....he'd have the means, and metjods, to make it happen.

Also, we shouldn't forget the incredible logistics feat of Patton's 3rd Army, to rescue the troops trapped at Bastogne. He literally turned 3rd Army around, 180 degrees..and had it attack 100+ miles to the north, in under 3 days..in rotten weather.

[Gamecock]

My dad fought across Southern Germany, didn't get tangled up in this battle.

Three years ago some members of my unit did a staff ride along the north shoulder of the battlefield. Very cool stuff. Great and horrible stories.

At one site there was an old German Tiger tank. As we were checking it out someone noticed an old (in his 80s) guy accompanied by a couple of guys in their 50s, who were his nephews. It turns out the old guy was in the battle as an anti-aircraft gunner.

My commander shook his hand and gave him one of our unit coins. As boss did this we spontaneously fell in line behind our commander and each of us shook the man's hand and then gave him a salute. The old vet had tears in his eyes as he recieved 50 individual salutes, as do I now thinking about these brave men.

[Vigilanteman]

The German people themselves certainly preferred the western allies.

That they did. Thus, two of the largest man-caused maritime disaster in history were Russian planes and submarines sinking ships full of German refugees fleeing Prussia for the west in the closing days of the war.

The Germans made a fascinating movie in 2005 based on extensive interviews with one of Hitler's surviving secretaries who was in the bunker, surviving documents and others. The scene with his war council over the loss of the Battle of the Bulge is used in many You-Tube parodies. While crazy, he wasn't stupid and the film makes clear that he preferred rule by the Soviets.

One of the final telling scenes, just days before his own suicide, is when he goes on a rampage when finding out that Martin Bormann is trying to negotiate a separate surrender with the western allies. Livid, he orders that Bormann be located and shot for his unauthorized free-lancing. When informed that Bormann has fled and cannot be located, he then orders that his aide be located and shot in his place. And it is done.

[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]

True, the Russians raped and pillaged, some Americans traded candy bars, coffee, and nylons for hanky panky.

[Colonel_Flagg]

Also, we shouldn't forget the incredible logistics feat of Patton's 3rd Army, to rescue the troops trapped at Bastogne.

Don't let anybody associated with the 101st Airborne hear you say that. To this day, no member of the of the division has ever admitted that it needed rescue.

[US Navy Vet]

Wasn’t Bormann, it was Himmler.

[crazydad]

Here is a video tribute I made for a pitch for my screenplay. I cannot think of a better day to share it with my fellow freepers. It’s a bit long but well worth it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJvqsUaU8W8

[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]

Hitler absolutely hated playing on defense. Hence, his desperate 11th hour throw of the dice attack in the Ardennes Forest in December 1944. The Allies traditionally left this sector lightly defended and therefore it is always n inviting target for German offensives on the Western Front. What was truly stunning in this battle was the new German Tiger II or King Tiger tank. Even bigger than a regular Tiger Tank, the American Sherman tanks were pea-shooters in comparison. The Germans had two big problems with these monster tanks: They could not mass produce enough of them, and they were also huge gas hogs at a time when Germany was desperately short on fuel.

[crazydad]

Best Bunker movie ever. And it has provided us with so many dubs.. Hitler rant videos.

[crazydad]

Wilhem Gustloff over 9000 civilians and wounded soldiers died on the escape from Konigsburg. Greatest maritime disaster ever. And I think in a way an atrocity. But War is War, and to the Russians, Germany started it.

[ccmay]

I don’t think that was the Battle of the Bulge he was losing his s#¡t about. It was a few months later at the final defense of Berlin, when he was summoning armies that no longer existed to break the Russian siege.

The movie is called “Der Untergang” (”The Downfall”) and it is well worth watching.

[ken5050]

OK..how about “resupply” then?

[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]

By far the best movie ever made about the last days in the Bunker-—and extremely accurate as well-—as seen through the eyewitness accounts, primarily through Hitler’s secretary who was there and lived to tell about it. The actor whp played Hitler-—Bruno Ganz-—brillantly captured his personality like no other I have ever seen.

[dfwgator]

By far the best movie ever made about the last days in the Bunker-—and extremely accurate as well-—as seen through the eyewitness accounts, primarily through Hitler’s secretary who was there and lived to tell about it. The actor whp played Hitler-—Bruno Ganz-—brillantly captured his personality like no other I have ever seen.

I will warn anyone watching, the scenes involving the Goebbels' children are some of the most gut-wrenching things you'll ever see in a movie.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I was in California in April this year for business. I had a wonderful dinner experience one night there and got to meet a guy who served in Europe in WWII with the 82nd.
I went to a place in a town called Laguna Hills. It looks like it’s a very small town that is one big retirement community. The golf carts mix with regular traffic on a limited basis. All the shops are located on either side of the main drag in two huge malls. Restaurants, Home Depot, Home Goods, etc, etc. Each mall has a large “hotel” style set of condos….very ritzy looking…at one end with lots of palm tress. Very “Hotel California” looking.

All the stores have ‘golf cart parking only’ where one would expect handicap parking. I went there because there is a place called Hometown Buffet. My type of restaurant…and I was hungry. As I walked in to the Hometown Buffet, I saw the Golf cart parking spots and grumbled, “Oh great. Lots of old folks. It should only take a week to get through the chow line.”

I paid my money and picked a table. I went to get some food and as I returned to my table I passed a very old gentleman…had to be over 90…who was picking away at his little bowl of what looked like Blueberry cobbler. What caught my eye was his cap on the table. It had the US Army Airborne insignia on it.

I went to my table, put my plate down and went back to his table. I said, “Excuse me sir, I’m sorry to interrupt your meal but I couldn’t help noticing your Airborne cap.” He said, “Yep. 82nd. Europe. ‘41 through ‘45.”
I said, “I’d like to shake your hand and say thank you. You gents are a vanishing breed and the greatest generation our country has ever known.” He asked me where I served. I told him I never had the honor but my late father was a Sergeant in Korea and he would have cuffed me upside the head if I didn’t stop and shake his hand. He said thanks and I went back to my table.
Actually, the conversation went a little longer than that as I had to repeat myself a few times since he was wearing hearing aids.

I finished my first plate and after I’d procured my 2nd, I stopped a server and asked if I could speak to the manager.
I was taken to an older gentleman…probably in his early sixties. I introduced myself and asked his name. His name was Mohammed. I explained that I had just spoken with an older gentleman who said he had served with the 82nd Airborne. Mohammed said, without a hint of an accent, “Ah yes. That’s Joe. he comes here quite regularly. Two or three times a week.” I told Mohammed that since Joe had likely already paid for tonight’s fare, I would like to ‘comp’ his next trip here and did they have Gift Cards? He said they did and that Joe gets a special personal discount from him…so his meals only cost roughly half of the regular price.

He led me to the front and he set me up with a $20 Gift Card in a nice Gift folio as we chatted about veterans and he said his father served in WW2. I told him that this is something that my late father…a Korean veteran…would do without thinking twice. So I wanted to make a gesture to Joe and honor both him and my father in one stroke. He said that was a very nice thing to do an not enough people today would stop to do that. We both agreed that the younger generations have not been taught our history properly much less the manners to even conceive of such a gesture.

I went back to Joe’s table and again apologized for the interruption and told him I’d like to sit for a moment if he didn’t mind. I presented him with the gift card and explained my reason for doing it. He thanked me and then proceeded to regale me with a number of stories from his time in Europe. He is 98 years old and his memory was sharp as a tack.

He had been a paratrooper in the European theater and had seen action in Arnhem, Malmedy and the The Ardennes.
He also had served as an advisor at the Pentagon in later years. I got the sense that he hadn’t spoken about these subjects for some time and was grateful for someone to listen. In the end, I thanked him again and said I would leave him to finish his meal and I needed to get back to mine. I told him about the WW2 air museum over at the John Wayne Int’l airport. He had never seen it but said he’d make the trip for sure.

All in all a very cool dinner experience. And the food was really good too.

[Oldexpat]

What is the name of the movie?

[The_Trooper]

My mother was a 12 year old girl at the time of the Bulge. She and her family were living in a house in the Ardennes somewhere near between Florentville and Martue. She has lots of great stories to tell about how they were waiting for the weather to clear, about how the Germans ran around American uniforms etc.

Her father was an officer in the Belgian Army and spent almost a year in a German POW camp before being released.

[dfwgator]

Best Bunker movie ever. And it has provided us with so many dubs.. Hitler rant videos.

"They lose me right after the bunker scene."

[dfwgator]

The movie is called “Der Untergang” (”The Downfall”) and it is well worth watching.

Shame most people only think of it because of the Parodies...but it really really is a great movie.

[EternalVigilance]

Thanks for that awesome graphic. Shared it around some.