[OKSooner]

Unfortunately the American's hope and optimism are misplaced. Tomorrow morning, December 16th, their wakeup call will be a cruel one, for they will witness the first shots fired in the largest land battle ever engaged by the US Army, The Battle of the Bulge.

Those four divisions, spread across a 75-mile front, are the only thing between 200,000 German troops and two strategically crucial crossroads, one in the south at the Belgian town of Bastogne, and another in the north at Saint Vith.

In later years much will be written about The Bulge, and movies will be made about it too, particularly about the defense of Bastogne.

History will neglect the point, however, as PFC Robert Phillips of the 110th Regiment would later write in his book "To Save Bastogne", that there would be a Battle of the Bulge before The Battle of the Bulge - the delaying action fought by those four outnumbered divisions in the first three days to slow the advance of the German Wehrmacht until reinforcements could arrive and engage the enemy, importantly at the two crossroads towns of Bastogne and St. Vith and along the entire front, which formed the shape of a bulge on the map as the Germans advanced.

Seventy one years ago tonight, GI Joe was settling in for a good night's rest - the last one he'll have for awhile. Many will never have a good night's rest, or a good meal, or any other comfort again. They won't be going home.

Suggested reading on the opening days of The Bulge:

"To Save Bastogne", Robert Phillips:

http://www.amazon.com/Save-Bastogne-Robert-F-Phillips/dp/0812829077/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387698685&sr=1-1&keywords=to+save+bastogne

"Alamo in the Ardennes: The Untold Story of the American Soldiers Who Made the Defense of Bastogne Possible ", John C. McManus:

http://www.amazon.com/Alamo-Ardennes-American-Soldiers-Bastogne/dp/0471739057/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387698783&sr=1-1&keywords=alamo+in+the+ardennes

[laplata]

Thanks for posting this, OKSooner.

This should never be forgotten and always appreciated.

[xone]

Go Army!

[2banana]

I just finished “A time for trumpets”

Excellent book. Dispels a lot of myths.

Biggest one is that the Americans ran away or surrendered - they fought hard for every mile. Even burnt out National Guard units.

The Germans really had no chance. Even if everything went their way, which it didn’t, their plan to capture Antwerp and split the allies had no hope of success.

[yarddog]

That battle is where the combat engineers proved their value.

According to Joachim Peiper, it was “those damn engineers” who stopped them.

[The_Media_never_lie]

Good post!

[GreyFriar]

You can read online or download the entire US Army Center of Military History’s official history “The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge,” by Hugh M. Cole.

http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/007/7-8-1/index.html

S.L.A. Marshall’s “Bastogne, the First Eight Days” is online at:

http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/Bastogne/bast-fm.htm

I also recommend Charles MacDonald’s “A Time for Trumpets,” and John Eisenhower’s “The Bitter Woods.”

Janice Holt Giles’ “The Damned Engineers” is about the 291st Engineer Battalion (Combat) previously mentioned in this thread.

[MuttTheHoople]

The biggest mistake the Germans made- machine-gunning American Prisoners at Malmedy. When word of that got out, every foxhole became a fortress, and every GI became a savage angel of death.

For the rest of the war, Waffen SS troops had little chance of becoming prisoners....they were just shot for the principle of it. As those who fought alongside my dad in Vietnam said: Payback's a M***********.

[StoneWall Brigade]

Ping

[DCBryan1]

Too bad Deep in the Hurtgen Forest (DITHF) and Brian Williams are not here to give their accounts: