Posted on 12/17/2004 1:31:46 PM PST by knighthawk
BASTOGNE, Belgium -- U.S. veterans laid wreaths at ceremonies across southern Belgium and Luxembourg on Thursday, marking the 60th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Bulge, in which U.S. forces defeated Nazi Germany's last bid to reverse the rapid advance of Allied forces toward Berlin.
The commemorations marking World War II's largest land battle in which U.S. troops participated were held at memorials and cemeteries across the hilly and wooded Ardennes region that formed the battlefield that bitterly cold winter of 1944.
In the battle, more than a million troops -- 600,000 Germans, 500,000 Americans and 55,000 Britons -- fought in the snow from Dec. 16, 1944, to Jan. 25, 1945.
Night vigils were held at several places along the serpentine front, and there was a brief memorial service at the Mardasson Memorial near Bastogne, the town that was surrounded by Germans whose offensive created a "bulge" around the town and threatened to cut it off.
Erected in 1950, the memorial is a vast star-shaped monument that stands 40 feet tall and honors the memory of killed and wounded U.S. soldiers or those who disappeared during the offensive. U.S. troops suffered 80,000 casualties, including 19,000 deaths.
On Saturday, it will be the venue of the main commemoration ceremony attended by King Albert II of Belgium and Dennis Hastert, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Ahead of the event, U.S. Ambassador Tom Korologos said the Battle of the Ardennes represented a "living message."
"It is as relevant for our youth as for the veterans who fought. That message is that freedom must be continually defended against forces that seek to subvert it," he added, "whether against a totalitarian state in 1944 that sought to destroy democracy in the name of a repugnant philosophy, or against global terrorism today that seeks to destroy Western ideas."
The Mardasson memorial bears the names of Army units that participated in the action.
Bastogne is central to the commemoration events. Several roads converged at the town in 1944, making it critical to blocking the German advance.
Today, a parade of 300 World War II-era military vehicles will move through the town's narrow streets, passing by the town square named for Anthony MacAuliffe, the acting commander of the 101st Airborne whose paratroopers repulsed repeated attacks.
On Dec. 22, 1944, MacAuliffe was given two hours to surrender by the Germans or face "total annihilation." His famous reply -- which stumped the Germans -- was "Nuts!"
Ping
Staggering. Thanks you for your sacrifices WWII Vets!
If the media today of today were reporting on the fighting in WWII/ on both fronts we would have already surrrendered.
"Nuts"
The greatest line ever delivered by ANY American officer.
Hitler threw everything he had into to it, but he lost...
Sixty years ago today three German armies totaling a half million men caught advancing U.S. forces in the Ardennes region of Belgium and Luxembourg by surprise and initiated the events that resulted in the Battle of the Bulge.
Thanks to the unbelievable endurance, bravery and sacrifice of the American forces who slowed the German advance sufficiently for General Patton to bring the Third Army to bear, the Battle of the Bulge was Hitler's last gasp.
The German call for the surrender of the surrounded American forces under General McAuliffe's command at Bastogne resulted in General McAuliffe's immortal, untranslatable response. "If you don't understand what 'Nuts!' means," Colonel Joseph Harper explained to his mystified German interlocutors, "in plain English it is the same as 'Go to hell.' And I will tell you something else; if you continue to attack, we will kill every goddamn German that tries to break into this city."
Actually that was the second greatest line, the first comment is unprintable in a public forum and was also 4 letters long with and s and t in it also.
Hitler couldn't abandon the eastern front.
He was fighting the commies and his Western front was to him a side show, his real enemy was the communists.
The bulge would have never been fought if patton had been allowed to exploit the falais gap and destroy the armies that where there instead of being forced by Ike to let those armies escape.
Ike was in general and Incompetent general who did not understand maneuver warfare but did understand politics, which was his saving grace.
To all veterans past and present: You are the HEART of this great nation and with God at our side America will prevail.
It would have been a different world, if Patton had been let loose with proper supplies.
My dad entered the Battle of the Bulge in early January, 1945. He was among a group of 18 year old replacements who had just arrived from Ft. Dix. He was in the 75th Infantry Div. There were 24 in his group who went to the front lines that morning. 24 hours later there were 8 left. All 8 made it through the rest of the war. He said the snow was red with blood. I was proud to be able to take him and Mom to the WWII Memorial Dedication in Washington this past May.
That's great that he made it to the memorial dedication. My wife and her mother attended in honor of my wife's father, a deceased 3d Army vet who made it from Normandy to Germany. He was on his way to the Pacific when peace was suddenly inflicted on the Japanese.
My Dad was waiting in LaHarve, France for the arrival of a ship to take him to the Pacific when the Japanese surrenderd. Because of his short term in Europe, he had to stay another 12 months in France helping with the clean-up efforts. He finally made it home in July, 1946.
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