Veterans of Battle of the Bulge gather in Tucson

Arizona Daily Star ^ | Carol Ann Alaimo

[SandRat]

World War II Army veterans Chuck McGuire, right, and Theodore Carder listen to speakers at a national reunion of Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge held at El Presidio Park.

Photos by Jill Torrance / Arizona daily Star

James Navarro, Flowing Wells High School junior ROTC member, salutes the flag during Wednesday's ceremony. Officials from Belgium and Luxembourg attended.

[Frantzie]

Real heroes. I see the one chap has an A for Airborne.

[Forgiven_Sinner]

Ah! My Dad was in the Battle of the Bulge, lost his tank destroyer, transferred to infantry, and got injured in Belgium with mortar fire, getting his purple heart. He would be 86, if he were alive today.

[cripplecreek]

My granddad passed away about 6 years back. Lost the hearing in one ear when a German 88 MM artillery shell (I believe) exploded nearby.

[Tennessee Nana]

God Bless those wonderful men...

[hinckley buzzard]

I was talking with a vet of Bastogne the other day. I asked him about where he served, he said "Belgium...F*ing Belgium! Boy was it cold! I still don't like the cold." He had some interesting things to say about his officers as well.

[workerbee]

My great-uncle died during this battle when he was just 19. It is still hard to comprehend the number of casualties of that war. Hundreds or thousands, daily. Just incredible.

God bless all of these American heroes.

[Dutchboy88]

When one compares the character and integrity of these men to that of the current administration (fighting to force homosexuality onto our children), it tells us something about how far we have fallen in the past 50 years. Tragic.

[mware]

Bless them all.

My father and three uncles all fought at the Bulge.

My last surviving uncle use to attend the reunions until his death in 2008.

[Cathy]

Bless these men, brings tears to my eyes.

[taillightchaser]

GOD BLESS THESE SAVIOURS OF OUR FREEDOM!!!!

[doc1019]

If you are talking about the A with a circle around it, I believe that was the patch for the 1st Army not airborne.

[guitarplayer1953]

My name sake was kill in the battle. I remember when my father died in 72 and at the funeral grounds I was looking around and looked down and saw what I thought was my name it turned out to be the uncle whom I was named after very freaky moment.

[Le Chien Rouge]

When I was 11,My grandfather took me to Europe and we spent alot of time at various areas that were battlefields in and around Bastogne. It was the late 70’s and some of the bomb craters were still visible.

Also, he showed me a hill where he commanded an anti-aircraft gun. He said that the German planes would fly in the valley and his crew would have to shoot down. They knew that they would be killing civilians but it was war and winning was the ticket home. I got a month long history lesson that I never forgot.

THE BEST vacation I ever had was that month in Europe.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

“...biggest, bloodiest land fight in U.S. history...”

Not saying Bulge was any kind of tea party, it was a grueling, terrifying hell, but it probably wasn’t as bloody as Gettysburg by a long shot. Correction welcome.

[SandRat]

[AlphaOneAlpha]

My uncle went through and survived the battle of the bulge and many other campaigns in Europe. A very soft spoken and refined guy, he hardly ever made mention of WWII. As a 2nd Lt.platooon commander, he saw more than his fair share of action. It is only now that I am in my 60’s that I wish I could tell him how much I admired his valor and contribution to this country. Uncle Frank was always more interested in my Viet Nam combat experiences. As I look back on it, I kinda’ think it was his way to deflect my interest and probing in his experiences....and I was always very reluctant to share my experiences. I guess that is what combat does to folks, family or others. Discussion stalmate.

P.S. Even though I now live more than 1,000 miles from where he’s buried, I still have his grave decorated on the Holidays.

[unkus]

That would be Third Army

[unkus]

Those were Armored Division patches.

[doc1019]

Thank you, I knew it wasn’t airborne. My father had one on his uniform and I know he had never jumped out of an airplane.