Posted on 10/08/2009 5:18:58 PM PDT by SandRat
That is the patch of Patton’s 3rd Army
Believe that is 3rd army ensignia
My dad didn`t quite make the Battle of the Buldge,caught
a tree burst that left him with a scar from his right
shoulder to below his left hip
Dad would have been 100 in Feb
In terms of fatalities Bulge was second, Gettysburg fourth:
1 Battle of Meuse-Argonne World War I: 26,277
2 Battle of the Bulge (WW2) 19,276
3 Battle of Okinawa (WW2) 12,513
4 Battle of Gettysburg (Civil) 7,863
5 Battle of Guadalcanal (WW2) 7,099
6 Battle of Iwo Jima (WW2) 6,821
7 Antietam (Civil) 3,654
8 Battle of Shiloh (Civil) 3,482
9 Bull Run II (Civil) 3,000
10 Battle of Saipan (WW2) 2,949
No, that was the Third Army...Paton’s Own.
My dad was captured December 18th in Heurtgen Forest. He was 3rd Army. Spent 6 months in a German POW camp (most of that time loading and unloading barges outside of Dresden).
He witnessed the bombing of Dresden, and was liberated by the Russians.
The one thing Dad remembers the most is the intense cold. It was one of the coldest winters of the century in Europe.
Interesting, my daughter was born 40 years to the day after his capture.
Gee, my dad served under Patton, who knew. He made it a point never to talked about what he did during WWII. All I know about his service in WWII was that he was in Armored. During the Korean War, he became a medic. Retired after 26 years in the Army. He died in 2001.
Thanks for that correction...I thought G-burg was in the 50-60K range, and frankly hadn’t even thought the US suffered anything like that number of concentrated KIA in WWI at all.
If anyone is interested in a book dealing with the Bulge at the retail, grunt level I suggest:
Poorly organized and editted but this guy understands combat at the squad and platoon level. I can’t recommend it enough.
I would never have guessed World War I either, though we lost 100,000 KIA in a very short time there. Those numbers are all KIA, btw.
Thanks; just put in my request via Interlibrary Loan.
When you’re finished let me know what you think of it.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
God bless all your family members and thank them for their service. They are in a nice, warm place now with lots of their friends and families. They were and still are true heroes and deserve the very best.
About 19,000 U.S. personnel were killed -- some by gunfire, others by the weather -- and about 62,000 were wounded.
Same with my Unk. Miss him much. God got him now.
You’re welcome. My Dad was in CBI - China, India Burma.
God bless them all.
And God Bless our current military, who seem to be of the same caliber as or WWII military.
Out current military is outstanding. God bless them.
“I consider it no sacrifice to die for my country. In my mind, we came here to thank God that men like these have lived rather than to regret that they have died.”
General George S. Patton
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