[riverdawg]

I had a conversation on Sunday with a 97-year-old member of our church who was in the Battle of the Bulge (196th Field Artillery). He said he dug a big hole, put his army blanket at the bottom, and then slept on top of the blanket.

[SMARTY]

Dad said that before the fight, some HUGE MP's showed up and rousted them out of bed, very unceremoniously and forced them into canvas covered trucks, in the dark and COLD.

The MP’s wouldn't answer questions except to swear and shove and kick everyone out of bed and into trucks.

He said they bounced down the road all night and in the dark without ANY illumination. Someone had a bottle of Calvados and he said, they'd have been dead at the destination without it.

They got to the fight (the Bulge) tired, cold, hungry and all scrambled and mixed up. He didn't see the guys he knew and trained with. He fought with guys he didn't know and everyone was confused.

They got wise quick enough and toughed it out from there.