re: 74 years ago today the Battle of the Bulge started

My uncle was in Luxembourg when the attack started. He got three fingers shot off. He went through the rest of his life with just a thumb and index finger on his left hand.

He died a few years ago in his mid 90s.

He was a beer drinking, French speaking, Cajun dancing, duck hunting, marsh fishing native of St Martin Parish.

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My uncle was in Luxembourg when the attack started. He got three fingers shot off. He went through the rest of his life with just a thumb and index finger on his left hand. 

He died a few years ago in his mid 90s. 

He was a beer drinking, French speaking, Cajun dancing, duck hunting, marsh fishing native of St Martin Parish

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My paw paw lost a few toes. He was a plant baw from Central/Pride.

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My great-uncle was at the Battle of the Bulge. The experience gave him mental illness. We now call it PTSD. Spent most of the rest of his life in VA hospitals. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia but most likely severe PTSD; either way he couldn't function

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Sorry to hear that.

My paw paw lived a normal, long life. He didn't like to talk about it much though but he would occasionally. He landed in France a few days after d day.

My uncle was a paratrooper in the BotB.
He had a mortar explode nearby on just before he touched down and spent the rest of the war in a French hospital.

Good stuff. I had never heard of him before. And that something, because I have been stationed at Fort Bragg three times. I have seen nothing on post that is named for him (though there may be) and that is a shame.

ETA: Just did a quick query. Seems the only thing that is done to honor Lt Col Megellas is a “best paratrooper” competition by the 1st Brigade Combat Team. It was started in 2013.

Devil Brigade to Host Inaugural Towle-Megellas Competition

My great-uncle was an officer with the 101st airborne and was severely wounded at Bastogne. He had been put on a truck with the dead soldiers when a couple of the men under his command who had come to bid him farewell saw him move slightly. He recovered fully after several surgeries. There is a group picture of his company taken when they were training in England pre-Dday....like a team photo. My uncle wrote the names of every man on the back of the picture. Around twenty five percent of them he noted as killed in action. He was a great man and his men certainly loved him.

There are still some Congressmen pushing to get him the Medal of Honor. If I remember correctly, only 4 other guys are known to have singlehandedly taken out a Panzer, and all 4 of them have been awarded the Medal of Honor. When Megellas’ superior officer submitted his official battle report, Megellas’ feat was somehow left out of the report. I hope it is awarded to him while he’s still alive. His wife is still alive and well too -such amazing people. He even visited his former outfit in Afghanistan a few years ago at age 97.

There’s also a dvd about him called “Maggie’s War” - LINK.

Here’s an account of the action that earned him the Distinguished Service Cross:

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First Lieutenant James Megellas, Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division, United States Army. For extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy as a Platoon Leader, Company H, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, on 30 September 1944, in Holland. First Lieutenant Megellas led his platoon on a combat patrol to secure information and prisoners. Arriving at the enemy observation post, he crawled forward alone and killed two outpost guards and the crew of a machine gun nest. He brought forward his patrol, attacked the main enemy defenses and singlehandedly secured three prisoners and killed two more. Two blockhouses were then attacked and destroyed. The aggressiveness of this patrol action thoroughly demoralized the enemy in the sector. His mission completed, First Lieutenant Megellas withdrew his platoon through the enemy lines and under mortar fire. He personally carried a wounded man while firing his Thompson Submachine gun with one hand. The extraordinary heroism and brilliant leadership displayed by First Lieutenant Megellas enabled his patrol to inflict disproportionate casualties on the enemy, secure vital information and force the Germans to abandon their planned offensive in the area. His conduct was an inspiration to his men and a credit to the United States Airborne Forces

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I may be completely wrong about this, but I'm pretty sure that the Bulge and Iwo Jima are the only two battles in the entire war, in both theaters, that American casualty rates were higher than enemy.

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Watch the Movie, battle of the bulge


DON'T watch that movie. It's terrible and it's historically inaccurate.

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Sounds like it is time for us to get Christopher Nolan to make a new movie about the BoB