The Battle of the Bulge came to an end on this day 75 years ago....

I often wonder if they might have been better served throwing those forces against the Red Army. There had to be a point where the Russians had over extended themselves in their march to the West and could be hurt with enough of a blow.

To me they were the real threat to Germany. I don't know if Hitler's people knew the Allies would stop at the Elbe but I'm thinking at some point they learned a deal was struck .

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If anyone reading this thread hasn’t watched Band of Brothers, it’s an absolute must.

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My favorite part is that they're all adamant that they didn't need saving from Patton

About 10 years ago, I was part of a group that went to Paris to work on a project with the defense attaché in the US embassy. Over a long weekend, a few of us went to Bastogne to visit the memorial to the people who fought at the Battle of the Bulge. While there, an older gentleman with 15ish folks with him came to the memorial. He had fought at the Battle of the Bulge, had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and brought his whole family with him to see where their dad, grandfather, and great grandfather had fought.

We ended up talking to him for about an hour. He talked about how cold it was. He talked about how scared he was during the battle. But each time he talked about the men he fought with in Bastogne, his eyes changed just a little and you could tell he was going back to that day in his mind. Very special moment for all of us.


ETA: If you ever get the opportunity to go to Bastogne, add The American Memorial Cemetery in Luxembourg to your list. It is the largest memorial cemetery outside of the US and where Patton is buried. Most his men are buried there and after his wreck, infection, and impending death they wanted to ship him back to the US to be buried. He refused to be transported back because he wanted to be buried with his men who had fallen.

Not far from the American cemetery is a cemetery for the Germans who died there. They are buried 3 deep on each side of the headstone. No where near manicured to the level of the American cemetery. As I stood in the German cemetery, I couldn’t help but feel for the families of the men buried there. War is hell, we did what we had to do, but those men were fighting for their country just like our men were.