BLACKHAWKNJ
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In a last desperate attempt to stave off defeat, Hitler launches Operation Autumn Fog, AKA The Watch on the Rhein. The Battle of the Bulge begins.
December 16, 1944
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My father spent that winter dug in with his Hellcat, and said it was the hungriest he'd ever been.
When we visited Bastogne together in the 80s, it was the first time I saw him tear up.
When we visited Bastogne together in the 80s, it was the first time I saw him tear up.
My dad trudged along as a combat mechanic with the Third Herd.
All I can say regarding your visit to Bastogne with you father is WOW!
I had two uncles in the Ardennes during this time. One a tanker who was wounded and the other on a mortar team. They both made it home after the war.
My dad was sitting in an American P.O.W. camp. He had been captured by Patton's 3rd Army near Metz in October.
I finally got to watch the outstanding film Oppenheimer a week or so ago. I agree 100% with Oppenheimer—"I regret not getting the bomb fast enough to use against the Germans."
I would have given Adolf a final solution right there in Berlin. And I suspect it would have had the double benefit of putting the fear of the lord in the Russians too!
I would have given Adolf a final solution right there in Berlin. And I suspect it would have had the double benefit of putting the fear of the lord in the Russians too!
Glynn863
Member
80 years ago, my father's family thought that my dad's uncle may have been a casualty during the Bulge, because his letters from Europe had stopped. Sometime either around Christmas 1944 or New Year's 1945, they found out that the uncle was KIA near Lindern Germany on December 4, 1944, before the Bulge. A sad holiday season that year.
As the general said "NUTS!"
My uncle was there as a combat infantryman with the 2nd Armored. Spent the rest of his life trying to get warm.
My father and his older brother were both in the fight. My uncle was a tanker with the 2nd Armor. He had been in the Army since sometime in '39. My father was a Chemical Weapons Tech Sgt. He had been FDNY before he was drafted so having him deal with incendiaries, flame throwers and smoke generators seemed like a good fit. He had been attached to a fighter-bomber group in France and got detached and sent to the northern side of the fight. His detachment had 3 vehicles to transport the personnel, liquids and equipment including a 4.2 in Chemical Mortar. He told me he was with the 9th Army and wound up under command of the British. He said the British had hot tea every afternoon no matter what.
He only kept 2 things from the war: an aircrew survival knife which I have, and his galoshes from the Battle of the Bulge. He said he would not have survived without them.
He only kept 2 things from the war: an aircrew survival knife which I have, and his galoshes from the Battle of the Bulge. He said he would not have survived without them.
December 16th is also the day a few fellows in Boston dressed up like Indians and threw a bunch of His Majesty's tea into the water.
