December 22 1944 > General Discussion

Posted: 12/22/2004 7:17:00 AM EDT

I wanted to post something about the sacrifices made during the holidays so I searched Battle Of The Bulge, I was overwhelmed, by the great American will to be free and by the gift our bravest gave to us. I'm at a loss for words

KNOW why you can still celebrate the holidays in the greatest nation ever to emerge on this planet
Remember the brave men who gave their soul to this country
Remember what they did for you on these holidays
KNOW that their decendants are still giving ALL for this great country
God Bless and have a Great Christmas

The German Ardennes Offensive, popularly known as the Battle of the Bulge, started in late December 1944 and was the last major German offensive on the Western Front during World War II. The German army had intended to split the Allied line in half, capturing Antwerp and then proceding to sweep north to encircle and destroy four Allied armies, thus forcing the Allies' armies to negotiate peace treaties in the Axis' favor.

Although ultimately unsuccessful, the offensive nevertheless tied down huge amounts of Allied resources, and the slow response of the Allies to the resulting gap in their lines erased months from their timetable. An alternative analysis is that the offensive allowed the Allies to severely deplete the cream of the German army outside the defenses of the West Wall and left Germany's remaining forces in a poor state of supply, thus greatly easing the assault on Germany afterward. In numerical terms, it is the largest battle the United States Army has fought to date.

Casualties (estimated)
78,000 casualties (8,607 dead, 21,144 captured/missing, 47,139 wounded), 733 tanks lost
Strength
80,000 men, 400 tanks, 400 guns (Dec 16 - start of the Battle)

Malmédy massacre
December 17
On December 17, 1944, near the hamlet of Baugnez, on the height half-way between the town of Malmedy and Ligneuville, in Belgium, elements of Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Peiper encountered the American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion. After a brief battle, the Americans surrendered. About 150 of the prisoners of war were disarmed and sent to stand in a field near the crossroads.

Peiper and his leading armoured units then continued their advance.

A tank pulled up, and a truck shortly thereafter. A single SS officer pulled out a pistol and shot a medical officer standing in the front row, and then shot the man standing next to the medical officer. Other soldiers joined in with machine guns. It is not known why this happened; there is no record of an order by an SS officer - however, such routine shootings of POWs were common on the Eastern front. Such incidents were uncommon on the Western front.

Many of the prisoners escaped into the nearby woods. Some 72-84 of the prisoners were killed, their bodies were left on the field where they fell.

An American patrol discovered the massacre that night. News of it spread quickly among Allied troops. Afterwards, the order went out: SS and Fallschirmjäger were to be shot on sight.

American forces recaptured the site where the killings took place on January 13, 1945. The bodies were recovered on January 14 - 15, 1945.

The memorial at Baugnez bears the names of the murdered soldiers.

By December 21, the German forces had completely surrounded Bastogne, which was defended by the 101st Airborne Division. Conditions inside the perimeter were tough—most of the medical supplies and personnel had been captured. However, despite determined German attacks, the perimeter held. When General Anthony McAuliffe was awakened by a German invitation to surrender, he gave a one-syllable reply that has been variously reported and was probably unprintable. However, there is no disagreement as to what he wrote on the paper delivered to the Germans: "NUTS!" That reply had to be explained, both to the Germans and to non-American Allies.²

ardenvest.free.fr

www.scrapbookpages.com/DachauScrapbook/DachauTrials

www.arlingtoncemetery.net

members.iinet.net.au/~gduncan/massacres.html

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malmedy_massacre

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge

Posted: 12/22/2004 7:25:39 AM EDT

[#1]

Sent to the Third Army by General Patton:

Posted: 12/22/2004 7:27:02 AM EDT

[#2]

Posted: 12/22/2004 7:30:11 AM EDT

[#3]

Posted: 12/22/2004 7:31:14 AM EDT

[#4]

My uncle was wounded in the battle of the bulge. I'll forward this tribute to him. He's a good man.

Patty

Posted: 12/22/2004 7:32:16 AM EDT

[#5]

Posted: 12/22/2004 7:32:48 AM EDT

[#6]

Posted: 12/22/2004 7:36:33 AM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
Sent to the Third Army by General Patton:

www.gunsnet.net/album/data//500/7718Patton_cardA.jpg

www.gunsnet.net/album/data//500/7718Patton_cardB.jpg

Can you imagine an American General ordering his soldiers to pray for good weather so they can more effectively fight the enemy?

The US press corps would have kittens, the NYT would be appoplectic, it would be the end of the world to alot of people, and even so, many of us would get down on our knees and pray with them.

Posted: 12/22/2004 7:56:39 AM EDT

[#8]

I'll have a shot of Jameson's tonight and toast my Uncle Vince. Uncle Vince was listed as KIA but turned up badly wounded when the shifting lines came back in US hands. He was scouting and was blown out of his vehicle during a firefight on 12/26/44 and made it as far as a chicken coop about a 1/2 mile away when he heard German voices and decided discretion was the better part of valor. Two days later, some GIs found him. It took him over a year in stateside hospitals to recover from his wounds. My grandmother had already got a telegram "Regretting to inform" about his death. Almost a month later she learned he was in a hospital in England. I can't imagine the pain she, my grandfather, my mom and the other sisters and brothers (all 11 of them) felt and the relief when they got the good news.

If you asked Vince about the Bulge, he'd just mumble and say he waited it out in a chicken coop. "I didn't see shit" was his standard reply to any questions about his time in Western Europe from '43-44. His Bronze Star and Purple Hearts belied that.

RIP Uncle Vince.

Posted: 12/22/2004 12:40:17 PM EDT

[#9]

Thanks to all who serve(d).

Posted: 12/22/2004 12:41:11 PM EDT

[#10]

Posted: 12/22/2004 1:10:51 PM EDT

[#11]

Casualties (estimated)
78,000 casualties (8,607 dead, 21,144 captured/missing, 47,139 wounded), 733 tanks lost
Strength
80,000 men, 400 tanks, 400 guns (Dec 16 - start of the Battle)

Am I reading that right, 78,000 casualties out of 80,000 men? Can you imagine being one of the 2,000 dudes unscathed... You'd feel like one lucky son of a gun.

Posted: 12/22/2004 1:15:07 PM EDT

[#12]

Brave men one and all.

Posted: 12/22/2004 1:18:02 PM EDT

[#13]

If the leftists in the media today were around back then, they'd be demanding Eisenhower's and Patton's resignations and be whipping up the most dejected, moral-sapping, fatalistic account of how bad we were doing.

Makes me want to go spit on a journalist.

Posted: 12/22/2004 1:20:18 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
Sent to the Third Army by General Patton:

www.gunsnet.net/album/data//500/7718Patton_cardA.jpg

www.gunsnet.net/album/data//500/7718Patton_cardB.jpg

"Get me the name of that chaplain! I'm going to decorate him! He's in good with The Lord!"

-George S. Patton, General, USA

Posted: 12/22/2004 1:22:01 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:

If the leftists in the media today were around back then, they'd be demanding Eisenhower's and Patton's resignations and be whipping up the most dejected, moral-sapping, fatalistic account of how bad we were doing.

Makes me want to go spit on a journalist.

No...if the fucking Lefty media assholes were around in force then as they are now, we'd all be slaving under the banner of the CCCP now.

Posted: 12/22/2004 3:31:02 PM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:

Casualties (estimated)
78,000 casualties (8,607 dead, 21,144 captured/missing, 47,139 wounded), 733 tanks lost
Strength
80,000 men, 400 tanks, 400 guns (Dec 16 - start of the Battle)

Am I reading that right, 78,000 casualties out of 80,000 men? Can you imagine being one of the 2,000 dudes unscathed... You'd feel like one lucky son of a gun.

Thats how many where there at the star of the battle many more fought than 80,000

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - December 22 1944

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - December 22 1944