On December 16, 1944, Germany launched a massive surprise counter-attack on American lines in the Ardennes (a forested area in Belgium and Luxembourg), breaking through to create a 45-mile salient in what became known as the Battle of the Bulge.
Prior to the attack, 83,000 Americans in four divisions (the 28th, 4th, 106th, and 99th) held an 80-mile, thinly stretched line that crossed through the Ardennes region. It was supposed to be a quiet front, and two of the divisions were there to recover from battle, and the other two were composed of green troops.
At 5:30 a.m. on December 16th, with almost no warning, the Germans attacked the American line, first with artillery and then a rush of infantry. The German goal was to break through the line and charge onward to Antwerp, an important Allied port that had recently been reopened. By doing so, the Germans planned to choke Allied supplies and split their forces in two. American troops in many places along the line were initially overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of German troops (200,000), artillery, and armored vehicles, and German forces were able to create a 45-mile salient into Allied territory, though they failed to reach Antwerp. Due to weather, the Allies couldn’t send in air support for more than a week.
After the weather cleared, the Allies were able to send in powerful air support and to air drop supplies, and Allied forces from the north and south began to fight their way to the middle. However, these ground forces were delayed, which allowed many of the Germans still in the bulge to withdraw before they were trapped. The battle was considered over on 25 January, when the last of the German forces withdrew from the salient.
Fighting was fierce in the Battle of the Bulge, and it was the biggest battle on the European western front. In fact, about 1 in 10 American combat casualties in the entire war occurred during the battle. It’s estimated that more than a million men, and 600,000 Americans, participated. Casualty estimates vary, but American dead is usually placed at 20,000 with three or four times that wounded, captured, or missing. German casualties are even harder to pin down, but estimates generally place them at roughly equal to or greater than the Americans’. At least 2,500 civilians were also killed.
The battle was a costly loss for Germany, since the attack didn’t appreciably slow the American invasion of Germany but did cost the Germans large numbers of troops that could have potentially been used later to defend their western border.
Did you have family members who fought in the Battle of the Bulge? Tell us about them! Or learn more about the battle by starting a search on Fold3.
For anyone who wants learn what a close call this really was should research the 714th Tank Bat. U.S. The 714th had had their equipment taken as replacements for units in the field before their arrival.
The battle becomes serious, and the army strips the repair depots of British Fireflies, M-10 M-36 TDs. Then things got a little crazy, the Americans didn’t know how to use the British radios. This was one of the only times in WWII that US troops used signal flags for an extended time in combat.
My research of my family shows my uncle was taken prisoner there.
Richard, as a long time radio amateur or ham radio guy, I find it difficult to understand why our U.S. Army signal corps guys couldn’t figure out how to operate the British radio gear. What was the problem?
Hello Bruce,
I ran across this tid bit a few years ago when I started researching the U.S.Army Archives. I was looking for the basic TO&E for an armour unit in the Dec. to Feb, 1944-1945 time frame.
Any ways they have a column listing different units and their Equipment. Then I did some google searches on different units and the 714th was one that was amazing. It was in this part of my prowling that I read about the radio problem, I don’t know if time was the big factor or something else, but it caught my attention, and it mentioned the use of the hand flags or paddles that were used. Hope this helps.
Merry Christmas,
Richard Bush
For Richard Bush: Interesting anecdote about the signal flags that I have not read about before. Can you give me your source? my email: [email protected]
My dad was supposedly in the Battle of the Bulge. Can I get info on this. His name was George Courtney Quattlebaum Jr.
One o the bet general histories is the volume in the USA Army in WWII series: The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge by Hugh Cole (I think)
For specific information, if you know the unit he was in, try the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Ask for the unit records available for December 1944. You may get the S-3 Journal (a log minute by minute of actions, messages etc, an After Action Report (AAR), a monthly summary of activities. You can find these reports for separate units and also for higher headquarters as well.
Fill out paperwork, release, w/ your U.S. Senator for your Dad’s Discharge, Personnel records, & medical records. Personnel in St. Louis, MO will lie & say his records were destroyed in a fire in 1972.
Only records destroyed were W, X, Y, Z from WW I. It will take an order from your US Senator, because St. Louis Records Personnel are lazy, welfare leeches that also can’t read!!!
That’s how I got my Dad’s records as a flying tiger!!!
My grandfather was in battle of the buldge. Very interested in more pictures. Or just general info
My Uncle Robert Clinton Holleman was also captured at the Battle of the Bulge. Would like to find more info on him.
My mother’s brother Francis A. Morgan was in and survived the Battle of the
Bulge. He was the only survivor of his platoon. He was hit by shrapnel being wounded he laid in the fox hole for hours and heard voices and was able to stand up thinking the voices were his troops only to be shot by some Germans and then played dead for 72 hrs until he was rescued by our forces and was medivaced out.
This from his own words in a letter he wrote to his mother my grandmother. I have that letter.
My dad, Roy Putnam, died 18 Nov 2015, missing the 70th anniversary by less than a month.
From Dauntless, A History of the 99th Infantry Division (Wm Cavanagh, 1994), pp. 140-142:
Private First Class Edward W. Schuhardt was an automatic rifleman with the 3rd Platoon. On the 16th [of December], he and Pvt. Roy F. Putnam shared a foxhole on the southern side of the Schwarzenbruch trail. About thirty yards to their right was McGarity’s squad. A muddy forest path separated McGarity’s squad from Schuhardt and Putnam. The forest path intersected the Schwarzenbruch trail at a perpendicular angle. Schuhardt and Putnam were positioned at this intersection the previous day and instructed to defend it until ordered to withdraw. They received their instructions from the leader of the 3rd Platoon, 2nd Lt. Richard J. Burns. Schuhardt was not favorably impressed with Burns’ approach that day: “He treated us like schoolboys…’I don’t want you running away from here, or I’m gonna have you court-martialed’.”
Under threat of court-martial, Schuhardt and Putnam enjoyed spaghetti and meatballs for breakfast the next morning. Their breakfast had been “acquired” the previous afternoon at the Company L command post. It would be their only food that day; a battle was about to erupt around them.
Putnam glanced out of their foxhole and spotted a group of men setting up a machine gun to the north, across the Schwarzenbruch trail. He turned to Schuhardt and asked, “Why the hell are they setting up a machine gun there? We’re here guarding this intersection.” Schuhardt looked to see what was going on. “Shit, those are Krauts!” The enemy machine gun crew was positioning the weapon so they could rake McGarity’s squad and fire down the path that separated them from Schuhardt and Putnam, effectively cutting the escape route of everybody to the east of the path. The 1st and 2nd Platoons of Company L would be among those isolated. As the machine gun crew went about setting up their weapon, they failed to spot Schuhardt and Putnam. Schuhardt recalled that “they didn’t know we were there. There were at least three of them. They put down their tripod and were putting the gun on the tripod when I let ‘em have it.”
Schuhardt and Putnam now directed their attention to the right, toward the swarm of SS grenadiers coming from the east. Schuhardt was firing his BAR at them when a grenadier suddenly approached from the north. He was apparently trying to eliminate Schuhardt and his menacing automatic rifle. Schuhardt caught sight of him and swung his BAR around. The grenadier was no more than thirty feet away and was preparing to hurl a stick grenade. A burst of fire from Schuhardt’s BAR dropped him in the middle of the Schwarzenbruch trail. Some of McGarity’s men fired at his body as it lay in the trail. Their fire caused the grenadier’s arm to move. Putnam saw the movement and yelled, “He’s still alive!” Schuhardt then pumped a couple of rounds into him. This caused more movement which made it appear as though the grenadier was crawling across the trail. Some of McGarity’s men opened fire again. The sight of movement was unsettling despite the fact that the grenadier was absolutely riddled and certainly dead.
…
Amidst the rumble of approaching enemy tanks, Juhl [1st platoon] became the de facto platoon leader and set out to advise “his” squad leaders of the order that Oliver had brought [“hold at all cost”—Oliver took off to the rear to check on things and left the squads stranded]. As he did so, the tanks drew closer. Young SS grenadiers clad in gray overcoats followed close behind. Edward Schuhardt could hear them “yelling and hollering like they were having good time.”
The approaching tanks belonged to the Kampfgruppe Muller, but were much heavier than the Jagdpanzers already committed in the area as assault guns. Each approaching tank weighed some forty-five metric tons. They were Panthers from the panzer battalion reinforcing Kampfgruppe Muller. These Panthers belonged to the 1st Company of SS Panzer Regiment 12. The first Panther stopped on the Schwarzenbruch trail just before it reached the 1st Platoon of Company L. The crew of the Panther fired its bow machine gun for several minutes, but not its high-velocity 75-mm cannon. The fire caused some casualties and an effort was made to put artillery fire on the Panther, but this proved difficult because of poor observation and communication. A mortar observer from Company M acted as an artillery forward observer and called his sightings back to the battalion command post.
… Friendly artillery poured in, but the Panther and those behind it remained unscathed.
…
As yet, Company L had given no ground to Kampfgruppe Muller, but as 2nd Platoon received word to pull back, that changed. The 1st Platoon was also to pull back but did not receive the word. …he [Levdansky of 2nd Platoon] was supposed to notify S/Sgt Juhl, but for whatever reason, he didn’t. …Germans poured through. …
…enemy forces to the south, east, and north. … Juhl got the word to pull back. He was able to pass the word to all of his squad leaders except one—S/Sgt McGarity. … never got word.
To the left of McGarity’s squad, Edward Schuhardt and Roy Putnam pulled back when a Panther crashed through the trees a short distance from their foxhole. Near the Panther were several grenadiers who began pointing toward Schuhardt and Putnam. The tank’s turret began turning menacingly toward their foxhole, but abruptly stopped when the cannon barrel struck a tree trunk. It was a stroke of luck the two GIs didn’t waste. The threat of court martial suddenly seemed inconsequential compared to the Panther’ cannon. According to Schuhardt, “when that tank jerked into reverse to clear its cannon, we came out of that foxhole like a jack-in-the-box.”
The German Air force increased their interdiction of U.S. units beginning around December 1st as well as making an all out effort against Allied airfields. My father was LWIA on 1 December by a FW 190 that strafed his service outfit just behind the lines near Aachen.
Everyone I have interviewed about this period remembers the allied air forces appearing after the weather cleared; this reappearance signaled close support for the troops in the Bulge.
My father, 1st Lt. Sidney I. Karesky from Boston enlisted in 1940. He was a member of the 516th Regimental Combat Team who were paratroopers attached to armored units. His unit was right at the “point” of the attack. Though they held out and were not captured, only 16 of his over strength company were alive at the end of the battle and everyone was wounded. The war was over for my father as he was severely injured.. Although we talked much about the war it was only in the last year of his life he talked about actually firing his weapon at the enemy. Among his words were “the weather was so bad you couldn’t see the Germans until they were almost on top of you and you could see them spin when the impact of your shot hit them.” Dad passed away in the VA hospital in Phoenix on Jan. 17th, 1987.
I believe my husband’s uncle (Henry “Hank” Polverini) was in this battle – promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and survived. How do I get more information. The fire that destroyed so many Army personnel documents is a real tragedy.
I have two friends who were in the Battle of the Bulge. One was taken prisoner by the Germans and spent time in a POW Camp before being released by his captors after they marched toward Allied Lines some distance then the Guards handed their weapons to the POWs and asked to be marched on to the Allied Line. Another survived to become a Sergeant of the Guard at the Nuremberg Trials. Great stories told by them.
No to be-little the importance of the Battle of the Bulge, but since today is the anniversary of Pearl Harbor I thought you would have mentioned it.
I agree with the comment below that, although it’s certainly important to remember and recognize the importance of the Battle of the Bulge, it would have been much better to remember and commemorate the attack on Pearl Harbor, 74 years ago today. My dad, P. N. K. (Pinky) Englesby, (1915 – 2000), of Mondovi, WI and later Augusta, WI, was a Navy Pearl Harbor survivor who served in Navy Mobile Hospital No. 2 before, during and after the battle. The 70th anniversary of the start of the Bulge isn’t for about a week yet.
My uncle was a sergeant in the Battle of the Bulge- wounded, most of his unit killed, spent 2 years in a hospital in England trying to save his leg, finally had his leg amputated and came home to find that his wife no longer wanted anything to do with him. She also claimed her young daughter was not his child. Years later the daughter contacted him “I think you’re my Dad’ (she had been told by her mother that her father died in the war) and they enjoyed a good relationship until his death many years later. War is Hell!
My father, James W. (Woodie) Burruss, was assigned to the 304th Infantry Regiment, 76th Division. According to the 76th Infantry Division’s unit history, “We Ripened Fast,” they joined the Battle of the Bulge in January.
My Dad, Clyde L. Brown, was there. He was in the 84th Infantry, HQ 335, 3rd Battalion. He ran the communication lines.
My brother, Homer Kay Kessler, was in the 17th Airborne Division and the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Platoon. He was dropped in the British area and witnessed a lot of immediate action and saw some of his platoon killed by a tank. Captured several German soldiers. Eventually wounded and later sent to the Pacific from there only to be turned back and returned home due to the end of the war with Japan.
Flying two bombing missions over the beaches at Normandy (France) on D-Day, and five bombing missions in three days on December 23-25, 1944 at the Battle of the Bulge, American pilot Paul Randall was just trying to be a good soldier. He flew 65 missions over Europe in advance of the Allied ground troops piloting his Douglas A-20 Havoc light attack bomber, dubbed “The Duke of Paducah” (Paul is from Paducah, Kentucky). I hope you all don’t mind me posting a short video, but here is a link to a short excerpt from an hour long interview with Paul Randall who was a member of the 9th (Army) Air Forces, 410th Bombardment Group, and the 644th Bomb Squadron. Today he is 98 (and a half) years old and remembers it all just like it was yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGEteEXWfl8
Hello – I believe Paul’s first D-Day mission was bombing the Carentan railway in Normandy. I am working on a book about Carentan in 1944. Would it be possible to get in touch with Paul?
Regards, Michel
Amazing. Thank you so much for your service.
Battle of the bulge is better known as the Battle of Ardennes 1944.
My father was injured in the Battle of the Bulge, HOWEVER, he was in the 83rd Infantry Division which is NOT listed. I am not a WWII expert. I only know that this was his infantry division AND he was in this battle. Please help me understand the discrepancy.
My father was there and now I am trying to find out more about him. He died at 57 so I didn’t get a chance to ask questions I wish I had.
According to our archives here at the museum, your father enlisted in 1943. I was wondering if you would have any photographs taken during WWII that your father may have had?
Michel — Thanks for your comments. What museum are you with? Maybe I missed it somewhere along the line in all of these comments, but I bet I’d find your museum very interesting…
My father’s regiment, 302nd in the 94Infantry division, was attached to the 28th division — Malden called that division “The Bloody Bucket.” What he remembered most is that it was one of the coldest winters in western Europe in the 20th century. He could not feel his feet until some time in April. Dad, Carl M. Au,, is still alive, but sadly as he ages, his mind increasingly focuses on the horrific things he saw. The psychological wound is far deeper than the shrapnel he took from the German 88s.
My Father was in CoF 223 regt 106th Inf captured on the morning of 16 Dec, Spent remainder of war in Stalag 9B. He never did talk about it much
My old friend First Sergeant Jim Britton, of the 106th Infantry Division (Golden Lions) was captured at the Battle of the Bulge and taken east on a train to a German POW compound.
Jim had served at Camp Forrest, Tennessee, before being sent overseas. The US was secretly bringing in German POWs at night to the small Tennessee town of Tullahoma to a POW compound at Camp Forrest. They didn’t want the local population to know of the German prisoners there.
Jim Britton bought and took cigarettes to some of the German POWs…but he certainly didn’t get that kind of treatment in return after his capture at the Bulge.
They lived on soup made from grass. He lost about half his weight and his hearing was destroyed forever. He later became postmaster at the small village of Whitesburg, Tennessee in Hamblen County. He died several years ago.
My uncle Edward Victor Werger, who was my godfather, was missing in action from 28 Dec 1944 until 23 Feb 1945 when evidence considered sufficient to establish the fact of death was received by the Sec of War. He was buried in the Baltimore National Cemetery Section E Site 4268 on 8 Apr 1949. He was one of the green troops.
My Dad was at the battle of the bulge. He was with the 1st Infantry Division, Big Red 1. His unit had just been relieved since it had been in combat continuously since D-Day. When the attack came, he unit turned right around and went back in the fray, and it was cold….
My dad was also in the 1st and had just been relieved. They were near Hamich, Germany I believe, and he also got sent back to help defend. He was a medic with the 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment. Wonder if your dad was aligned. My dod got shot again in the battle — his 4th purple heart, along with 3 bronze stars and 3 silver stars that he attained at in the invasion of Sicily and Normandy (Omaha Beach), in the hedgerows of France and finally at the battle of bulge. He was given a watch by the Swiss government when he was sent home for being the most decorated man left alive in the 1st.
Thanks, David Kerber and Craig Palmer! My father, Norvel “Barnie” Barnhart was a young field artillery officer (5th Field Artillery) fighting with the First Division throughout the war: from their first D-Day (N. Africa), 2nd D-Day (Sicily) and 3rd D-Day (Omaha beach, Normandy). He only spoke about the war to the friends he served with who were also army “lifers.” I remember at a party at our house they were reminiscing with a rueful chuckle that the “Battle of the Bulge” was their R&R. I now know that their job was to creep into enemy territory and find places to put their howitzers so they could later blast the hell out of Germans (and French) who were going to try to kill our infantry boys. They always said, “If you’re gonna be one; be a Big Red One.” I can no longer call these men just “heroes,” since that term has been so degraded by our “culture.” But they were honest, clear-eyed, loyal, stalwart, humble, and had strength and ingenuity beyond belief. I miss them every day.
My dad Samuel Hope Price was in the battle of the bulge
My dad, George J. Whalen, was in the Battle of the Bulge. He was in the 28th Division, 110th Infantry Regiment, Company I. He & his buddy, Jim O’Connell were the only 2 men who survived. They were sent to England with frozen feet & were both lucky enough to come home. My Dad would never talk about the War. He was 19 years old.
My father William John Pakkala died in WW2 in the Battle of the Bulge, 5 January, 1945, in Bastogne, Luxembourg, Belgium at the age of 27. He was from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and enlisted 9 October,1942 at Marguette, Michigan.
My father, Pvt. James H Coates died in the Battle of the Bulge. On December 17, 1944, he was with the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion, Co. B and was one of the 86 killed during the Malmedy Massacre. As many of you know, the bodies were covered with a heavy snowfall and not recovered until mid January 1945.
My father was drafted December 1942 when I was 3 1/2 months old.
Twelve years ago, at the first reunion of the 285th that I attended (or knew about), I met a veteran, Junie Wilson, that knew my father in both battalions. My father
was originally with the 13th F.A.O.B. until July 3, 1944 when he and two others were injured in a jeep accident. The accident is documented in a book by the 13th veterans. It was after his recovery that he was assigned to the 285th.
For those who fought in the battle of the bulge, I have the greatest of respect. I wish you all the greatest of holidays.
My father, Harry L. Olanoff, was a radio operator in the 2nd (Indian Head) Infantry Division at the Battle of the Bulge. He never talked much about it. It’ a shame that his and 80% of the World War II army records have been lost. I’ve been trying without succes to find if pay records might be available other than in the National Archives and provide some detail.
My father, Frank Jobe, was a member of the 326th Company of the 101st Airborne during the Battle of the Bulge. The doctors in his medical company encouraged my father to pursue a medical career after the war, which he did. He eventually became the team physician for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he may be best known for inventing the Tommy John Surgery. But the seeds were sown during his time in the 101st.
Hello Meredith,
I am working on several books related to the 101st Airborne during WWII and I would like to ask you a few questions related to your father’ service. Could you please email me at [email protected]
Thanks, Michel
My father, Samuel Aaron Black, was in the Golden Lion Division and was captured in The Battle of the Bulge. He was a prisoner of war until the liberation.
My uncle, Ashley Rice, served in the Maintenance battalion of the ninth Armored Division as the Division Ordinance officer. He was commanding officer of the 131 Ordinance Maintenance Battalion. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his service in connection with military operations against the enemy in Luxembroug, Belgium and Germany Jan. 25, 1945 and later received the Oak Leaf Cluster to Bronze. He received several other awards.
My mothers oldest brother was at the Battle of the Bulge. He was a 1Lt., in the 317th Infantry Regiment. He was captured by the Germans and held in a POW camp in Poland. When the Russian came through my uncle and a bunch of other POW’s got over the fence and escaped. The Polish underground helped them get out of the country. My uncle said they never heard about any of the guys that stayed in the camp.
Working on my mothers side of the family tree I also found a young Navy Ensign that was a distant cousin. He died on December 7th 1941 on the USS Arizona.
Mr. Crump — I salute your young relative who died on the Arizona on 12/7/1941. I honor him and you, too, in the memory of my dad, P. N. K. (Pinky) Englesby (1915 – 2000), who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was on the West Virginia until 10/1/41 when he was transferred ashore to work as a corpsman/pharmacist’s mate in Navy hospitals. His units aided the wounded during the attack, and after the attack, he was sent with others down into the sunken ships in the harbor to retrieve the still living, when possible, and the dead. Yesterday was the 74th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. As I and other(s) have said here, we wish that Fold3 had honored the dead and survivors of Pearl Harbor by acknowledging the attack on it’s anniversary, along with the upcoming 70th anniversary of the Bulge. The dead and survivors of the Bulge were, of course, no less worthy of our honor and respect…
Don’t know if you saw my post – my Father was at Navy Mobile Hospital #2 also. His name was Thomas Tippin – a farm boy from Kansas. He would never talk about the war – especially Pearl Harbor. Even when I visited the Arizona Memorial in Hawaii in 1977, he didn’t tell me he had a cousin entombed on the Arizona.
Re: Battle of the Bulge…
Please note a correction of the dates in my previous message.
my father was injured July 31, 1944. Not July 3.
Sorry for the keying error.
My father Wilce T. Whaley fought in the Battle of the Bulge, He was wounded there.
I lost a cousin in the battle and his body was never found. We did however recently find out his troop was on recon and the whole troop was shot up by german machine gun nest while trying to cross a river. I also had a Uncle who was a Bronze Star medalist which I never knew till his death for capturing 7 Germans signal handed while trying to rescue his squad by himself. Its stories like this that go untold of the brave men who fought in the wars but were humble of what they had accomplished. For this I honor them forever.
Yes, yes, I certainly agree and salute along with you all those brave, mostly young, and anonymous, men of mostly humble origin who did the brave and unimaginable acts required of them in times that must have been tougher to bear than we can even contemplate…!
Interesting post by John N. Englesby – my Father was also stationed at Navy Mobile Hospital #2 at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. His name was Thomas Tippin – a farm boy from Kansas. He would never talk about the war – especially Pearl Harbor. He had a cousin entombed on the Arizona and never told any of his kids about it even when I visited Hawaii in 1977 and visited the Arizona Memorial.
Ms. Britt — Hello. Yes, I saw your two posts. Thank you!! I’m pleased to hear that your father was in the same Navy Mobile Hospital #2 at Pearl. I was hoping to find someone else with a connection to that unit and my dad; your father and mine might well have known and worked with each other. This unit, from recent research I’ve done, was only the second of it’s kind, a trail-blazing mobile hospital and a forerunner of the MASH that we know so well from the movie & TV show. My dad later went on to submarine service for much of the rest of the war, but he did stay at Pearl for a year or so before getting on subs. On the subs, he was the ‘doc’, they called him, totally responsible for the health of the 60 – 70 men on board. Let’s see what else we can find out, if possible, about our fathers and their service…!
Thanks for your response! My Father wrote a few pages about his life when he was dying and he said that their Mobile Hospital treated mostly burn victims – around 102 men. He said they drove down to the harbor to bring back the wounded. The barracks were completed at the site but the hospital wasn’t finished yet. He said they did they best they could with what they had. From my research I found out my Father was sent to Mobile Hospital #8 after leaving Mobile #2. After that he was on various ships. Towards the end of the war he was on the Hospital Ship Repose. He was a Chief Pharamacist Mate. And someone just told me this morning that Repose personnel were sent to Nagasaki & Hiroshima after the atomic bombs were dropped. If it is true, I’m assuming it was to help injured people. I wish my Father would have talked about it but I think it was too much. I also had an uncle at the Battle of the Bulge. Both my Dad & Uncle were both haunted by the war for the rest of their lives. It’s interesting that your Father was on a submarine – my Dad tried out for sub duty in Connecticut but didn’t pass the test – he didn’t say why. Very interesting to finally talk with someone who’s Dad was there also.
Ms. Britt — Thanks for your further comments on your father and his service at Pearl Harbor and later in the Navy. What you report about Mobile Hospital No. 2 during the attack matches what my dad told me about what they did to help the wounded. He said that between the three waves of Japanese planes, his unit would come back down the mountain — he said that it was on a mountain above Kaneohe Bay — to collect & treat the wounded & dead. What else you report about the readiness of the mobile hospital matches as well with what I’ve recently learned in on-line searches. I saw that Mobile Hospital No. 8 was assembled in 1942 and sent to Guadalcanal, so your father was in the first major land, sea & air battle and victory for US forces after the war started… Say, if you’d like, and you’re on Facebook, you could send me a friend request, and then I’ll friend you so that you can see what I posted about my dad’s Pearl Harbor experience. If you haven’t seen documents like those I posted — some identify the Mobile Hospital No. 2 — it should be interesting & helpful to you in finding out more about your father’s service. I have found some on-line WW2 Navy records/sites that have useful info, too… My dad was a Chief Petty Officer, Pharmacist’s Mate, like your dad… One of my uncles was also in the Bulge in the 101st Airborne Glider infantry. Write more if you like, and I hope you will, as it’s exciting to find someone whose father was in the same unit at PH. Maybe we should have further conversation off this site, though, as it’s really dedicated to the Bulge…
Mr. Englesby – sorry to be so slow in responding. Just wanted to say a few words about my uncle, Second Lieutenant Earl Bahr – he was in the 11th Armored Division. He was an officer in the combat infantry. They fought at the Battle of the Bulge and then the division went on to cross the Siegfried Line, reach the Rhine at Andernach, contain the Mosel pocket, moved through Fulda into Thuringia and connected with the Russians in Czechoslovakia. They helped liberate Matthausen and Gusen Concentration Camps. He was injured/evacuated three times but returned to battle each time. He received the Purple Heart and Silver Star. He never talked about the war with me or his family but his daughters have done extensive research on his military service. Would like to talk more about our Father’s service at Pearl Harbor but I am swamped with Christmas, grandchildren are visiting now, etc. Will contact later.
Ms. Britt — Thank you for posting again, and it’s good to hear from you once more. Yes, please contact me when you have more time. Here’s my e-mail [email protected]
Referring back to one of your earlier comments, my father also was stationed at a sub base in CT later in the war, in late ’44 – ’45.
On the 70th anniversary of the Bulge it is good and proper to reflect on our uncles’ service and hardship & sacrifice in this momentous battle…
My father Charles Haynes was a forward spotter in Battery “C”, 466th Parachute Field Artillery, 17th Airborne, rushed in to the Bulge from England, like so many. He never talked about it, so I know little. Later in the Rhine Jump. He made it through and was on his way to the Pacific when the war ended. Am looking forward to hearing/reading more, as it appears here.
My father John Dziedziula was in the Battle of the Bulge, he is listed as John W Dziedziula, Pfc FA (private first class, field artillery). His friend who is still alive told me they had 3 large guns–towed by trucks. When they were told to retreat, two trucks went one way, and one went the other. The truck that went alone ended up at a Belgium farmhouse. A group of German soldiers showed up and they were all shot. My father never told us any stories about the war. The only story we would hear was when they were at the Castle in Worms. Apparently part of their duties was to toss dead German soldiers out windows. Grim work indeed. When the war was over he was sent home in August on the Queen Elizabeth.
My father’s war photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/118407936154119244367/JohnDziedziulaEuropeanCampaignWorldWarII
My grandfather was Robert John Schnepp, he said he was in the Battle of the Buldge. He said he delivered mail and supplies to the front line, but he never spoke of or said anymore than that. He looked like Bing Crosby, so if anyone has any information or pictures of him, I would greatly appreciate it.
My father, Lawrence Worrilow was the Battle of the Bulge. He was in the 193 Company B 17th Airborne Division. He was wounded on January 7, 1945 by 88s that were being dropped on the area. He never talked about it much but did say that he was with two others, one of which died and the other was seriously wounded. The two of them were able to get onto an American tank which took them to the aid station.
My father Allen Lloyd Law, Jr. was in this battle with the 334 Infantry, 84 Division.
My Step-Father Eric Hoffman was wounded on January 1st in a horrible shrapnel blast as he was trying to lay the wires in the trenches for communications for the 16th Army Infantry Division. He had graduated from Stanford and wore glasses —- they stuck him right up in the front doing that wireman work and then when he was blown up in the trench, some terrific guy stitched his back together enough to hold him from bleeding totally out and then carried him out of there to a military hospital. He missed the end of the war because he was having to try to survive his wounds in the hospital there and because he was not strong enough to make the long journey home. He never talked about the war to his children. He never bragged about being so brave. It was a horrific part of his life and it was not until he reached age 90 that he really allowed us to ask him much about it. It was a painful part of his life and he tried to close the door on it because of all the pain and suffering he lived and the haunted horror it brought up for him. We all think of him as a hero, but he just thinks he was doing what he had to do. He is not proud of it. He is resigned to the fact that it happened and he hates war.
My father Robert Patton Strickland was with the 22nd Infantry regiment of the 4th Division was wounded during the battle. He died in 1972 and I am interested in learning about him. He was a very quiet man and said very little about his service during WWII.
My father-in-law Thomas H. Cameron was a paratrooper at the Battle of the Bulge. He died abt .1992, but he never shared any details. I wish I knew more re. his experience.
Ms. Cameron — It’s possible that the National Personnel Records Center in Kansas City, MO, may have his, your father-in-law’s, entire military service file. And you or a direct descendent of him, your husband or a daughter, could request it and then only need pay a small fee for copying (I paid about $75.00) to get the whole file. I got my dad’s entire Navy service record from WW2 – 11/39 – 11/45 – as he enlisted for six years. The whole process took about a year after I proved I was his son, they found that they had the records, I provided some additional details, and they copied and then sent it all to me in the mail. You can find the NPRC on-line and review the whole process there. They also are finally now in the process of digitizing their records, I’ve learned. Some records aren’t available, owing to a disastrous fire many years ago, but still, some records can be reconstructed somehow. If you decide to do this, best wishes. (I found out many interesting details about my dad, even some very surprising things about him – nothing bad, though – that I never knew or suspected. So, you just never know what may turn up…
A distant cousin, Col. (later Maj Gen) Daniel Harrison Hudelson commanded “Task Force Hudelson,” which protected the southern flank of Patton’s relief force. He won the Croix de Guerre and a Bronze Star.
My Uncle John Haley was killed at the Battle of the Bulge and was buried in Europe, not returned home.
My Moms’ Brother, My Uncle James Lewis Worthington
Was captured at the Bulge.
The Germans attacked a Fox hole that he and others were in, their guns were frozen and would not work.
James got off one shot and struck a German in the Stomach.
James said while in prison camp a Potato Truck went by and the soldier next to him reached for it under the wires and was shot in the head and killed.
My father, Golden D, Proctor, was a 24 year-old Master Sergeant who was in the Battle of the Bulge.
He was in the Combat Engineers, but I have no record of his unit, as his records were destroyed in the Records Center fire in St.Louis. He died in 1973, and at that time he wasn’t talking much about his service. He gave me a ring on my 18th birthday that his mother had given him on his 18th birthday. He told me that he buried it in a farmhouse during the Battle, so that the Germans would not cut off his finger to get the ring if he was captured. Later in the war his discharge papers said he was in charge of over 300 German POW. He also was awarded the Soldier’s Medal in 1943 for saving a man from drowning in a river during a flood at a camp in Ohio.
I don’t know much about the details of the Battle of the Bulge, but I know that my brother, Raymond E. Fleming, participated in it. He was a tank driver in the “Hell on Wheels” 2nd Armored Division. He was previously in the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, and Normandy. He was wounded twice during the war, probably at least once in the Bulge. Anyway, he had two Purple Hearts.
My father was James L. Higginbotham. He was a Staff Sergeant in The Battle of the Bulge. He wouldn’t talk about it much and was wounded twice and went back both times. He later lost his leg below the knee from stepping on a land mine. I have requested information from St. Louis, but due to the fire, they told me it could be months before I received anything. The last I contacted them they said I would get an envelope this January 2016 with anything they have found. I can’t wait since all his medals, etc., were lost during family moves and they should be replaced.
My father (Claude Jame Horn [Pete} from Big Spring, Texas) never talked about the war.
I learned from his mother, my gran, that he was in the Battle of the Bulge and was in the 82nd and 101st as a paratrooper. Have never been able to find any info on his service. they said his records were lost in a fire. He died in Abbeville, Georgia on 9 June 2008. i do know that he had to have several surgeries thoughout his lifetime for gernade fragments. If anyone knew him or of him i would be interested in hearing from them.
My grandfather, Paul Virgil Lowell was a Chief Warrant Officer with the 106th division. He was taken prisoner on December 16, 1944. He was forced to walk in the snow without any boots on. He was taken to Germany and held prisoner at Camp 006, Stalag 4B Muhlberg, Sachsen 51-13.He was liberated in June 1945. My grandfather never spoke of his time as a POW.
During the time he was detained the US Military reported to my grandmother that my grandfather was missing and persumed dead. She had 3 young boys at home to take care of so she went and got a job. In the belief that her husband was dead my grandmother had met someone and ended up pregnant with my Aunt Linda. When my grandfather was liberated and came home he raised my Aunt as his own daughter until the day he pased away in April 1995.
Around 1991/92 he was finally recognized for his service and received a medal. Which one it was I have no clue.
My uncle, Robert E Lee, was killed in Belgium Jan 3, 1945 and was interred in Fosse, Belgium but later brought home after the war at the expense of a Long Beach Undertaker. From Long Beach, CA and a football player at the University of Arizona, Robert E Lee (Bob) was in “D” Company, 67th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Force. He had fought in North Africa, Sicily, England and all across France. He was awarded the Silver Star & Oak Leaf Cluster, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart & OLC, Distinguished Service Cross and the French Croix De Guerre with Silver Star, some posthumously. I have excerpts from History, 67th Armored Regiment, mostly as it pertains to my uncle, and letters from friends and fellow officers. Others mentioned in the pages of the booklet on Robert E Lee’s short career prepared by his father-in-law, Earl Gill are: Leland H. Koewing (Presbyterian minister), Lt. Dick Henz, Lt. Lichen (Sigma Chi at UA with REL), John Snograss (SSgt on Jan 3, 1945, later promoted to 2nd Lt), Bob Bradley, Lt. Robertson, Lt F.B. Karl, Herb Vail, Vince Cullen, Lt. Logan, Major Bathelder, Lt Colonel Dave Wynne.
Thank you for sharing this with the readers. It’s a wonderful thing to get personal details such as you provided.
Check his Discharge Papers that possibly will give you information per his medals
received. If not you may get answer as to the response below.
The bad part of not getting all the information of a service man’s records is a fire
destroyed many records, in 1975. The only item received for my husband, former
14th Armored Tank Corp member was as zerox copy of one record.
My uncle Kenneth Daniels, from East Hampton, Long Island, NY, was in the battle but would never talk about it. The only thing he ever told me was that he took and used what he called a German “burp” gun from the first German he killed.
My father, Frank Kelly was in the Battle of the Bulge. He was in the 9th Infantry Division, 47th Regiment assigned to 3rd Armored Division and was a tank commander. He was in the late draft and didn’t come over till 1944 and stayed in Europe till March 1946. He was in the Army’s coastal artillery stationed at Fort DeRussey, Hawaii from 1933-1936. He worked with German POWs after VE Day.
Kathleen: My father was in the 47th Inf. Regiment also, but came in as a replacement after the “Bulge”. You should join the Ninth Infantry Division Association which the 47th was a part. We will be holding our 71st Annual Reunion in early August in Ft. Meyers, FL. There are still several vets attending. The sons and daughters are continuing the group to remember and honor our fathers, uncles, etc. Contact me for more information. Terry Barnhart, President, Ninth Infantry Division Association [email protected]
My Dad was in the battle of the Bulge he went in the war in Normany as a replacement he was in Bravo company of the 78th infrantry Divison which I believe was past of the 309th regiment Dads name was William Clark Ensor Jr. From Buller Maryland Dad was on a recon patrol to gather information on the the strength of the German Army along the Rhor River.His instructions wereto leave no one behind dead or alive. After the patrol gather their information they were on the way back to their base when they encountered enemy machine gun fire and a mortar attack,one of the men was wounded,Dad stayed back to lay down cover fire then went out and picked up the wounded man and carried him over 100 yards under machine gun fire.This feat got him the Broonze Star with a oak leaf Cluster.He passed away Two years ago at the ripe old age of 93. Dad was a mans man,I have his Eisenhower jack Muesum mounted hanging in my office that I am looking at as I type this message. His word was his Bond.
Feel free to contact me if you like.
Many Blessing to you,
Bill Ensor
410-977-1243
Well said!
My dad S/Sgt Charles E Reynolds ( Chief Radio Operator) was with the 23rd infantry 2 nd Indianhead Division. He was Killed Feb 6th, 1945. I was 2 yrs old on the 27th of Feb. he had lied about his age and enlisted at age 16. He was in 9 yrs when he was killed. He went out to rescue a buddy and stepped back on a land mine. He is buried at Henri-Chappelle in Belgium with his fellow soldiers.
My father was in the. Battle of the bulge. He enlisted in fall of 1941. Missed no. Africa by a few months. Entered France a few days after D- Day 1944. Fought across Europe entered Germany Across the RHINE AT Colone. That is about all I know he died in 1959 from heart attack and I was 8 years old. We have a pic of him with a Sherman tank.
That is very interesting, My Uncle Berlon H. Smith was at the Bulge with the 84th, the railsplitter division, he was a Company cook, and he died in 1969 of a heart attack!
My uncle Howard Welch entered the Army on December 12, 1942, at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and was sent to Camp Hood, Texas, on the 22nd. On March 24, 1943, he was sent to Camp Bowie, TX, then to North Camp Hood, TX, on May 19th and Camp Forrest, Tennessee, on June 27th. A Thanksgiving, 1943, memento shows Howard as a PFC in the Reconnaissance Company of the 810th Tank Destroyer Battalion. The 810th was disbanded on Dec. 20th and unit members were sent to other TD battalions. It is believed that Howard was sent to the 802nd at this time, ending up in B Company. He then went to Camp Polk, Louisiana, on Dec 27th, Camp Claiborne, LA, on the 29th and eventually overseas to England in April, 1943.
The 802nd landed in France on July 1, 1944, and entered combat at Carentan on the 4th using towed 3” anti-tank guns. They advanced into Brittany in August, supporting the attack on St. Malo. After crossing France, they entered Luxembourg in late September and participated in operations against the Siegfried Line through November. In late December they participated in the “Battle of the Bulge”. The unit converted to the M36 self-propelled tank destroyer in February and March, 1945. On March the 16th, Howard, along with a number of other 802nd personnel, was transferred to the 807th TD Bn. This may have been as a result of the reduced manpower requirements following conversion to self-propelled destroyers. He finished the war with the 807th, earning five battle stars for the Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe campaigns. He also earned the EAME and Good Conduct medals and two Overseas Service bars. Howard left the service at the rank of Private First Class.
I have a picture of him at the Battle of the Bulge but couldn’t get them to come into this message.
My Dad, Jack Bonsignore (from Brooklyn, NY) was in the Battle of the Bulge. He only started to talk about his experience about 10 yrs. prior to his death. He was in the 414th Infantry Company D. His entire unit was wiped out and he stayed in a foxhole for 3 days (without food or water) before being airlifted by the 101st Airborne to a hospital in England. He received the Bronze Star and was also awarded a Purple Heart (which he did not accept because as he stated “I wasn’t finished fighting yet”. After his hospital stay, he was scheduled to go on, but we all know what happened after that. He never talked about any of this until he was in his 80’s. These men are true heros.
My father, Capt. Joseph Henry Brown (0-441451), was a glider pilot in WWII and didn’t ship overseas till Dec 1944. I’m assuming he was in the Battle of the Bulge. His grave marker, shows 312 Troop Carrier Squadron, AAF, WWII. He never would talk about his time in the war but my aunt told me he flew over Belgium. He returned from overseas in June 1945. I have been unable to find anything on him and have no records that would have been in his possession due to a bad relationship with his then wife when he died in 1964. My sister called NARA about 7 years ago and was told they would have no records due to the fire. However, I sent the form to them just a few weeks ago. Surely they would have his discharge papers. I called the cemetery and they said the funeral home must have filed for the military grave plaque. The funeral home was destroyed when Katrina hit New Orleans a few years ago. It’s almost as if he didn’t exist except that I knew him and did find a census for Memphis in 1930 and 1940. Now I’m disappointed to read that NARA could take up to a year to get anything to you. I’ll give it a few more months and then try to contact one of our state senators.
Another option would be to talk to veterans groups like the VFW, American Legion or the DAV to see if he belonged to any of the groups. Sometimes these groups keep records on each member. You could also try contacting the State Adjutants General records. The Selective Service system registration records would be another option. Sometimes our congress men and women can help you find alternatives to finding lost records.
St Louis will automatically reply that “records were lost in the fire”. That is their standard reply.
There is a second option. There is the Individual Deceased Personal File (IDPF) that comes from an office in Washington. It contains the communications between the family and the State Dept. concerning the disposition of the remains at the end of the war.
I hope this helps.
Contact me [email protected] if I can be of any help.
Ron Strickland
Department of the Army Administrative Section
Attn: TAPC-ALP-A (FOIA)
DCS Personnel & Logistics
200 Stovall Street
Alexandria, VA 22331-0405
(Here is the text of the letter I sent:)
Gentlemen:
Request that I be furnished with a copy of the Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) of the following individual:
1. Name: Emma Jane (Burrow) Windham
2. ASN: A-809243
3. Unit: 1400st Army Air Force Base Unit
4. D.O.D. 31 march 1945
5. Place of Death: 2 ½ Mile South of Station 112, England
6. Burial Site: Temporarily at Cambridge American Cemetery, England
7. Relationship: Aunt
Sincerely,
Ronald D Strickland
CW4, US Army
(Name & Signature)
Sometimes the county where the service man lived would ask them to file their discharge papers. They weren’t required to file them but maybe that would be a place to look.
My Dad, Lloyd Raymond Hahn, was drafted in June, 1944 (from South Bend, Indiana) and sent to Camp Blanding in Florida for basic training. By November, 1944 he was in Europe and eventually was in the Bulge. He may have been (lightly) wounded, but the cold weather was so bad by Jan 9 1945, he became a casualty and sent to Camp Casey in Colorado to recover. His discharge papers for July 1945 stated he was part of 9th Armored Infantry, even though his patches (found after he died in 1995) show 6th Armored Infantry. I am his only child and being female he never told me anything about his service; but he did tell my husband about some of his military stories.
I was assigned to an artillery battalion in the 25th Infantry Division in 1973, and our maintenance warrant officer had been in the Battle of the Bulge. He had enlisted in the Army in 1939 and fought all through the War. He was captured during the Battle of the Bulge and sent to a concentration camp in Eastern Europe, whence he was liberated by the Red Army. He spent the rest of the War with the Red Army as a rifleman. He was transferred to the US Army after the surrender of the Nazis. He had been carried on the rolls as MIA until then. Boy did he have some hair-raising tales from those days.
I am looking for information on my Uncle Vernon Gene Miller, who died December 20th, 1944 at The Battle of the Bulge. His body was not brought back to the family until 1949. His frozen organs were eaten by the enemy to stay alive. He was wounded at one point but sent back after he was released back to combat. He told his family that he knew where he was going, he would not come back alive. And he didn’t. So tragic.
I Can’t find anything about him except for the order for his grave marker signed by his father, my Grandfather, Carlton Clarke Miller.
DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW I FIND HOW HE DIED AND WHY IT TOOK SO MANY YEARS TO GET HIS BODY HOME?
My Dad also told us that when he was stuck in the foxhole there was a fellow soldier with him who committed suicide. It was very painful for him to tell the story and that is why we did not learn about it until he was much older. I was shocked to learn that he kept this inside for most of his life.
See my reply above:
Ron Strickland
December 9, 2015 at 10:07 am
In the case of Vernon Gene Miller as to why his body was delayed internment by his family and not returned until 1949 is that court proceedings were carried out at Dachau in which the perpetrators of the Malmedy Massacre were being tried by War Crimes Courts. The trials were a case of misconduct by members of the U.S. Military and were the subject of Congressional investigation as well as this case being appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. All of this lead to the commutation of the verdicts at the Dachau War Crimes Trials and the ability of all of the German defendants still being held to go free in the 1950’s. As with all things legal it takes time and this is likely a reason why shipment of Vernon’s body was delayed. As to cases of Cannibalism during the Battle of the Bulge you might want to research the Time-Life Magazine files on what was and was not reported. My Father was a Combat Engineer with the Headquarters and Service Company of the 346th Combat Engineers and was part of the units with General Patton who were sent to drive the Germans back. He and his unit built Bailey Bridges on the Meuse River during the Battle of the Bulge. He was also part of the liberation of Liege, Belgium.
have you tried the national archives in washington dc, they have a hugh amount of information but it takes about a week being their just cause it is so hard to find information.
My husband’s uncle , William “Buddy ” Smith was one of the Battered Bastards of Bastogne. 101st Airborne. So I was stunned when the current Luxembourg Finance Minister said that LuxLeaks, the revelation of how the country was helping biginternational companies avoid billions in taxes, “was the worst attack in Luxembourg’s history.” I guess he didn’t remember the Battle of Bastogne. The mind boggles.
My fathers cousin Harry Torstensson born 1916 in Chicago, Illinois, is sead to be killed in France during the second worldwar,
My Uncle D.S. Akins was in he Army Air Corps during the war (he retired as a lt. Col USAF) I was told at his funeral, that he flew aerial recon. during this battle, but have not been able to verify this and he never spoke of it. How could I verify this?
The Army Air Corps kept a Mission Log for each unit they are in either the National Archives or the British National Archives. They are much the same as flight plans today.
My uncle D. S. Akins was in the Army Air Corps during WW !! ( he retired as a Lt Col. USAF). I was told at his funeral that he flew aerial recon, during this battle, but I how can I verify this.
My daddy, Tec-5 Roy Earnest Maples, was in the 3rd Army which was sent to relieve Bastogne. He was in Co.B ,178th Engineers Combat Battalion. The truck he was driving, with equipment and some of his buddies on board, hit a land mine and killed some and wounded others, including him. He went on with the 3rd Army into Germany and central Europe, eventually earning 4 bronze stars. I was privileged to see a memorial to the 3rd Army in Klatovy, Czech Republic a few years ago.
My father served with Headquarters Company, 424th Infantry Regiment and was assigned to the Communications Platoon (telephone and radio). This unit was one of three with other support groups that made up the 106th Infantry Division and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. I have a letter he wrote to my daughter sharing some of his war time experiences when she had a school project and from that letter I learned things he never talked about while I was growing up…. like being shot at by a German sniper as he was finishing up installing a radio antennae on a railroad trestle and jumped 13 feet into a snowbank to avoid getting shot! My husband and I had the opportunity to visit Trois Pons, Belgium, where the railroad trestle was (and is, but now it is stone, not metal) and visited the memorial erected by the people of Trois Pons for the 424th… I was able to share this plus photos with my dad before he passed. It was quite something to walk down streets he had described to me… and amazing that he remembered so much from when he was a young man of 19…
I am a Viet Nam Vet, Lynda, that stuff hit’s you with so much impact it never goes away.
Thank you for your service, Larry…
My grandfather, Lawrence Peterson, fought in the Battle of the Bulge as a member of the 254 Engineers (Company C), which was given a Presidential Unit Citation and a Croix de Guerre for extraordinary heroism in defending against the Panzers with small arms. My grandfather’s company was the hardest hit and many were captured as POWs or killed.
I hope Sherman tanks will last forever at our city entrees reminding us of Americans lost in those days. I was there with my son, even in summer this region is windy scary and dangerous hilly. Can you imagine what that was for recovering logistic troops to be set in with no notice? Germans were mean, I mean mean man!
Against all war law Hitler ordered explitedly to take no prisoners, the aim was to kill all what came on their way. That is the very setting of this icy battle.
Some of them soldiers are still alive, then they cry when talking about the bulge. The others are resting in peace on US Army cimetaries here and there. American soil, neat and clean.
The battle of the bulge was not only decisive to close off Germans from Antwerp but also heroic thinking US soldiers had almost no amunition to blow up the many local bridges in the Ardennes. Sankt -Vith, Malmédy, Bastogne, Bullange, Butgenbach, Eupen, Vielsalm and so on and so on….
Semper fides.
Thank you for mentioning the Sherman tanks. My Dad, as wounded as he was, remembers them rolling in to save and aid what was left of his paratrooper combat group.
Hi Jason, for many now I am studying the story of the Bulge, Nothern sector. I have been in contact with many veterans, German and US, including 2 veterans of the 254th Engineers who fought at Buellingen in December 1944. Aslo have been in touch with the son of a deceased 254th Company C veteran. Sure would be interested in your grandfathers story. Feel free to contact me. Best regards, Mike Smeets (the Netherlands)
My Uncle Gene Beckwith Senior was in the battle of the bulge and received the bronze star. This story below is an excerpt from his obituary in The Seattle Times.
“Gene Beckwith Sr., Talkative Man, Was Quiet About His War Exploits
By Lily Eng
Seattle Times Staff Reporter
Gene E. Beckwith Sr. rarely talked about World War II and the four days in 1944 when he was caught behind enemy lines. A normally talkative and cheerful man, Mr. Beckwith kept that part of his life private.
Mr. Beckwith was a 20-year-old corporal in the Army when his unit was ordered to an outpost in Luxembourg. He and others got caught behind the German lines.
For four days, Mr. Beckwith survived without food and covered himself with snow at night so snipers wouldn’t see him. Though his feet were so swollen that they later almost had to be amputated, he marched 18 miles through the snow to get back to U.S. lines.
Mr. Beckwith received a Bronze Star Medal for heroic achievement. Days after Mr. Beckwith’s death last Wednesday (Aug. 28) from a stroke at the age of 72, his son found the medal and other citations in a back room of his father’s Seattle home.
“He was a modest guy. He didn’t talk much about that time in his life,” said Gene Beckwith Jr. of Lake Forest Park.”
My late first husband, Robert Owens, was in the Battle of the Bulge. He was a mortar man with the 112th Infantry, 28th Division. After being wounded in the breakout from Normandy, Bob joined his unit in time for the fight in the Huertgen Forest. The 28th Division was so decimated in that battle that they were moved to the Ardennes to recuperate and receive replacements. On December 16, 1944, Bob’s unit was overrun by a Panzer Division of the German army. Bob said the attack began at daybreak, and the fighting continued all day. That afternoon, while taking a break in a dugout the men had been using, an artillery shell blew up the dugout and buried the men alive. Somehow, Bob was rescued and made it back to France in an ambulance the Germans let through the lines. He had a severe concussion and shrapnel wounds in his head and neck, but he was back on the front line in only two weeks. The 28th Division was given a Presidential Citation for its part in the Battle of the Bulge. It was earned.
I tried to find out info on my dads time in the army during ww2 but was given the standard those “records were destroyed” but I heard they have been trying to recover some of these records, is there a form or something that I need to submit to try and have this done? Anybody know anything about this?
See my reply above:
Ron Strickland
December 9, 2015 at 10:07 am
Also Fold3 and Ancestry is always a good place to start.
Ron
Tim,
If you know what unit your father was in, look up the units museum and do a google search for anyone doing historical research on that unit.
Doing research on the military service of ancestors in our family I have gotten a lot of information from local newspapers, Obits, and Ancestry.com, fold3, and newspapers.com.
Try going to U.S.Army Archives.com. I have found many things here that didn’t show up in any other official source. An interesting thing that I learned on Ancestry when your looking at some ones possible records and you see one with somebody elses’ name pull it up and read it. You may find as I did that this persons story or records over lap your ancestors story.
Good Luck,
Richard Bush
Google for form SF-180-request pertaining to military records- to submit to the archives for records. Not all records were destroyed(only Army and Air Force) and some that were damaged have been restored. Fax the form to 1-314-801-9195. You should hear something within 90 days. If you mail the form it could take up to 9 months.
So interesting to learn about Battle of the Bulge. Would also love to hear about Battle of the Argonne Forest during WW 1. My father fought in that battle.
So interesting to learn about Battle of the Bulge! Appreciate all of the comments. Would also love to learn more about Battle of the Argonne Forest during World War 1. My Father fought in that battle.
My brother Russell Treat fought in this battle. I was just a little girl. I also had two other brothers in the war and a brother-in-law.
My father, John Howard McWhirter of Pittsburgh was in the battle of the Bulge. He was a master sargeant with the 173rd Railway operating Battalion.
yeah I need to change that.
ERROR IN MY POST My dad, John Howard McWhirter, was actually in the 752nd Railway operating Battalion.
Amy Hutton
My husband, Oiva Arne Moilanen was in the Battle of the Bulge. The soldier with the machine gun was killed next to him. He had frozen feet because of no overshoes and wet boots. He spent months in the hospital in England and Colorado because of this. He was ordered to report the day after his high school graduation and after a few months of training was sent to France. They traveled from Marseille by boxcar to the front lines in Belgium. He has a purple heart, but does not talk about it very much.
My father was Lloyd W. Waterman from Iowa, and he served as a medic during Battle of the Bulge. His best friend he saw get shot and die. Never heard any stories but do know he suffered PTSD and other emotional issues starting just a few years after return to the states. .
I understand. My father never completely got over having nightmares of being in combat at the Bulge.
My uncle, Manning Slee Taite, from Towanda, PA, was also a medic during the Battle of the Bulge. He also was at the bridge at Remagen. He was a conscientious objector.
My grandfather was replacement infantry with the 110th Infantry, 28th Division, Company K at Hosingen, Luxembourg on December 16th. He was 33 years old when he was drafted in April 1944. He kept hoping that he would not have to go to the front. He was in the Hurtgen Forest apparently after the battle and then was in the Battle of the Bulge. He told us that he was in a church and was guarding ammunitions stored there when he was captured by the Germans early on the 17th of December. He was put on a boxcar, apparently quite crowded, for days with little to no food. They were strafed by the US when they were on the boxcars. He ended up at Stalag IXB at Bad Orb. He was there until liberated at Easter 1945 (April 3rd) when the 3rd Army overran the camp. We have letters written from his military time and from Bad Orb. Wish we knew more about his experiences in Hosingen. We found the diary he kept while he was a POW in a New Testament Bible given to him by the Army. He died in 1995 from lung cancer at the age of 84.
My “dad” was captured during the Battle of the Bulge..he was 28th Division, Signal Core, spent time in city of Luxembourg before capture; we had copies of pictures of the men putting on a Christmas Party(playing Santa Claus) for the children. Members of the 28th visited Luxembourg regularly thru the years – but my dad refused to go until just a few years before his death in 1984. There is a museum there with mementos & pictures of the men & the people – my dad, David E. Kelley is in some of them. At the time of his death – we received many sympathy cards from people who “remembered” (we were unable to read, but “got the Message”.) My father, James E. Conley, was killed in France 12/8/44 when I was 6 mo. old. My “dad” raised me as his own.
Interesting story – and what a nice way to honor your “Dad.” May his memory always be a blessing.
My father, Edward Uzemack, was with Co. B, 110th Infantry, 28th Division on December 17, 1944. He had participated in the Huertgen forest battle and was transferred near Clervauxfor a “rest”. He was captured on the 17th and shipped off to Stalag IXB in Bad Orb Germany. He wrote a series of articles regarding his experience titled “My 106 Days as a PW” for the Chicago Times.
I have copies of the articles.
I would absolutely love to see copies of those articles!!
It appears that my uncle Robert Coe was in the same area of battle and experience similar POW occurrence. I have some information about his experience that I am willing to share. If I could get a copy of Edward Uzemack 106 days as a POW would be great.
Send me your email at [email protected] and remind me why you are sending it and I will send you a PDF of the the series.
My uncle Donald Heitman was among the green troops mentioned in this article. He was my dad’s younger brother and he was 19 when he was killed in the Battle of the Bulge. His sergeant wrote to my dad’s family and said what great person he was and how his comrades liked him. They called him “the kid” because he was the youngest one in his platoon. My dad was a bombardier in a B25 crew, who flew over 52 missions while stationed in Palermo early in the war. He was already home when his kid brother – his favorite – was killed. I was born after the war so I never met my uncle but I know his death had a huge impact on my dad.
My dad, Daniel Theis, was drafted at age 32 and went in 1944 to be one of the green troops at the battle of the Buldge. He never talked much about it but would always remind me how cold he was on my birthday, Feb 6. He also got trench foot and ended up in the hospital in England. He came home in Oct 1945. He is from Tomball TX. Passed away age 93.
My Dad’s next youngest brother, August Nelson Jr. (Uncle Augie to me), was in the 101st Airborne at Bastogne & was severely wounded. While I don’t know much about his service I do know he was not part of the original contingent that came over on D-Day. To the best of my knowledge he never talked about his experiences. He passed away in 2004. As of yet have not filed for his military records but am aware they may be hard if not impossible to get because of the fire. Have tried to locate an association of the 101st veterans from that time but not much luck so far.
My great-uncle, Frank Hejl, was in the Battle of the Bulge. I have no idea what unit he was with, but from what I’ve been able to piece together, I think he was in a glider regiment. He died in 1951, and no one in the family talks about him. The only thing my grandmother ever said about her brother was that he sent the family a postcard to wish them a Merry Christmas just before his unit was sent to the Ardennes. It’s taken me a decade to find out what little I know. I received the standard reply from St. Louis saying his records were lost in the fire, but the second enquiry I made turned up his final combat pay in September 1945 in Auxerre, France. I would love to find out more about him.
My father, Milton M. Snyder, was U.S. Army Infantry, 28th Div., ‘Keystone’ Division, and captured in the Ardennes. He told us the Germans called them the “Bloody Bucket” Division because they fought so fiercely. He was captured in December right after the initial attack out on patrol behind enemy lines, and because the German prison camps were full, he was marched hundreds of miles with lines of other prisoners of war. He was one of the lucky ones. None of his men survived. He was truly a hero. He never recovered from the experience. God rest his soul, and those of his brothers in arms.
My Wife’s Uncle James Grdgon was also with the Keystone Division. He was wounded before the liberation of Paris.
Hi Martha,
My dad was in the 28th as well. The term “the Bloody Bucket” not only referred to their fierce fighting but also to the fact that they suffered approximately 80% casualties in the battle of the Hurtgen Forest. My dad was also captured and spent 106 days in Stalag IXb in Bad Orb Germany.
For years of researching the Battle of the Bulge I couldn’t find information on Dec. 18. Just recently, with the release of records, it was shown that the losses were so heavy that day that all references were stricken so the Germans would not know how hard we had been hit. A code of silence was instituted. This is what I’ve read recently.
My Father Francis M. Simmons PFC 346th Headquarters and Special Services Combat Engineers was very much involved with the Battle of the Bulge. His unit was part of the relief efforts headed by General Patton in which the longest march of any military group in history took place to relieve the siege of Bastonge. His unit deployed Bailey Bridges across the Meuse River in order to get tanks and equipment across to defeat the Germans. He was also involved with the liberation of Liege, Belgium as a part of an Armed Services Military Band “Music” in which he and the band members were ordered to form up and start playing music in order to clear the Crowded streets and roads of people to get supplies through to our troops. The band played one time the Beer Barrell Polka “Roll Out The Barrell”. This tactic worked and the people returned to their homes and the supplies were able to get through as the Band quickly packed up to continue the fight. Grateful to the people of Belgium who trusted the music as a sign of freedom from war to return to their homes and let the military do its job. Great example of the power of trust possessed by the U.S. Army, allies, and the people of Belgium.
I was a rifleman with Co. “G” 327th GliderInfantry 101st Airborne Div. I arrived by truck in Bastogne Dec.19th, 1944 and defended Marvie all through the seige. Was relieved Jan. 17th 1945. My brother Bill was with the 2nd Armored Div. and was wounded near Houfalize on Jan. 3rd 1945. All five of the Sherman boys served during the war, three in Europe. It was COLD
just wondering if you would have any information on the 550th airborne infantry unit that was in the area during the fighting?
My father Harvey L. Burroughs fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He was in the army, 30th infantry division,(Old Hickory). He fought from day 2 at Normandy and in Belgium, Germany, England. He said it was the worst battle he fought in. He saw many of him fellow soldiers killed.
Carroll Lee York, soldier at the Battle of the Bulge
E Co. 507th Prcht Inf. Regt.
Numerous medals in including purple heart
Feb. 4, 2015: Oral information from Carroll Lee York in phone conversation. When they arrived in England they first camped near Nottingham Forest, then they were flown to Reims, France, then trucked to the front at the Ardennes Forest region (Belgium.) He participated in the Battle of the Bulge; his was the second group to parachute in to bulge.
He was shot and has shrapnel in his body to this day. He remembers it as being very cold, and he froze his feet (they were frostbit.)
After the Battle of the Bulge, he was transferred to 82nd Airborne and was in Army of Occupation as war ended.
He came home to the state of Iowa with wounds; the shrapnel and frostbit feet bother him to this day. He farmed and raised a beautiful family of 4 sons with his wife Phyllis.
After our phone conversation, I did some genealogy research on Carroll Lee York’s line and I was able to tell him in a later conversation that he is from a very honorable family line to Revolutionary War soldiers which included his great grandfather and grand uncles, and thanked him for his service in WW II. He did not know this, only knew his ancestry back to his grandfather, who he informed was the first white child born in the county in Iowa. I also told him that his last name likely has very significant genealogy connections in England.
Sept. 11, 2015: I visited with Carroll Lee York and his wife Phyllis in Adel, Iowa, on Sept. 11, 2015. Yes, he is 91 years young at the time of this posting, a WW II soldier and survivor of the Battle of the Bulge. He is a slim, tall, friendly man, whose family adores him. He is retired from farming, but still mows the acreage around the family residence. He and his family are active members of the Panther Creek Church of the Brethren in Adel, Iowa.
My father Amore Victor Juliano from Red Bank, New Jersey was with B Battery, 101st Field Artillery Batallion, supporting the 101st Infantry regiment of the 26th Infantry Division as a Second Lieutenant Forward Observer. He first said “My God, you cannot believe how cold it was!” His gear hadn’t caught up with him and was freezing with a light jacket. A Private walking sentry saw him and said LT you take my heavy overcoat since I am walking around, I don’t need it and you do. This man was from Smithville, Texas. (I’ll come back to the signifance of this in a moment) His unit took heavy fire early dawn, which caused him to jump out of his foxhole as a mortar landed in the foxhole one down from his killing the men in it. He went to see about them, but they were gone. He climbed to the top of a ridge get the Germans’ position when he was wounded falling down the ridge. He tried to take the sulfa tablets that were to be taken when wounded, but his canteen water was frozen solid, so he ate snow. He saw awful things, like Poles for miles shot in the head lying on both sides of the road. They liberated an extermination camp. He ran a POW camp after the war, and became a Liaison Pilot training at San Marcos Army Airfield and met a young college student attending Southwest Texas State on a blind date and they became engaged. A young man from my mothers’ hometown of Smithville Texas recognized my father and contacted him, he was the Private who gave my father his overcoat in Belgium! Dad asked him to be in the wedding. Dad was highly decorated but his uniform lapel covered his highest awards, I asked him about that and he said he knew he had them. He went on to fight in Korea as a helicopter pilot and retired a Lt Colonel in 1964. He was going to go to Vietnam, but my Mom said he had done enough. He continued to work with his beloved Army as Chief of Procurement and contracting for all of Ft. Hood. He retired with 50 years of service to his country. Dad gave his last full measure of devotion on Oct. 7, 2011 at age 88. I miss him so much, he was my hero and an outstanding father. I’m still saluting you Dad.
In memory of friends/family that fought/died in WWII, For relatives that died in WWI, relatives that served in the Korean War many of whom are already dead, for those that served in Viet Nam, and the 1st Gulf war. In my genealogy research I find more of the family served in all these wars, more than I knew. Robert Earl Cunningham was taken captive by the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge, his feet were frozen and he had to relive on his comrads to help him make roll call to keep from being killed. Frantz Campbell a cousin of mine, served in WWII, Korea, and in a special unit that was called up for service in Viet Nam. Uncle Frank Cornelius Meek served in WWI and died as a result of the gas in the trenches. We all need to remember the price these men, and now women, pay for our freedom, I did not come easy, even though they gave their lives freely. Let’s remember all of our veterans!
My grandfather was in the battle in the 550th Airborne Infantry, His unit was all but wiped out. Most were captured or KIA, he and several others from his unit made it back to the allied lines to fight another day. I have tried to find out more information about his unit, from what I can tell it was wiped out almost completely, and all of the men from his unit were placed in another unit. I believe this is when the 550th unit was disbanded due to the lack of their numbers. Not a 100% sure where he went from their, if any one has any other information on what happened to the 550th please contact me, I have several records from the national archives on the 550th, mostly day to day reports from the officer reports from Washington DC, mostly when they were going in the french alps. I also have several pictures from his collection of other service members of the 550th, and even some of the medical logs and reports of the injured. So please again contact me with any information that you might have thanks. My email is [email protected]
My uncle was a paratrooper with the 17th Airborne Division during the Battle of the Bulge.
He was captured, marched out of Belgium and into Germany where he was held as a POW until he died 1 month before the end of the war in Europe.
My book “Missing in Belgium” tells his story and resulted in his posthumous award of the Purple Heart.
[email protected]
My dad, McKinley (Mac) R Boone, was in the Battle of the Bulge. He was in the 71st Infantry Battalion, 10th Armored Division, 150th Signal Corp. I was born during that time and had an older sister. He shared lots and lots of stories. The Signal Corp was kind of a protected unit due to the generals needing the communication lines to be available, is how I understood it. He saw Generals Eisenhower and Patton, and two others at the tents during his time of service. He spoke of the hedge row fighting and positioning of tanks. The lack of ammunition and equipment. He remembered the cities he had to go through. Spoke about how his brother-in-law, my mom’s brother, Francis McCall was killed on the other side of one of those hedgerows, as he was marching down the safer side. They did not know each other was so close until the family learned of Francis’ death and where he was. He told stories of the icy cold, the food, the deaths. He appeared to come out of the war with all physical and mental items intact. He was ONE of the lucky ones. He passed away in August 2008 at the age of 89.
There were thoughts that my father was in the Battle of the Bulge. He arrived in France on Dec. 15, 1944 the day before the Battle of the Bulge began. As a genealogist I did further research and discovered he was in Operation Nordwind which began on Dec. 31, 1944. My father was tech sergeant and the platoon sergeant in charge of Canon Company, 70th Division, 276th Infantry. Operation Nordwind is aka the 2nd Battle of the Bulge. Although not as well known he was in many battles which lasted until I believe May, 1945. His toughest battle was at Wingen, France. My hope is that fold3 will write on Operation Nordwind as well.
Not sure why or how I got this..but I like it! I am WWII orphan – father killed in France 12/8/44 (he never saw me, but wrote me several letters). James E. Conley – have never been able to get any info …the fire!! His body brought home in 1950. Due to mother’s remarriage to David E. Kelley, 28th Division Signal Core(POW Battle OF THE Bulge), there was no contact w/father’s family). For those interested – the city of Luxembourg has alot of information on the men who liberated (and then lost again) the city to the Germans. They did and still do honor the men of the 28th.
My Dad fought at The Bulge,Philip J Fitzgerald/US Army/
We lost Dad in 1986 at the age of 69
My father, Bill Conway, was a member of the 106th. He was from Dallas, Texas. He kept a diary during his time as a POW. They were herded into box cars and bombed around them at Christmas time. When he safely returned home, Christmas and his family became infinitely important. He died suddenly in 1957 of a heart attack (age 38),but was a great man, dearly loved, and missed.
My father was in the Buldge, part of the 3rd Army, 10th Armored Division. In the engineers, they destroyed structural bridges and/or placed portable floatations bridges where needed. The cold weather was another enemy for troops! He came back to Michigan and worked 43 years in the oil fields. He never complained but I know he hated cold weather!
My dad, Harry Miller, was in the Battle of Bulge. He was a heavy duty truck driver in Battery A, 731st Field Artillery of the U.S. Army. He never directly told me he was in the Battle of the Bulge. He had mentioned the battle and that he was in Belgium and got frostbite, but I never put it all together. My uncle told me my dad was at the Bulge and after he passed I saw on his military papers that he was in the Battle of the Ardennes. He also was at Normandy after the invasion on D-day. There was a 50th anniversary special on TV and he casually mentioned to me that he was there. He said there were German snipers hiding and they would capture them and turn them over to the French who were supposed to take them to POW camps. However, after they turned them over, they would hear shots and knew the French had just shot the German snipers instead of taking them to the camps. Other than little tidbits, like seeing Jack Benny and General Patton, that is about all he shared.
My father, George “Baker” Sopko, was in the 11th Armored Division. (Thunderbolts) and was in the ardennes/Bulge. He was a 2nd Lt, and was from Taylor, (scranton) Pa. He served 5 yrs, the last year he and a buddy were put in charge of disposing of all the materiel in that part of Europe, under the Quartermaster General’s dept.
He additionally trained for 4 months for a secret mission, as Capt of 435 men somewhere in France. This he never me tioned, and i came upon a booklet or passport type of document stuck inside a German soldier’s identfication papers last year, which I have misplaced. But will dig it up and put it out there. He also was in charge of guarding the Austian crown jewels for awhile, he had an article in one of the local papers in the 70’s. My father died in 1983. My email address is [email protected]
So few even know about the battle. It’s ashame he never spoke more about the secret mission.
My wife’s father, who died just 18 months ago at the age of almost 99, was Capt. Albert O. Knecht the commanding officer of Battery B, 21st Glider Field Battalion, 82nd Airborne. He served from Casablanca, Morrocco to Berlin, including the Battle of the Bulge. He returned to America in November 1945 after earning the Silver Star, the Purple Heart and a good number of additional medals.
My father was in the 457th AAA AW BN, attached to Patton’s 3rd Army. He was in the Battle.
Your last name sounds familiar. Was your father from somewhere near Pittsburgh pa?
I remember my father going to theiir home to visit and tellling me of their serving together in the corp of engineers . My dad passed in 1980.
Carmine zinno
My father’s name was walter zinno
My father, Bernard Pokora was a corporal in A Battery of the 457th.
I was there in 1954 as on leave from the Air Force when stationed in England.
I have a picture of myself standing next to the Monument that the Belgium
people built in honor of the American troops that defended the City from the
German Army. I am standing under the column with the state of Michigan on it.
My father served there, as well, with the 84th “Railsplitters”. He also received the P H. He had a unit ” yearbook ” that disappeared about 50 years ago. I am trying to assemble his service history. Unfortunately, his records were among those destroyed in the fire.
I requested my the service records for my father who was in the Army during WWII. They constructed some records which were lost including the honorable discharge which included where he was. Cost was $70.00 but worth it. You can request at archives.gov. Click on Veterans records link and then the link which says to request veterans records online. After completing the form you will sign and send to the address indicated. There is also a copy for you to keep. This usually can take up to three months to receive.
My grandfather was a member of the railsplitters. He passed last year. Alton “Dick” THOENE
There are plenty of other records you can get out of St. Louis NPRC to reconstruct service history that Form 180 to request the service file (OMPF) will not get for you. You have to hire a researcher like myself or go there to get them. If you are interested in learning more, I wrote the only authoritative books on the market about how to research WWII service for any branch. Step by step guides. “Stories from the World War II Battlefield” Vol. 1 is Army. See http://wwiiresearchandwritingcenter.com
I also write for Ancestry.com’s blog on WWII research so you can visit their blog also.
If you know the dates and regiment in which he served, try contacting the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and ask for available unit records: ask especially for the S-3 Journal of his regiment and the After Action Reports. Ask for anything else covering the regiment for that time period. The S-3 Journals record the messages in and out of the regimental HQ and show you what was known (or thought was known) and when. The Monthly summary was written for higher headquarters to outline what the regiment accomplished. Records such as these are available for every unit that had its own separate headquarters.
If you don’t know the regiment, ask for the Divisional monthly summaries. They outline what the divisional units did during each month.
It takes NARA some time to respond (you can use the internet, the records are not cheap, unless you travel to College Park MD in person, The last I knew, NARA charged 25 cents a page. Still, the records are your best source of information on the actions of the division. .
The regiment and unit level records in College Park are not the place to start. You really need to get the Morning Reports from NPRC in St. Louis and verify your solider was in a specific company and regiment the entire time you think he was. This requires you to go there or hire a researcher. Soldiers often moved throughout units and in and out of Replacement depots. It is often a waste of time and money to have unit records pulled until you have established a timeline of service. You could later discover he was in one infantry regiment a month and then somewhere else completely.
You can read my guest blog post about it here: http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2015/10/22/building-a-wwii-timeline-of-service/
Hi…
when I researched the 978th Engineer Maintenance Company for my Ph.D thesis, I found the morning reports had gone up in smoke at some point (there was a certificate for the unauthorized destruction of records on file in St. Louis) while the unit records were intact at NARA.
I recommended the unit records (S-3 Journal and AAR) for his regiment only if the individual could identify the regiment and the dates her father served in it. And, since he was in the 84th during the Bulge, then unit records for the regiment or the AAR’s for the division for December 1944 and January 1945 would be places to start if the Morning reports were not available or if the initial poster did not want to invest in a hired researcher.
The Morning Reports exist. The MONTHLY reports were destroyed after the fire from about mid-1943 – late 1940s. But I have stacks and stacks of Morning Reports for clients and my own research here. They exist. In some cases they are difficult to read because of their condition or the microfilm But they do exist.
Hi….
I only wish the Morning Reports for the 978th still existed. St. Louis sent me a copy of the certificate of unauthorized destruction in response to my request for the Morning Reports way back in the late 1970’s.
I pieced together the ins and outs of the men in the 978th by using a variety of primary and secondary sources including but not limited to: the official Company history produced by the Company filed with its unit records; an unofficial history written by a Company officer and produced for the men in the Company at the of the war; the Post newspaper where the Company trained; movement orders provided by members of the Company whom I interviewed; Discharge Papers for about half of 370 men who served in the Company (based on a roster in the unofficial unit history). I found that County Records Clerks of the county of residence at the time of the men’s induction often had discharge papers on file since many States provided a bounty to returned servicemen if they filed such copies. I used wartime address lists provided by Company members. Only Illinois and Wisconsin protected these records at the time I searched. I even had access to VA records for five men who were deceased and had no next-of-kin on record. These records listed every post and unit in which the member served (this helped me identify the specific units that provided filler for the 978th)This took a lot of extra time and effort, as can be imagined. If only the morning reports!
By the way, the Discharge Records were useful since they provided dates of overseas travel, personal information like amount of education, time lost under Articles of War 107, services schools attended, wounds and awards etc. . BUT, they could not be used out of context of the other primary and secondary sources; the record listed the most recent unit of service OR the unit in which the member spent the most time. Some member of the 978th had other units of record listed, either because the member had transferred out or because the member used the unit with which he had spent the most time during the war.
Since I was researching the entire history of the 978th, I pulled ALL its unit records, unit records from the units serviced by the 978th or located within the same geographic areas as the 978th (including AARs of the infantry and armored divisions it supported) as well as the records of the two Engineer Combat Groups (the 1104th and 1115th to which it was attached ) including the S-2, S-3, S-4 and S-5 journals where available) All of these records were necessary to place the 978th into a larger context especially since the 978th was an independent Company more or less lost in a sea of higher headquarters, Col, Hubert S. Miller called the 978th and other units like it “orphans in a storm.”
I too have written two long articles on using primary records, but on how to research the history of WWII era civilian freighters and the merchant seamen who sailed them. Those sources, like the military sources, are tangled up, with some records missing (like the troop lists showing what troops were shipped overseas on what ship) and with the primary documents scattered between the War Shipping Administration and the US Maritime Commission…..records often comingled at NARA.
Fun, isn’t it.
Theron if you email me at [email protected] I’ll connect you with the researcher I use at NPRC to pull Morning Reports. It is worth having him check because they destroyed Monthly Reports. He and I have gone round and round about the records there so I can tell people when I give WWII lectures, what is really where.
Try ABE books for a reprint of the book you mention.
Ask Bookseller a Question 25.
THE 84TH INFANTRY DIVISION IN THE BATTLE OF GERMANY, NOVEMBER 1944 – MAY 1945
Draper, Lt. Theodore
Published by Battery Press, Nashville, TN (2000)
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Item Description: Battery Press, Nashville, TN, 2000. Hard Cover. Book Condition: As New. First Thus. An expanded reprint edition.
ALSO……
Try youtube for a 28 minute video of the84th in the Bulge.
My father, born 11/1913, served in the 75th Infantry Division that was part of the relief of the Battle of the Bulge. He was married with two kids and enlisted. He was a rifle man in support of a machine gun and after first engagement, the machine gunner, ammo bearer and the other rifleman were all killed or wo and he became the machine gunner. He was a PFC who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, the Battle for the Rhineland and the Battle for Central Europe. Three Campaign Bronze Stars. Came home w/o a scratch.
He rarely talked about the war and I once asked him, inappropriately, if he killed any Germans and he responded, “I don’t know but I sure shot at a lot of them.”
I had no relative in the Bulge but 28 years later I commanded a unit in the 1/39th Infantry. That battalion was given the mission of representing the 8th Division and the U.S. at the Belgium celebration of Patton Remembrance Day, an annual observation of the heroic defense at the Bulge – a defense also of Belgium and the free world. Army personnel weren’t popular at that time since Vietnam was raging but the reception in Belgium was exceptionally positive. We were a full generation beyond the soldiers who liberated and defended this little country but the gratitude had not waned. One wealthy hotel owner invited the entire battalion to a banquet. He spoke at that gathering and told the story of being a very young boy in 1944, hungry and scared as the war raged. One day he saw his first American soldier and worked up the nerve to ask for food. The soldier gave him a rations packet and sat with him as he ate every bite. Before he left, the soldier gave him another packet and then went back to war. The banquet was for all the soldiers who had fought, explained the hotel owner, but especially for the young American who had shared his food with a ragged, starving boy in the rubble-filled streets on a bitterly cold day.
MY HUSBAND RALPH E FOSTER “THE BODIES WERE PILED LIKE CORD WOOD” HE NEVER COULD GET THAT OUT OF HIS MIND.
My dad told me he was in the Battle of the Bulge, however I don’t know much more than that he was at some point in Antwerp. He was born in 1924 and I know he was in England before going to the Continent. I have a picture of him with a couple of buddies in front of a sigh that said BATTERY C – 126AAAGUN BN. He was wounded and ended up in a hospital where the Doctors saved his leg through new and experimental surgery. It worked though he had a partial disability and a wicked scar that was quite disfiguring. He always sang the praises of those Army Docs!
I veteran of the USAF. I was on a B-29 crew during the Korean War. I had an Uncle and Two Half brothers in the Battle of the Bulge. Uncle Ray would never talk about the battle, one of my brothers told me a few stories. Here is one of them. We were goofing around waiting to cross the Rhine River, everyone was freezing We were just waiting for the English to get there. Me and a few on my men were down by the river and found a dead German soldier. that had a good pair of boots on. One of my guys had newspaper wrapped around his feet. We built a fire under the German to thaw him out so we could get his boots off. In the process General Patton came walking his dog with His aid by his side. He Said, “What in the Hell is going on here.” We told him, He said to his aid, “get these mens names and serial numbers, I’m putting them all in for a medal. They are the only Sonsf a Bitches around that seems to know what they are doing.” End of story.
My father commanded an All African American Artillery Unit during the Battle of the Bulge. The unit was the 777th Field Artillery unit and the first “colored” combat unit to cross the Rhine River as I understand it. I have letters my father wrote to my mother and his mother saying how proud he was of the unit. He asked his mother if she had heard of his unit because they were “winning the war all by their lonesome”. That is a quote. I would like to know more about the 777th Field Artillery Unit. The letters cover the period from his training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and when he was in Europe from November 1944 through May 1945.
Andrew,
If you Google “777th African American artillery unit in WW II” you will find 4 or 5 articles on them. One of them was titled “Notable Black Units in WW II.”
My uncle Robert Lawrence Coe from Toledo, Ohio. Was a tank commander in a Mark 4 (Sherman tank) with a 4 ton bulldozer blade mounted on the front. He was a member of Headquarters Platoon, B Company, 2 Rd Tank Battalion. 9th Armored Division. During the Battle of the Bulge his tank platoon supported the 1st Battalion of then 110th Regimen, the 28th Infantry Division. He was involved in significant action Rueler, near Clevaux, Luxemburg on Dec 16, 1944 and was taken as POW December 17th. He spent time in Stalag 9B and mostly in Stalag 9A. He was as prison of the war until liberation.
My great grand father Henry Fite enlisted in the War between the States in Sept. 1864 serving in Merrill.s Horse. He was a Canadian living in Ridgeway, On. Canada. He left home leaving a wife and six children. In Sept of 1865 he was pulled out of service for poor eye sight and another problem which was not legible in his file. He received several payments as BOUNTY for goods that were captured and sold to the military. The Historian lady at the Military complex in Dayton Ohio provided me with a lot of his records. Reading about the skirmishes that his unit was in is quite interesting. The records show that they lost more men thru disease and sickness than were killed After the war he returned home to Canada and produced two daughters, one being my grandmother.In 1885 he became ill and was shipped down to Dayton. He died there in 1901 and is buried there in the cemetery. The Historian lady gave my wife and I a good tour of the site. While in the hospital he received a pension of $6.00 a month because he could not work on the farms. When he died his widow received a pension of $12.00 a month. His personal belongings were sold for $1.25, probably his shaving equipment. The monument that was constructed there is a great tribute to the men who died in various conflicts. We located his grave marker and could not believe the condition of it. The markers at Henrys site were badly worn and hard to read, Henrys marker appeared to be brand new. My 4 X.s great grandfather fought for the British in the War of Independence, the War of 1812/14, I have two cousins , 1 fought in Spanish American War, and another who was in the New Jersey Bomber command in Europe. My wifes nephew was in the Canadian Army and was killed in Aphganistan.
Very interesting family history. Thank you for sharing it.
My father in law Ray Y. WELGE Jr. Was in the battle. He was in Air Force from Illinois.
I believe my uncle, Lyman Salisbury, served in that battle.
My husband’s uncle, Waldo Willis, was on his way there when their transport ship was sunk. He lost his life on Christmas Eve, along with approximately 762 other soldiers and 56 crew members. (See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_L%C3%A9opoldville_(1929))
Gaye Willis, I have Salisburys/Saulsburys in my family a few generations back! They fought in the Revolutionary war!
My father Sargent served under General Patterson , 12 artiliary , a new team of Black Soldiers from Fort Bragg , North Carolina. I have the German K98 Rifle Cleaning Kit my father pickup off the ground and put in his pocket just before he was shot. That kit deflected the bullet and saved his life. He received a Purple Heart.
What a great family story and part of your history. To have the cleaning kit that stopped or deflected the bullet. That is fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
Wonderful story! Thank you for sharing and honoring your father’s service.
My grandfather, George Hudkins Barker, joined the Army on 26 May 1943. He was in the 4th Division, 12th infantry regiment during the Ardenness campaign. He was wounded in the arm and leg. He was hospitalized in Germany 21-23 Jan 1945. Then France, England, New Jersey ,and lastly Mississippi. He was honorably discharged on 9 May 1946. He never talked about any of his military career with his family. The information that I know, all came from his military paperwork that my dad requested.
My father Stephen Patchett was with the ASTP at the Univ. Of Alabama training to be an Engineering officer. They determined they would not need all the engineers so he was put in the newly created 106th ID. He trained at Camp Attabury Ind. While on the troop train his appendex burst and he was taken off the train in Philadelphia . His unit 424th Reg.
Was in the direct path off the German attack and almost his entire Div. was killed or captured. His room mate Bert Doane from South Dakoda was captured and died on the forced March back onto Germany.
After dad’s recovery he joined the 36th inf. With the 111th Combat engineers and stayed with them until the war ended while they were in Austria. When the 36th went home he was transfered to the 3rd Id. Special troops Army of occupation.
He came home in April 1946. Dad always felt he was the a lucky soldiers to have missed the Battle of the Bulge but always felt a hugh sence of loss for the for all the guys he knew that did not come home and he was not with them.
Dad will be 91 on Dec. 31st and he is done well.
Aloha Russell, My Dad was also in the 424th Regiment… Headquarters Company, 424th Infantry Regiment and assigned to the Communications Platoon (telephone and radio). This unit was one of three with other support groups that made up the 106th Infantry Division. I remember him telling me that 2 other regiments were almost all taken prisoner but the 424th, for the most part, escaped… he wrote a letter to our daughter when she was in high school detailing his experiences… fist I had ever heard of most of it. Thank goodness for her school assignment! Glad your Dad is doing well… we lost my dad in 2009 at age 86… but he lives on in our memories…
Regards,
Lynda
Hi Linda,
Dad was also with the Head Quarters battalion. What a small world. Did your dad also go to the University of Alabama for the ASTP training? I recently developed a bunch of negatives that I found. My email is [email protected]. If you want to exchange info. Thanks for your information. I am sorry for your loss. I am dreading the day my father will join his comrades. He is a great guy. Never talked about the war until in his 70’s.
Hi Russell, Sorry for the delay in reply… I posted today part of the letter my dad wrote to my daughter… he did go to Indianapolis… I also have 2 photos of memorials to the 106th in St Vith and the 424th in Spineaux, Trois Pons, Belgium… will send them to you in an email… has been great hearing from the sons and daughters of other 424th men… blessing to your Dad… maybe he remembers mine? Eyton Gerald Hammarstrom, Tech Sgt, radio guy…
Merry Christmas!
Lynda
My dad was in the Cannon Company, 394th Infantry in the Battle of the Bulge. He never talked much about the war, though sometimes when drinking a few things would come out. I remember him once saying it was so cold that when you started peeing it would start freezing as soon as it hit the ground. Another time he mentioned that, during the battle, if your rifle jammed, you’d just throw it down and pick up another on as there were lots of casualties and lots of weapons on the ground. He had some mental issues when he returned. I not sure what caused it, a single incident or a combination of things. I think I understand a little more when years later while he was drunk, he started crying. I asked him what was wrong. He said, “We had to shoot them. If we didn’t they would have shot us. They were only 12-13 years old.” These are about the only three things I can remember him speaking of about the war. Sad that men and women have to be put through such things.
Hi Jesse,
Loved your story because it is similar to my Dad’s story. He was stuck in a foxhole for 3 days without food or water. His legs were so swollen that his combat boots shredded. He did not talk about the War until he was in his eighties. He was in Company D 414 Infantry.
We can never fully appreciate what these men went through.
You are absolutely right. He was the only one from his platoon that survived. He will always be my hero.
My father Donald Kaiser sailed for the ETO in mid October 1944 on the Queen Mary. Sometime in early November he was assigned to Co E 318th inf 80 inf division. He was near BASTONGE Christmas 1944. He did say it was the coldest most miserable Christmas ever. He survived the Bulge and proceed thru Austria with the 318th. On the night of may 6-7 1945 he was injured in a train accident. The 2nd battalion was enroute to secure the Belgian crown jewels. According to medical records he woke up at 1st General Hospital in Paris 2 days later where his left leg was amputated. He eventually was shipped home and sent to Percy Jones Hospital in Battle Creek Mi. He was released in the fall of 1946
I am still trying to find details of the train accident. Any information greatly appreciated. He was evacuated by the 305th medical clearing with Lt. Paul cassell and private Godfrey R. Strang.
DONALD “DICK” KAISER passed away in 1973
It was on December 25,1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, that a 34 year old Georgian distinguished himself when he crossed an enemy infested territory to deliver a message to an isolated squad. A private at the time, he was selected as a runner to carry the message over enemy-held ground to an encircled squad defending a point on the
Salm River near Vielsam, Belgium. Moving through pitch blackness he encountered a German patrol. The enemy fanned out, seeking a kill, but he proved the better scout. He slipped through the line and pushed ahead. The German artillery then laid down a heavy barrage. After “sweating out’ the worst the enemy could throw into the area, he took advantage in a lull and darted out of the beaten zone. Compass readings took him to the isolated squad. His effort effected the squad’s relief and no doubt saved the men from annihilation. Afterwards, James M. Cagle was promoted to Staff Sergeant and awarded the Bronze Star for “heroic action against the enemy”. Cagle, from Pickens County, Georgia served with the 28th Infantry Division, Company K, 112th Infantry. His parents were Mr. and Mrs. F. T. Cagle of Canton, Georgia. He is descended from Henry (Kegel) Cagle, a child immigrant from Germany that served in the North Carolina Militia during the Revolutionary War. He is also my father’s brother and I am honored to call him Uncle Jim.
Note: Portions transcribed from a newspaper (unknown) article.
Earl Cagle, [email protected]
Wonderful story honoring your uncle! Thanks for sharing.
My uncle fought in the Battle of Bulge. His name was Steve Shanechuck. I need to find out more from my Aunt. He was from Belsano. Pa Clearfield Co. Also, Frank Jobe from the Carolinas was a medic. He later became a famous Surgeon. He pioneered the Tommy John surgery forPitcher’s . He extended their careers in baseball. I know his son Blair, who is a famous Cardip Vascular Surgion in Pittsburgh. I need to find more about my uncle. I will get back to you!
I just came across a post from Dr Frank Jobe son. I didn’t mean to intrude on his famous father’s success! I just remembered his brother’s conversation with me about that war. Embarrassing that I knew more about his father than I did my uncle. However, I will find out about my uncle! Also. Dr. Jobe son is being modest! His father was iinducted into “Baseball Hall of Fame “. last year!
Dad Sgt James Stonebraker came ashore D-day plus 4 with the 30th infantry 117th regiment st. low, hedgerows, Mortain breakout,operation cobra across france and was with the 30th at Malmady in support he new colnel pelgren the engineer that blew the bridges those were the real heroes of that battle He was transferred to the 76th 385th reg. after the bulge where they were in battle for 110 days straight till the end
Hi…
Was your father with the 117th at the time of the Nov. 16th 1944 attack through Mariadorf? In what Company did her serve with the 117th?
My father helped pick up the dead from F Company, 117th that were killed in a minefield at Mariagrube, the coal mine next to the town of Mariadorf.
My father, Walter Zinno told me he was at.the battle of the bulge. He was in.the army corp of engineers. He was bayonetted in.the neck and after recovering was reassigned to the phillipeenes.
I.cant imagine.that even after serving during the Vietnam war.myself.
I heard of similar incedences from. Friends. Their fathers later died as mine diid from brain cancer.. probably from handling dangerous explosives by hand w/o any safety equipment., i just handled it with care !!! With breathing equipment. I now am sitting.on a time.bomb fighting for increases from.the va .he never got anything !,!!
My brother in law Melvin E. Bush was wounded in that battle. He was shot in the hip by a woman sniper. But went on to serve over 20 years in the Army.
My father, Ellis Layfette Skeen was at Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge. He was a PFC and Honorably discharged on 14SEP45 from the U.S. Army, Bat. B, 897th Field Artillery Bn. He served with the 5th Army, Red Diamond Division. He was wounded twice during EAMET and was my hero! He died in 1992.
My Dad was in the 106th.
Only he and one other in his platoon survived.
My father, Paul Phillip Schlaack, also served in the Battle of the Bulge.
My father, Charles E. Johnston, served as a Tec 4 (Surveyor, Topographic) with the 16th Field Artillery Observation Battalion during the Battle of the Bulge. With his excellent sense of direction, memory and intelligence, he used to say he “surveyed” his way through Europe. He made life-long friends in the Army and traveled to reunions in Ohio numerous times. He was one of many American heroes from World War II. He passed away in 2007 and we miss him everyday.
My Uncle, Albert I Stroud, was in the battle of the bulge. After a long march in the cold he suffered frost bite to his feet. He spent many months in the hospital and eventually recovered. He opened a shoe store when he got out of the Army. My father worked for him for a while.
My cousin Pvt. Leonard Mack Fancher, born 1915 in Missouri, was a member of 1st Battalion, Company B, 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment. On 23 Dec 1944 after a 23 hour truck ride , without any rest, 1st Battalion, 517th Regiment was ordered to attack the Germans along the road leading from Soy to Hotton, Belgium. Their mission was to take the commanding ground around the road junction at Raid Hits, where the Germans where well dug in, then capture the high ground at Sou-Les-Rys and break through to the surrounded Third Armored Division garrisoned at Hotton. Company B lead the attack and Pvt Fancher was KIA on 23 Dec 1944. The 517th from 23-26 Dec 1944 took 139 casualties with 14 KIA.
Something I failed to mention in my first post about Pvt Leonard Mack Fancher was that he was awarded the Silver Star and another member of Company B 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Pvt Melvin E. Biddle was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions during the period of 23-26 Dec 1944 near Hotton, Belgium.
My uncle J.C. Sweatt was with Patton’s army and went communications was lost between units he was a runner. He won the silver star for bravery and encountered three German machine gun and took then out
My father Roger ( Mike ) Cranford from Columbia Pa was in the Battle of Bulge and 3 other Battles. He trained at Fort Sill did any one’s Father or Grandfather serve with him. He was in the 195 th. Field Art. Group from Pa. He never told me what all he did or saw. I know he was with Patton at one point. The Battles and Campaigns he was in was Normandy , Northern France , Rhine Land and Central Europe. His Foreign Service was 1 Yr. 6 Mo. and 28 days. He was involved with D-Day.
My sweet dad, Marshall Neil Peek, fought during the Battle of the Bulge, and was captured. He and his whole platoon were captured at a small town, St. Vith, Belgium.
They were marched 9 days and 9 nights (Ironically the Americans had bombed the tracks to the train they were to ride in) to Germany . He was placed in Stalag 4B, in Mulberg, Germany. He stayed there until they were liberated by the Americans 6 months later. He was only 19 years old – didn’t even shave regularly. He had to watch some atrocities and endured many as well – I even think he was molested. He weighed less than 100 pounds when he got out. He died in 1984 at 58 years old of a massive coronary. His health never got over this period of his life. He is my hero.
Janette,
My uncle also fought in the Battle of the Bulge as a paratrooper with the 17th Airborne Division. He was captured outside Bastogne and marched into Germany and was then loaded onto a train for the trip to STALAG 4B Muhlberg. He died as a POW 1 month before the war ended in Europe. If your interested I wrote a book about him called “Missing in Belgium”
He’s a lot of people’s hero!!!
My dad was in St. Vith also… but he was one of the lucky ones… didnʻt get captured… he was in the 424th Regiment…
Russ Wilkins Yes please. I would love to read your book.
My email is [email protected]
I am not too computer literate so not sure how to get in touch with you.
My father was in the Battle of the Bulge. He was Staff Sergeant Ansonio Valerio he served with the 509th Combat Military Police. His records were lost in the fire also. He served in Ardennes Central Europe Normandy Northern France Rhineland He earned a Bronze Star. He spoke little of his service just said he led his men after they didn’t send any more LT’s and he did what he had to do. He spoke about coming upon one of the Nazi camps all he said was he would never forget the horribly state the people were in. The greatest generation for sure !!!
My dad, Carl Widmer, from Kingston Pennsylvania, was in WWII, 106th infantry division, 424th infantry regiment. I know nothing of his experiences in the war until I found his handwritten journal many years after his death in 1984. The following is an exerpt of December 16, 1944:
About 5:30 AM, (December 16, 1944) we heard a whining noise in the sky. We all lay in our comfortable beds conversing and speculating just what it could possibly be when loud explosions were heard across the street. We lied awake under the blankets wondering. Then something whacked through the shingle roof and somebody shouted, “shrapnel”. At last we knew what it was. Everybody grabbed their boots and scrambled downstairs. I fiddled with my leggings. I didn’t have boots like the other boys. My feet were too big.
Suddenly Sgt. Sawyer appeared in the in his usual, calm, and G.I. manner and told us there was a war on and that we better get on the ball. Sgt. Yodsnukis was nowhere to be found. He may have been taking his morning exercises with the barbells he sent with the T.A.T. Barbells were of course I must, up front.
I went on K. P. while the rest of the wiremen went out on wire patrol. The mortar fire had cut up some of the telephone lines. By this time our 105 mm Horowitz from the attached artillery battalion opened up and blasted away all day with a steady roar at unseen targets over the hill.
I officially went about scrubbing out pots and pans until about 10:30 when the “first soldier “ordered me out on a wire patrol. There had been three casualties already. One was a blond haired Superman type Polak from St. Louis named Bielek. I saw him four months later in Germany after he got out of the hospital. He was very happy for as he put it, “think of all the combat I got out of getting hit on the first day.”
We were supposed to keep wire repaired to some little town like Spitzenfield. I went with the patrol through an exposed road on the hillside in view of Siegfried line. Jerry burp guns spewed all over the landscape. But I didn’t see any Krauts and I was curious to see what they look like in action. The other boys told me that they were coming wave after wave with bugles blaring. But I didn’t see anything that looked like enemies soldiers. On the way back from that little town a burp gun opened up across the draw and I scrambled down the embankment besides the road unconscious of the danger but stupidly wanting to bag me a Jerry. As usual, I didn’t see anything. Lieut. Sartor of the J&R happened by and shouted down to me to get my ass out of there before I get myself killed. Suddenly I began to sense fear and scrambled back up to the embankment, leaped into the Lieut. Jeep and away we sped. Five minutes later the road was heavily shelled.
Later that day I saw what heavy artillery can do. I was high on a hillside laying wire to someplace when I heard a fluttering hissing noise in the air. Within a minute a patch the woods on the hill opposite in which the reserve first Battalion was dug in was covered with grey pulp which crept over the woods.
Then I heard the constant roar of an artillery barrage in which individual explosions were almost indistinguishable. From this day on nights and days ran into each other. There were no more all night sleeps just naps in cellars and patrols and assignments.
Ramon, what an interestingly written daily log. Your dad made me glad my dad made it back with no injuries. He told us those stories, same as your dad wrote, but how great to have that diary. What a treasure. Thanks for sharing a day in the life of a WWII soldier.
Thank you so much, Ramon, for sharing this with all of us… my father, Eyton G Hammarstrom, was also in the 424th… I will post some of his experiences in another post, but surely this is what my dad experienced, too…
Thanks Rita and Lynda for your comments. I am listing some names that my dad mentions in his journal in case someone recognizes them. It’s possible that I am misspelling the names, as my dad’s handwriting is sometimes difficult to read. What I would really like to obtain are pictures of the 424th infantry regiment in hopes if identifying my dad, and showing the pictures to my kids.
Sgt. Yodsnukis
Lobry from Florida
Keating from Chicago
Babrowitz from Milwakee
Sgt. Sawer from West Virginia
Jerry Wolf
Bielek
Lieut. Sartor
Capt. Shannard
Henry Cierkle
Joe Nagy
Ramon,
May I include your Dadʻs narrative on my dadʻs page of our family tree? It is private and of course I would give both you and your dad credit… I think it helps flesh out what all these brave young men were experiencing that cold December… thanks so much… Lynda
Lynda,
You certainly can. Few people will remember my dad, as I have a small family. I tell my kids about the grandfather they never knew all the time. I would be grateful his memories were preserved in your family tree. Here is another section of his journal:
Sometime about 4 o’clock in the afternoon I was hanging around the farmhouse Hechaelenfeld where the switchboard was located. All wire lines were out except to division headquarters. The sun was going down in the West, the sky was blue after a warm winter afternoon. The shadows of the trees and houses were lengthening. Our artillery was silenced. There was an occasional burst of small arms fire in the woods up the hill. There was a smell of wood smoke in the air. The quiet carried a feeling of demoralization and chaos.
Lobry was scurrying about outside the house fixing his pack and getting ready for a hike. I asked what was up. He said that he had just heard the coronel tell the general that he was going to sit tight and fight to the last man., “Well I’m not sitting here, my jolly ladies, said Lobry, “I am walking to the setting sun. ” We saw Lobry again later.
As dusk fell the artillery trucks were grinding up past the farmhouse. Apparently, the Col. had changed his mind. Somebody told me to climb aboard one of the trucks. I left all my gear behind in the cellar where my squad had been sleeping. Besides a lot of excess baggage I lost an important change of shoes, socks, blanket and overcoat which I needed sorely later in January.
We rode for all about three hours bumper-to-bumper up through the woods on a corduroy road then over to the ridge and into asphalt. Foot soldiers fleeing from their positions on the firing line pleaded for space aboard the trucks. Some jumped on and to what they thought was safety. The sky still light with afterglow and burning houses provided a little light. Cats eyes were turned on and the drivers strained eyes to see. M.P’s directed the traffic. Occasionally a shot or a machinegun rang out in the distance.
We got to that CP in Burg Reuland and slept an hour in the attic on the floor. Every couple of hours it was call to wire patrol. Lines out. Eighty eight’s and miniwerfers. We were in defilade at the big house and the minewerfers moaned in the sky above us finally falling into the garden on the other side of the street. One afternoon I was up to F company. I didn’t recognize anybody and nobody knew me. Boys in the foxholes waiting for a barrage or an assault asked me for news. They wanted to know how the war was coming along.
By this time we were surrounded by Germans. Division headquarters was captured but we didn’t know it.
What a treasure your dad’s diary is. My dad, McKinley (Mac) Boone, was in the Third Army, 10th Armored Div, 71st Infantry, and 150th Signal Corp. I know he worked along side engineers in those bridge blowing or building efforts. He spoke highly of the engineers. Talked about walking along with convoys in bitter cold, doing something with wires. I wish he were still around to tell more stories. I wish Fold3 had been around when he was. His group had a truck blown up within feet of them, he was in a tank at those hedge rows. He served in France, Germany, and was in Switzerland and the Bulge battle.
My father ,Leo Hoctor, was in the ,Battle of the Bulge. He was transport driving a gas tanker, he was supposed to deliver it o Patton. He went were he was told but Patton wasn’t there, he got new instructions , found Patton and delivered the fuel
Here is an excerpt of a letter my dad wrote to my daughter in response to questions she had about a history assignment when she was in high school… so grateful to have this…
“I was 20 years old when I was drafted in December of 1942. I was inducted into the US Army and shipped to Camp Yaphank on Long Island in New York State. From there we were shipped to Camp Phillips in Salinas, Kansas where I did basic training and became a member of Battalion Headquarters 356th Field Artillery, a component of the 94th Infantry Division.
I was then shipped to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to attend wire chiefs and radio school. This lasted 3 months at which time I rejoined my unit in Kentucky. From there we moved to a camp in Mississippi. We were not there long before I transferred into the Air Corps and was shipped to Miami Beach, Florida and from there to an airfield at Walnut Ridge, Arkansas where myself along with many, many others were terminated from the Air Force “for the convenience of the government” and shipped to Camp Atteberry near Indianapolis, Indiana. There I joined Headquarters Company, 424th Infantry Regiment and was assigned to the Communications Platoon (telephone and radio). This unit was one of three with other support groups that made up the 106th Infantry Division. After much intensive training the division shipped to an embarkation point in Massachusetts. Now, finally, after almost 2 years I was heading overseas. The unit landed in England and after a very short time we headed across the English Channel to the European continent (ETO) and into the last major battle of World War II – the Battle of the Bulge.
That was a scary time. I remember December 16, 1944. We were attacked by the Germans and my radio station was knocked out by incoming mortar shells. There were no casualties and repairs were made and we were on the air again with Division Headquarters. I remember the unit being strafed by three aircraft on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. We sustained no damage. Another time I witnessed a two plane dogfight and some of their gunfire actually kicked up splinters out of the building I was in. Another time we had moved into a small town (Troiponts, I think – Trois Ponts lh) and I had to get an antenna up a hillside to the top of a railroad signal tower. I had no sooner attached the antenna when I heard bullets ricochet off the steel tower. Believe me, I broke all records getting back down to the ground and into about three to four feet of snow!”
E Gerald Hammarstrom
SGT, Infantry 106th Division
When we lived in Germany my husband and I visited Trois Ponts… the people were very kind and still very grateful to the Americans… they even had me sign the town guest book! I have a photo of the memorial the town raised to honor the 424th Regiment. My dad expressed regret that he didnʻt get to be a pilot, but his dream was fulfilled by my son, my dadʻs only grandson, who was a medevac pilot in the Army, 2004-2011.
Thank you to all who have added their stories to this blog, and special thanks to those who shared memories of the 424th…
Lynda J Hammarstrom Hylander
My uncle Ray Hodge was captured by the germans in belgium during the battle of the bulge
My grandfather Robert W. Coston was a member of Company A, 423rd Infantry, 106th Division and was captured on 12/17 during Battle of the Bulge. He and other POW’s were forced to walk across into Germany where they were held at Stalag IXB, Bad Orb. We have little information on his company or capture other than a few handwritten notes. Stalag IXB no longer exists, but there is one remaining in tact POW camp nearby, Stalag IXA, in Ziegenhain. It is open as museum and a small village built within the barracks. You can still see POW markings counting days on one of the wood columns inside one of the buildings. I created a memorial page for Stalag IXA with a photo of some POW’s from there. As well, There is a diary by Elmer Sorensen titled “Surviving Stalag IX-B; Bad Orb that can be purchased on Blurb.
My grandfather, Ira “Munn” Shelton was at Bad Orb, Stalag IXB. He kept a diary in the New Testament he was given by the Army. We found it after he died. Also, there is a book written by Sam Higgins called “Survivor: Diary of a POW in WWII” about his experiences in Stalag IXB, based on the diary he kept. We are also fortunate to have many letters written home by my grandfather – so many questions I would have loved to ask him after we read the diary and his letters! He noted that the PW boxcars were strafed by the US Air Force and he noted he would never forget how they made the area ring on Christmas Eve, singing carols while in the boxcars! We know we were very lucky that he came back – some were killed by the strafing, others from malnutrition and disease. He sent and annual Christmas card to one of his PW buddies until his death.
Teresa, how lucky you are to have his diary! Does it mention any other names of fellow POW?
Yes, I’ve been thinking of the men who were captured at the Battle of the Bulge all day. How much their lives changed thereafter.
Yes, it mentions a couple. Chaplain Neal, the Protestant chaplain was with them in IXB and he has the name and address of his buddy that he sent Christmas cards to every year. I would have to look at it again to see if there were others mentioned. Mostly he had lists of things he wouldn’t ever forget or food he wanted to eat when he got home! I believe both of the chaplains stayed with the privates who were kept at IXB. They were officers. Officers were moved from IXB to IXA. They also moved out the U.S. POWs that the Germans suspected were Jewish as well as “troublemakers” to Berga am Elster. PBS had a program on Berga, which I think was a work concentration camp. When the Germans tried to get the U.S. POWs to identify themselves if they were Jewish, they all stood together and did not volunteer the information.
Hi Michelle,
My father, Edward Uzemack, was in Stalag IXB and has written about his experience in a series called 106 Days as a PW published in 1945. If you send me your email address I will send it to you and anyone else. He was also chronicled in a book The Blood Dimmed Tide and another called In Enemy Hands.
http://www.unforgettableveteran.com/Documents.html has a database of the prisioners held at Stalag IXB.
Ed, THANK YOU! My email is [email protected] and I would love to read it and share with other family members.
I would also love to read it
Sorry it didn’t display email it is [email protected] thanks
It occurs to me that today is the anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge, with my grandfather’s and many others capture early in the morning the next day- probably the anniversary of that is in a few hours given the time difference between here and Luxembourg.
One last thing, I understand that Stalag IXB is still standing and was turned into a children’s camp.
yes, I wanted to visit the children’s camp to see Stalag IXB but they only allow the public in 1 day a year, in May. So since Stalag IXa is still standing, and has a museum on site, I went there. Very very moving. The rest of the barracks became home to area villagers after the war (and after a settlement of Jews lived there) but everything is laid out exactly as it was when it was set up as a POW camp.
I hope to get over there some day. I would be very interested in the museum at IXA.
My uncle, Willard Maurice Docken was killed in the Battle of the Bulge. He enlisted in the summer of 1944 and after boot camp and a brief visit with his family around Christmas, he was sent to Belgium. He left a wife, two children, his parents, numerous siblings, nieces and nephews.
Birth: Dec. 9, 1919
Death: Mar. 3, 1945
PVT 41 INF 2 ARMD Div WW II
Willard Docken was the son of Oscar Theodore and Mildred Baker Docken
link to Find A Grave memorial below:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSmid=48634505&GRid=11568249&
Great to read all the personal accounts of the many relatives who were involved in the Battle. My father in law was in Europe after it, and shared very little with my husband and his siblings, except trying not to drive his tank over dead Germans out of respect. My father was younger and didn’t serve till Korea. NARA/NPRC has microfilm on units one can trace a vet through WW2 if you have the unit and company. I did this for my husband as his dad’s file didn’t survive the fire. Was fun to do for him, but can be time consuming.
Lori, how exactly do you find the microfil on NARA for a unit? Thank you.
NPRC Fire 1973
The NPRC records fire of 1973 destroyed up to 18 million WWI, WWII, and Korean War Veterans’ personnel records.
The NPRC records fire is 42-year old news, yet even today it continues to impact the lives of our most sacred Veterans and their dependents and
survivors.
The files were stored in cardboard boxes stacked on steel shelves lining the sixth and top floor of a large, rectangular federal building in a small,
northwest suburb of St. Louis. They were packed so tightly within the thousands of boxes that, when the fire erupted, it burned so intense, so
quickly, so out of control, it took the responding 43 fire departments more than two days to smother. When the smoke settled and the interior temperature cooled, the building’s staff found that up to 18 million of “the most fragile records in our nation” had been reduced to smoldering piles
and puddles of ash.
There was no motive, no suspect, and few clues. The person(s) responsible for destroying 80 percent of Army personnel records for soldiers
discharged between 1 Nov 1912 to 1 Jan 1960 and 75 percent of the Air Force records of Airmen discharged between 25 Sep 1947 to 1 Jan 1964
(with surnames beginning with Hubbard and running through the end of the alphabet) has never been found.
In the days following the fire, NPRC used experimental treatments to recover about 6.5 million burned and water damaged records. Today, it has a preservation program, split between two teams (1 & 2), reconstructing what was recovered. This has proved helpful and hopeful for the many “treasure hunt” stories that occasionally surface in media profiles.
But, what about those whose records were not recovered?
You can help VA help NPRC reconstruct the damaged record. There is a specific request you must fill out that gives VA the authority to ask NPRC
to reconstruct that file. This request provides information that allows the NPRC to search for other types of documents, such as individual state
records, Multiple Name Pay Vouchers from the Adjutant General’s Office, Selective Service System registration records, pay records from the
Government Accounting Office, as well as medical records from military hospitals (current Army list; current Air Force list), unit records and
morning reports, and entrance and separation x-rays and organizational records, that would assist you with your VA healthcare access or compensation claim, or for valuable research on your family member’s service history.
Additional information can be obtained at http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/archival-programs/military-personnel-archival/
Thanks Eduard! I rec’d the email of your father’s s account of being held at Stalag IXB, interesting to read. As far as the NPRC information, is it the form for the OMPF, DD Form 212 that would allow family members to secure any retained or preserved records of their military relative? I appreciate your sharing and of course your service to others and to our country as well! Merry Christmas!
You can use the SF-180 to request the records.
Merry Christmases!
My uncle, Lavern Corwin, was in the 745th Tank Battalion, and my father-in-law Leo Graber, was captured the first day of the battle.
My Dad was in the Battle of the Bulge. He was in the 82nd Airborne Division. He said he about froze his feet off in that battle with all the snow and so cold.
last night(l7th) PBS had an hour long show about the 28th Division & Wiltz, Luxembourg. Had old film & pictures from the original Christmas party the men put on for the children; along with pictures of visits from the 28th over the years. I didn’t see my dad but he was there. It was a great hour…the gentleman who was original St. Nickolas was there last year (from Rochester,NY) and I did see men who I had met through the years – most gone now. Very nice – altho I was disappointed that the museum in Witz wasn’t mentioned. My cousin visited it some years ago & saw my dad’s picture there. When he told the “person?” there – he & friend were immediately treated like royalty – taken to dinner & put up in a hotel. (my cousin was Army, stationed in Germany). Maybe someone else out there would be interested in the story of Wiltz..
Remember the 110th Infantry at wiltz!!!!
The Bulge began early December as the German Luftwaffe tried to isolate the battlefield with air attacks on the periphery. Air activity picked up as early as 1 December….culminating on 1 January (I recall) with assaults on Allied airfields.
My father was slightly wounded in action on 1 December in once such strafing as far north outside Aachen.
My older sister’s husband, Don Snell, was a soldier throughout the Battle of the Bulge. He is now 92 years old. It has been difficult to get him to talk about the experience, but we have talked. His stories about the conditions that winter and what they had to do to survive with few supplies, uniforms and guns and ammunition are stunning. They, when possible, sleep in old drafty barns huddled under hay or straw. They had little food and protection from the elements, but somehow persevered. He said that the Germans had far superior everything; tanks, guns, clothing, etc. He said the main way they stopped the Germans was to destroy the bridges so the tanks and big guns had to be left behind. Then on a man-to-man basis, they won out over time because they had developed relatively safe places to attack the Germans as they advanced on the Americans. His favorite story is about an incident where General Patton was in a vehicle following his. Patton was yelling at him to drive faster. Don said he stopped and got out of his jeep and went to Patton and told him to “stuff it”, I’m going as fast as I can with this junk piece of jeep. Patton did shut up!
My dad would agree (and he was in Patton’s Army) with that assessment of equipment. He stated that the German’s jeeps and tanks were far superior. I don’t remember about trucks.
My dad, Master Sargent John Howard McWhirter and his staff were sitting outside one cold night and he told them to go request several wooden cots. They asked him why and he returned “To burn them, of course.”
My dad was also in the Battle of the Bulge. 94th infantry, 301st Regiment, Company A. ASTP in the spring of 44. Captured on Jan 21,1945 held at Orscholz, then transferred to Stallag 11b. Liberated by the English on Apr. 25, 1945.