Paul Greenberg reminds us that 60 years ago today, the Battle of the Bulge commenced with a German barrage at dawn. One of the most remarkable defensive stands in US military history occurred at a little town in Belgium named Bastogne. The Germans thought they would overrun the 101st Airborne in the first couple days of their advance. Though entirely surrounded, the city never fell. When asked to surrender, General Anthony McAuliffe replied, "Nuts."
This is a picture I took on the town square in Bastogne. You can see a bust of McAuliffe at the base of the flag pole. It is moving beyond words to see the American flag flying on foreign soil liberated with American blood.
my grandfather died in the battle of the bulge and is buried in a military cemetery in belgium. a couple of years ago, my dad and i were able to visit his grave. (i've got pics of it on my blog somewhere--i think veteran's day 2003?)
i think the experience gave my dad some closure. he was 3 when my grandpa died, and so he never really knew him.
what was really interesting was that a german friend of ours was the one who escorted us to the cemetery. sort of strange when you think about history, yet a beautiful thing too.
Posted by: melanie | December 16, 2004 at 02:05 PM
Your grandfather would have never imagined his descendent would be teaching English in Germany. That must have been an incredible experience. My wife, Linda, has a great uncle who died at Ypres in Belgium in WW1. We would like to visit his tomb someday. Do you know the circumstances of your grandfather's death?
Posted by: jon | December 16, 2004 at 11:05 PM
i'm not sure what the circumstances were. i'll have to ask my dad. i think he got some paperwork when we were there. if you want to see a couple of pictures from the cemetery, i found them on my blog. all of those white crosses are really overwhelming.
Posted by: melanie | December 17, 2004 at 07:40 AM
now i just compared the dates, and i've come to the conclusion that my grandfather must have died (nov. 2, 1944) before the battle of the bulge officially began. that's weird. i wonder why i/we always thought that... i think, however, that he must have been located in roughly the same area. my dad mentioned something with a forest, but i'm not sure how to spell it.
Posted by: melanie | December 19, 2004 at 04:44 PM
Was your g-father killed in The Ardennes?
Posted by: jon | December 20, 2004 at 11:35 AM
yeah, that's what i thought since i saw that name on some of the webpages i was looking at. it would make sense. actually, i was so bothered after reading what i did that i had to call my dad back. he said that it was true that my grandpa didn't did in the actual battle of the bulge but that it was around the same area where that particular battle took place.
Posted by: melanie | December 20, 2004 at 12:54 PM
Do you know the unit your g-father was attached to? What did he do in the service? Sorry for the 20 questions--I am just one of those soldiers who is curious about what other soldiers do, especially those who gave all.
Posted by: jon | December 20, 2004 at 05:32 PM
this is the info i have from one of the photos of his grave in henri-chapelle:
Robert A. Suydam
Sgt 109 Inf 28 Div
Ohio Nov 2 1944
you can't read the names on the graves very well; however, the guide who takes you to the grave has a bucket of sand (from the normandy beach) and brushes it into the name so that it shows up. i thought that was pretty cool.
Posted by: melanie | December 22, 2004 at 08:58 AM
Neat story; the sand is a nice touch. You said your father had done some research on his dad....? Was he able to obtain a copy of all his military records, etc?
Posted by: jon | December 23, 2004 at 12:18 AM