Recalling the Battle of the Bulge
Townhall,
by
Victor Davis Hanson
Original Article
Posted By: mc squared,
12/24/2019 10:48:29 AM
Seventy-five years ago, at the Battle of the Bulge (fought from Dec. 16, 1944, to Jan. 25, 1945), the United States suffered more casualties than in any other battle in its history. Some 19,000 Americans were killed, 47,500 wounded and 23,000 reported missing. The American and British armies were completely surprised by a last-gasp German offensive, given that Allied forces were near the Rhine River and ready to cross into Germany to finish off a crippled Third Reich. The Americans had been exhausted by a rapid 300-mile summer advance to free much of France and Belgium. In their complacence, they oddly did not worry much about their thinning lines,
Reply 1 - Posted by:
drive 12/24/2019 10:49:42 AM (No. 270497)
Thank God we have an even tougher fighter in WH.
19 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
MindMadeUp 12/24/2019 11:26:32 AM (No. 270536)
Obvious analogy to the current crop of ruthless, desperate Democrats.
15 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
mrdj 12/24/2019 11:43:59 AM (No. 270556)
My great-uncle was one of the 19,000. Johnnie P. Moen 423rd Inf. Regiment, 106th Inf. Division.
Born 1915-KIA Dec. 21, 1944 RIP
25 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
moonlightflip 12/24/2019 1:40:14 PM (No. 270647)
VDH is a national treasure, particularly now that history ( what happened before now ) is rarely taught nor remembered.
11 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
GO3 12/24/2019 1:41:16 PM (No. 270649)
VDH relates how other allied commanders viewed Gen. Patton, and while true, some viewed him as talented, eccentric and sometimes buffoonish, the commanders who counted understood his talents, Ike among them. It wasn't that Patton had some sort of crystal ball, it's that he understood history, and both strategy and tactics. The critical thing is that he trained his staff so that they were highly disciplined practitioners of operations and planning. His G-2 (Intelligence), Col. Koch, had one of the best recon and intel operations in the war. Ike and his staff were probably right behind them in proficiency. This was shown when Ike and Patton had a better handle on the situation than the commander closest to the German buildup and the initial battles; that being Bradley, who was essentially out of a job due to Ike's response to get things under control.
5 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Delilah 12/24/2019 2:03:32 PM (No. 270672)
My older brother was in the infantry during this battle. He survived but was never the same after that. The only incident he ever told me about was the time he was eating lunch of what he thought was a rock but after eating he took a better look and it was the rear half of a dead horse. Frozen solid.
3 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
red1066 12/24/2019 2:16:22 PM (No. 270680)
Many of the units with experience fighting were sent to the rear for R&R at this point in the advance on Germany. Intelligence info indicated the German army was pretty much beaten. Troops new to the European theater and with little fighting experience were sent in to replace them. Those troops were pretty much told they were place holders and that the Germans would not and could not attack because of material losses the German army had suffered. As a result, you have inexperienced troops being over run by the remaining experienced German troops backed by armor that according to Army intelligence wasn't supposed to exist in any significant numbers.
4 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
pros7767 12/24/2019 3:17:24 PM (No. 270729)
My great-uncle was there as well. He never spoke of it until he was much older.
I learned he was awarded the Bronze Star for infiltrating enemy lines to install communication wires immediately before the battle. Unfortunately, he died a few months later before I could get the full details. Even his wife didn't know, and when we tried to get his records, we learned they were destroyed in a fire.
He died in December 1995 at around the same time as he would have been fighting the Battle of the Bulge as a young man. He was a very kind and gentle soul. RIP Uncle Sonny!
7 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 12/24/2019 5:16:19 PM (No. 270781)
The Germans, who were highly disciplined and knew how to use a rifle from early age, were the strongest adversaries we have ever faced off against in battle. It makes me sick to my stomach that idiotic TV shows like Hogan's Heroes downplayed their ferocity and wicked ideology. To those who lost loved ones during WWII it must have been particularly painful to see Hollyweird portray the killers as doofus idiots and incompetents who lost every battle, like Combat! and Rat Patrol. For the Korean War we had silliness from, M.A.S.H. that made a bleeding heart anti-war message to justify humor for ratings at the expense of honorable service in the U.S. military.
Liberals are sick b@stards and I really can't stand them.
5 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
bighambone 12/24/2019 9:13:23 PM (No. 270885)
Once the battle got underway it was only a matter of time and weather conditions before the Nazis were defeated. General Patton and the 3rd US Army came in from the South and stopped the Nazi advance, and the British 30th Armored Corps moved in from the North and set up defensive positions on the West side of the Meuse River so there was no way the Nazis could cross. Once the weather cleared the allied air forces went into action and bombed the Nazis back into Germany. After that the Nazis never recovered on the Western front.
0 people like this.
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Beware of underestimating the ferocity of your opponent when he's losing. Wise advice for Pubbies.