Read about it HERE


Remember the ones lost.

Battleground w/ Van Jones and Ricardo Montalban

Did you have any relatives there?

My uncle was on Ike's staff and he used to talk about how worried Ike was that D-Day might turn out for naught. Patton and his men were another Christmas miracle.

Major Wagner of the 47th Panzer Corps : aufgeben
Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe: nuts
Major Wagner of the 47th Panzer Corps : was is das "nuts"

Not at Bastogne.

My Uncle "Buck", a t-sip grad, was a Captain and Battalion S2 228th Field Artillery Group.

At the time of the Bulge, they were near Aldenhoven, Germany on the west bank of the Roer overlooking Julich.

Your asking the question made me look at a memoir he wrote and I found the following...

Quote:

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The afternoon that we reached the Roer River at Julich, General Shea's Aide-de-Camp, Tiny Wessel, arrived at our headquarters. Tiny was a graduate of Texas A&M and a football player. Like many of us, he had been called into the Army after graduation in 1941. He said that the grapevine had it that one of A&M's best players, who played when he did, had been killed that morning. The player was Rout and he had been a lieutenant in a tank company. We showed Wessel where our troops were, and he went down and found him in a burned out tank, his body so burned that he could not positively recognize him. I don't know whether he found the right body or not. The tanks had moved on and someone had pointed him out to him.

Julius A. "Buck" Buchanan, Captain 228 FA Group

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They arrived at the Roer 28 Nov, 1944. His battalion fielded 155mm "Long Toms". He flew around in a Piper J-3 Cub and called in the guns.

The US was just paralyzed by a polar vortex which produced inconveniences for millions of Americans.

78 years ago US fighting men were in foxholes wearing uniforms that didn't protect them from freezing weather, snow, sleet, fog, Germans trying to kill them, and little to no food.

Wife's family.

Page 40
Some great stories.

https://issuu.com/fayettecountyrecord/docs/veteransvoices

Rough screen shot.

ABATTBQ87 said:

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The US was just paralyzed by a polar vortex which produced inconveniences for millions of Americans.

78 years ago US fighting men were in foxholes wearing uniforms that didn't protect them from freezing weather, snow, sleet, fog, Germans trying to kill them, and little to no food.

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Thank you. My point for posting this to remind those here that the soldiers at Bastogne had it much worse.

And people like my uncle were working 24/7 over Christmas to get to them, not just Patton and his men. I have alway been a big fan of Patton. I was a nerd about reading books. Mom was a big Time/Life books and series. One of those series was about WWII. I read the entire series.

LOL. I remember when I was about 11 years old, my sister brought her boyfriend home. He tried to be "nice" to her eight year younger sister and asked what I was reading. When I replied, "European Land Battles 1944 through 1945," he was surprised to say the least.

Thanks for posting that.

Memories of those who were the greatest generation. The biggest regret my Dad had was that he could not serve. He had high blood pressure and he was the youngest of three brothers, two were already in service and deployed.

Dad's first day at A&M was June 6, 1944. It was hot, very hot. Some guy walked over and asked who could play an instrument? Dad raised his hand because he could play trumpet. Soo...he became a member of the FTAB.

Class of '48.

Thread wouldn't be complete w/o this...



Unlike in the 1970 movie, Patton requested this prior to the Bulge b/c of the rains that had plagued 3rd Army.

https://www.apostolic.edu/the-true-story-of-the-patton-prayer/

Thank you for posting that. Knew about the prayer request but could not remember the prayer itself.

aggiehawg said:

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Thank you for posting that. Knew about the prayer request but could not remember the prayer itself.

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Weather broke on 24 Dec and allowed 9th USAAF P-47 "Jug" squadrons loose which was more pivotal than the arrival of 3rd Army.

Patton did send the "Weather Prayer" out w/ Christmas wishes after the start of the Bulge.

God got the message and sent in the 9th...

I had the privilege to tour the Bastogne War Museum back in August of 2020. It is an excellent facility and very moving. Being from the U.S., the staff was very welcoming to my buddy and I. As you might imagine, Americans hold a very special place in the locals hearts. The large monument outside is dedicated to the US servicemen and their efforts to liberate the area. All 50 states are honored.

Also, back in 2014, the museum hosted an exhibit title Texas Aggies Go to War. The gift shop still had a couple of Aggie t-shirts left. Here is an excerpt about the exhibit…

"In commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in 2014, the Bastogne War Museum opened the exhibition Texas Aggies go To War, which tells the story of five former students of Texas A&M University who each had a role in the pivotal battle which led to the Allied victory in Europe. These fiveJames Hollingsworth '40, Turney Leonard '42, Willie Peña '42, Joe Routt '37 and Earl Rudder '32 are representative not only of all Aggies, but all Americans, who served in World War II. Through them a story is told of dedication, sacrifice, reconciliation, healing, and deep ties, both personal and economic, between people an ocean apart."

Thank you for posting that.

aggiehawg said:

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Did you have any relatives there?

My uncle was on Ike's staff and he used to talk about how worried Ike was that D-Day might turn out for naught. Patton and his men were another Christmas miracle.

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The uncle I never met was killed on the front line a month earlier. Had just graduated earlier that year top of his class UT-Austin.

One of the best WW2 movies ever!

Charles Hickson Knows said:

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aggiehawg said:

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Did you have any relatives there?

My uncle was on Ike's staff and he used to talk about how worried Ike was that D-Day might turn out for naught. Patton and his men were another Christmas miracle.

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The uncle I never met was killed on the front line a month earlier. Had just graduated earlier that year top of his class UT-Austin.

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It really doesn't matter if you met them or not. The people who loved them and loved you, did know them.

Not glamorous but don't forget "Task Force Linden". They were freezing their balls off in northern France that winter as well. They were the diversionary force for the Battle of the Bulge but never get any recognition for their sacrifices. Plenty of Ags.

Thank you for adding that info.

Remembering them as well.

aggiehawg said:

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Charles Hickson Knows said:

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aggiehawg said:

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Did you have any relatives there?

My uncle was on Ike's staff and he used to talk about how worried Ike was that D-Day might turn out for naught. Patton and his men were another Christmas miracle.

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The uncle I never met was killed on the front line a month earlier. Had just graduated earlier that year top of his class UT-Austin.

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It really doesn't matter if you met them or not. The people who loved them and loved you, did know them.

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I would have loved to have met him. He was a fantastic young man by all accounts.

Charles Hickson Knows said:

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aggiehawg said:

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Charles Hickson Knows said:

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aggiehawg said:

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Did you have any relatives there?

My uncle was on Ike's staff and he used to talk about how worried Ike was that D-Day might turn out for naught. Patton and his men were another Christmas miracle.

---

The uncle I never met was killed on the front line a month earlier. Had just graduated earlier that year top of his class UT-Austin.

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It really doesn't matter if you met them or not. The people who loved them and loved you, did know them.

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I would have loved to have met him. He was a fantastic young man by all accounts.

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There were more than a few relatives I wish I had mett, or benn old enough to really converse with them.

My great grandfather was a kid swinging on a gate when a rider came by and yelled that Lincoln had died, for instance.

My grandad was there with 3rd Battalion, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne. Visiting the Bois Jaques and seeing Easy Company's fox holes was a pretty special experience.

aggiehawg said:

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Did you have any relatives there?

My uncle was on Ike's staff and he used to talk about how worried Ike was that D-Day might turn out for naught. Patton and his men were another Christmas miracle.

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My dad fought in the battle. 505th PIR of the 82nd. Received a grazing gut shot wound near St Vith. Suffered from frost bite in both feet for the rest of his life. He also parachuted into Normandy and Holland and occupied Berlin. I remember his talking of stringing radio line on frozen, dead German bodies. It always riled him up a bit that the 101st received so much attention at Bastogne when the 82nd was ringing the 101st's perimeter during the battle and taking heavier casualties.

My grandfather was a sergeant with the 687th Field Artillery and was captured at Wiltz, Luxembourg on December 16, 1944. He was liberated by the Soviets a few months later. Sadly, he died in 1972 at a still-young 52 years of age, and I was too young to remember him. I'm still so proud to be his grandson and am thankful for the sacrifices he and so many other men made.

Here's an account of the firefight and subsequent capture of his unit:

https://www.historynet.com/battle-of-the-bulge-687th-field-artillery-battalions-stand-at-the-crossroads-cafe-2/

OkAG44 was there and posted many times about his experiences during the battle of the Bulge.

Here is a thread where he wrote about that time

https://texags.com/forums/49/topics/789807/replies/10642542#10642542

Love this thread!

I've met and talked to several men in the 3rd Army from that time, but never anyone from the 101st who was there, or Task Force Linden.

Always amazed me we were reading their mail at Bletchly Park, but didn't seem to know about this major German offensive on December 16th, 1944.

fasthorse05 said:

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Love this thread!

I've met and talked to several men in the 3rd Army from that time, but never anyone from the 101st who was there, or Task Force Linden.

Always amazed me we were reading their mail at Bletchly Park, but didn't seem to know about this major German offensive on December 16th, 1944.

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I'd bet that intelligence knew about this offensive and allowed it to happen so that the Germans wouldn't know we broke the code.

Sigh. Such an amazing group of soldiers. Guy that used to work for me, his g-father was Doc Eugene Roe.

He posts on FB every year about how he and all the actors and family travel overseas to the sites each year on the anniversary

I did not realize that Rudder was at Bastogne

Thank you for that link.

OKAg44 was probably my all time favorite poster on this site. I know his son posts here also who would make his father proud as a similarly great poster.

Nm

Ag4life80 said:

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I did not realize that Rudder was at Bastogne

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The Last Hill
The Epic Story of a Ranger Battalion and the Battle That Defined WWII
Author: Bob Drury and Tom Clavin

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250247162/thelasthill