Can you imagine this now? 100,000 casualties? 19,000 of which paid the ultimate sacrifice. 19,000 dead in one battle. That is about 6 times the last decade War on Terror. Hard to imagine the massive size of WW2. And, this was in one theater. The American military was fighting on the sea, land, and air all over the world.
Army History: during World War Two on December 16, 1944 three German armies (more than a quarter-million troops) launched the deadliest and most desperate battle of the war in west Europe in the poorly roaded, rugged, heavily forested Ardennes. The once-quiet region became bedlam as American units were caught flat-footed and fought desperate battles to stem the German advance at St. Vith, Elsenborn Ridge, Houffalize and, later, Bastogne, which was defended by the 101st Airborne Division. The inexperienced U.S. 106th Division was nearly annihilated, but even in defeat helped buy time for Brigadier General Bruce C. Clarke’s brilliant defense of St. Vith. As the German armies drove deeper into the Ardennes forest in an attempt to secure vital bridgeheads west of the River Meuse quickly, the line defining the Allied front on a map took on the appearance of a large protrusion or bulge, the name by which the battle would forever be known.
A crucial German shortage of fuel and the gallantry of American soldiers fighting in the frozen forests of the Ardennes proved fatal to Hitler’s ambition to snatch, if not victory, at least a draw with the Allies in the western Europe. Lieutenant General George S. Patton’s remarkable feat of turning the Third Army ninety degrees from Lorraine, France to relieve the besieged town of Bastogne was the key to thwarting the German counteroffensive. The Battle of the Bulge was the costliest action ever fought by the U.S. Army, which suffered over 100,000 casualties.
Army History: during World War Two on December 16, 1944 three German armies (more than a quarter-million troops) launched the deadliest and most desperate battle of the war in west Europe in the poorly roaded, rugged, heavily forested Ardennes. The once-quiet region became bedlam as American units were caught flat-footed and fought desperate battles to stem the German advance at St. Vith, Elsenborn Ridge, Houffalize and, later, Bastogne, which was defended by the 101st Airborne Division. The inexperienced U.S. 106th Division was nearly annihilated, but even in defeat helped buy time for Brigadier General Bruce C. Clarke’s brilliant defense of St. Vith. As the German armies drove deeper into the Ardennes forest in an attempt to secure vital bridgeheads west of the River Meuse quickly, the line defining the Allied front on a map took on the appearance of a large protrusion or bulge, the name by which the battle would forever be known.
A crucial German shortage of fuel and the gallantry of American soldiers fighting in the frozen forests of the Ardennes proved fatal to Hitler’s ambition to snatch, if not victory, at least a draw with the Allies in the western Europe. Lieutenant General George S. Patton’s remarkable feat of turning the Third Army ninety degrees from Lorraine, France to relieve the besieged town of Bastogne was the key to thwarting the German counteroffensive. The Battle of the Bulge was the costliest action ever fought by the U.S. Army, which suffered over 100,000 casualties.
