The Battle of the Bulge

John is a huge History person. He loves going to the battlefields, and through him, and the books he reads, he really makes it come alive for me. I really enjoyed going back and "digging in" this time. Thanks, John.

Ardennais Horses we saw on the way to another site - Heavy Drafts, my favorites - Bee YOO ti FULL! :)

John and Spectre at the GI memorial in Clervaux, Luxembourg - built in gratitude by the Clervaux citizens.

I love this shot of John and Spectre. We were trying to find a Bunker and hiked about 2 miles ... Spectre was loving every minute of it. I was just glad we had warm coats on...

This next shot is of John and Spectre looking out over the confluence of the Our and Sauer Rivers into Luxembourg from Germany. Interesting deal here: Hitler was pictured atop the same bunker, same pose (sans dog...) in 1938 while he was inspecting the fortifications of the West Wall/Siegfried Line.

Here's where it got creepy. You know how animals "just know"? Well, when we opened this creaky old bunker door, Spectre went crazy. He didn't want to be anywhere near the opening. Here I am trying to get him to pose with me and he was having nothing of it. I was kind of creeped out by the whole thing...here's a shot of the inside, as well. I kept thinking we were disturbing ghosts.

These next shots are of us on the SIEGFRIED LINE! Unbelievable, but true. I'm on the bridge linking Luxembourg and Germany. That's Lux behind me and "Rusty", our trusty car, peeking over the bridge.The next shot is what I'm looking at. See the opening in the "garden wall" directly to the front? That's a PILLBOX, cleverly disguised. You can see the closeup of it with John and Spectre, here:







Here are the boys in front of the Patton Memorial just outside of Bastogne.

This is inside the sanctuary at the German cemetery in Belgium. There is also a guest book; I read several pages of entries before I happened upon one written by a WWII veteran from Philadelphia. His entry (August 2005): "Such a waste. All these German boys died because of a Madman."

How True.

We actually visited two German cemeteries - one near Bastogne (which you see here) where nearly 7,000 German dead are memorialized. The other was on the border with Luxembourg, which is depicted in the last shot in this entry, taken by John.


John also took this picture, which I find particularly moving. Sadly, it was not the only grave where all three interred were unknown.

Spectre and I in a Foxhole outside of Bastogne...

Here's John in another of the foxholes that Easy Company (of Band of Brothers fame) dug. Unbelievable. If it had been snowy, we wouldn't have found these...

Here are some pictures of our trip with my folks and Armour last Christmas. Mom and I are merely ornaments: Arms and Dad are the 101st Veterans! BASTOGNE!

Dad & Arms in front of Patton's gravesite. It's cool. His cross faces the crosses of all the soldiers he lost. Very poignant.

Here are the Screaming Eagle Vets. Very proud daughter/sister am I.

Here's a shot of the memorial to the soldiers who lost their lives at The Bulge. Last year, it was covered in snow. Now the only white things are sheep...

This is a shot of the farmhouse (brown building on the left) where Gen McAuliffe famously replied to the Germans demand for U.S. surrender: "NUTS!" American Gravitas. Love it!

Sad picture of a grave. Obviously someone still mourns.

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