Here is a little bit of history for you because to be honest I had to look it up myself. The Battle of the Bulge, fought from December 16, 1944 - January, 25 1945, was the last major Nazi offensive against the Allies in World War II. Hitler thought that the Allied forces were not as strong in this region and a major attack would leave them unable to supply themselves, thus breaking up the Alliance. This was the largest battle fought by Americans in WWII.
When we arrived in Bastogne we headed first to the Mardasson Memorial, which honors the memory of the American Soldiers wounded or killed during this Battle. I have found different numbers online, but from what I gather there were approximately 70,000 - 89,000 American casualties including 19,000 killed.
The memorial is shaped like a star and is engraved with the names of the contemporary 48 US states. The insignia of most of the participating battalions are also shown on the walls.
On the memorial stone there is this Latin inscription.
- LIBERATORIBVS
- AMERICANIS
- POPVLVS BELGICVS
- MEMOR
- IV.VII.MCMXLVI.
translates to "The Belgian people remember their American liberators – 4th July 1946."
(This is all brought to you by google. I didn't realize any of this at the time. I was just blown away by this huge memorial and seeing the American Flag. It really was a sight to see and now that I know more of the History it makes me appreciate it even more.)
On the anniversary of the Battle they hold a commerative walk which is what brought us here this weekend. We really wanted to do it but were a little unsure how the girls would do on a 4 mile walk through the snow. Very smart decision for us not to do the walk this year. It was very cold and I don't think we could have gotten our stroller through some of the areas. We might try it next year but it was so worth the trip there even without doing the walk.
The whole town was filled with Belgians dressed in American WWII uniforms.
There were also a ton of WWII vehicles driving the streets. I tried to look up online what each vehicle was used for but had a little difficulty finding this.
I would guess that this is some type of tank, but it was so small it almost looked like a toy tank.
We even saw an old Harley.
On our way out we saw this group of people and they were all chanting and trying to catch
something that was being thrown from this balcony. I think this might be Bastogne's town hall. The way these people were acting Brian and I were like what in the world are they throwing?
Walnuts. Bags of Walnuts.
Little Sidney even caught a bag of walnuts while she was sleeping, didn't even wake up. I am so happy that it didn't hit her in the head. That could hurt.
It was great to go somewhere in Europe where you felt so welcome and proud to be an American. I am so glad that we did this. The best part was when we got home Brian was able to talk to his Grandfather who fought in WWII.
Elizabeth, I have never wanted to live overseas. I have always wanted to stay close to home, but seeing and reading about your adventures makes me want to live over there! What amazing things you and Brain are able to do. I am VERY jealous.
ReplyDeleteSo funny about the pull-up! I remember reading in one of your posts that their are not many public restrooms. You got to do what you got to do :)
Hey! What an awesome experience! By the way, I found an old album that belonged to our Aunt Margaret (Papa Burley's sister) and there were quite a few pics of him in his uniform, a couple of letters that Papa sent back to his sisters, and even some old pics of Uncle Happy & Aunt Margaret and Marmee & Papa. I scanned them and put them on a CD for each of the cousins and aunts & uncles. Martha was supposed to grab one and send it to you guys. I hope you get it and I hope Brian likes the pics I found. Have a very Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteJason