Bastogne Rolls Out Red Carpet for Battle of Bulge Vets

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

BASTOGNE, Belgium, Dec. 2004 — A carnival-like atmosphere here today celebrated the U.S. Army's victory over Nazi oppressors 60 years ago.

Flowers honor Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, who replied "Nuts!" when ordered by Adolph Hitler to surrender here 60 years ago. Photo by Donna Miles (Click photo for screen-resolution image); high-resolution image available.

It contrasted sharply with a solemn ceremony at the Mardasson Memorial overlooking the city honoring the more than 76,000 U.S. soldiers killed, wounded or missing in action during the Battle of the Bulge.

Downtown Bastogne was abuzz with excitement and activity honoring the 60th anniversary of the battle. Residents rolled out the red carpet for returning Battle of the Bulge veterans -- and anyone who appeared to be American.

U.S. and Belgian flags flew side by side throughout the city. Storefronts featured signs of thanks honoring the 101st Airborne Division, the unit that fought on against the Germans despite being heavily outnumbered and surrounded.

Groups from throughout the city donned World War II-vintage U.S. Army uniforms bearing the 101st Airborne Division patch, and a convoy of World War II-era U.S. military vehicles paraded through the city streets during the town's annual Nuts Festival.

Hats, T-shirts and posters bore the now-famous term "Nuts," that one-word relay U.S. Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe issued when Adolph Hitler called for his surrender here 60 years ago.

McAuliffe, in temporary command of the 101st Airborne Division during the battle, inspired his troops to a heroic stand that helped stop Germany's last major counteroffensive of the war in Europe.

Today, U.S. and Belgian civilian and military officials laid flowers at a bust of McAuliffe that graces the city square. Mayor Philippe Collard told those gathered that his city has never forgotten its American defenders, who stood with them in the path of an overwhelming German force in the bitter winter of 1944.

During another service today at the Mardasson Memorial, the supreme allied commander Europe encouraged today's servicemembers "to remember and honor" the sacrifices made here six decades ago by what he noted has been called "the greatest generation."

Speaking at a 40-foot-high concrete star that memorializes the Americans killed, injured or reported missing in the battle, U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Jones recognized the qualities he said made that generation so worthy of remembrance and honor. These, he said, are "quiet courage, a commitment to doing the right thing, selflessness of purpose, a profound and deep sense of honor and a forgiveness of former adversaries."

Jones urged those at the ceremony, which included King Albert II of Belgium and U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Tom Korologos, to remember the contributions these veterans have made in the defense of freedom, particularly those who made the ultimate sacrifice here. Their story, he said, sends a message "as powerful today as it was 60 years ago."

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstad recalled the tremendous hardship the Battle of the Bulge troops endured 60 years ago. "The only thing you could see was fog," he told the veterans at the ceremony. "The only thing you could hear were gunshots and the screams of your wounded colleagues. The only thing you could smell were lead and death. And the only thing you could feel was fear and bitter cold."

Verhofstad praised the veterans for their heroic actions and conviction despite what he acknowledged must have seemed like overwhelming odds. "When the situation looked hopeless, you continued to fight," he said.

The bonds forged during the Battle of the Bulge will never fade, he said, and Belgium will never forget America's role in its liberation, he said. "I'd like to thank every veteran…who made a contribution to victory and freedom," he said.

Everett Andrews, a second lieutenant in the 377th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion during the Battle of the Bulge, said he was "surprised at the outpouring" he and his fellow veterans received here today. Belgian residents surrounded him in the town square, asking him questions about his service, posing with him for photographs and thanking him for helping their country in its time of need.

"There's a real appreciation and expression of gratitude here," Andrews said.

1st Lt. Luke Margraff, a current member of the 101st Airborne Division, called the show of support in Bastogne "really impressive." Margraff, one of 10 soldiers who traveled here from Fort Campbell, Ky., to participate in the commemoration ceremonies, said he never imagined "that the public would be this involved."

Seeing their appreciation firsthand and the legacy left here by former members of his division "feels great," he said.

Of all areas of the Ardennes region between Belgium and Luxembourg, perhaps none is so closely associated with the Battle of the Bulge as Bastogne.

The city was a key to Hitler's desperate attempt to drive a wedge between the overwhelmed Allied Armies and ultimately capture the port city of Antwerp. To achieve that goal, his plan was to seize the vital crossroads at Bastogne and the Meuse River bridges beyond it.

What Hitler didn't count on was that Bastogne didn't fall. Hours after McAuliffe's refusal to surrender, the skies cleared and Allied forces were able to airdrop reinforcements and launch air attacks on German tanks. The Bastogne garrison soon received much-needed relief from Lt. Gen. George Patton's 3rd Army.

Bastogne hasn't forgotten its place as a turning point in the Battle of the Bulge, nor has it lost gratitude for its American liberators.

Collard called the 60th anniversary celebration "an opportunity for all of us to look back, remember, and once more show our gratitude to our American liberators."

He joined Jones, who urged children participating in the ceremonies "to remember and learn" from the lessons of Bastogne in a way that will transcend the anniversary celebration.

"Safeguarding the memories of the tragic events which took place during the war is of huge importance," Collard said. "But conveying a message of life and hope to our youth is equally so."

Biography:
Gen. James Jones, USMC

Related Sites: Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe 101 Airborne Division

	A color guard from the 101st Airborne Division participates in a ceremony honoring former members of the division and other veterans of the Battle of the Bulge at Bastogne, Belgium, Dec. 18. Photo by Bill Miles
	High resolution photo
	Everett Andrews, a second lieutenant in the 377th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion during the Battle of the Bulge, gets thanked by Belgian residents for his service 60 years ago. Photo by Donna Miles
	High resolution photo
	Bastogne residents don World War II-era U.S. Army uniforms during ceremonies Dec. 18 commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. Photo by Donna Miles
	High resolution photo

BASTOGNE, Belgium - To find the city hall in Bastogne, walk past the White House Hotel, cross Gen. McAuliffe square, turn at the Dakota Cafe and it's the building on the right flying the stars-and-stripes, just before you reach rue de l'American Legion.

For 60 years, this rural town in southeast Belgium has been tied to the United States by bonds forged in the fire and fury of the Battle of the Bulge when the locals and their American defenders stood in the path of a German onslaught during the bitter winter of 1944.

''Bastogne has never stopped its friendship with the American people,'' Mayor Philippe Collard told dignitaries from the U.S. embassy on a visit to prepare this year's anniversary. ``In Bastogne, you are at home.''

ENDURING FRIENDSHIP

That friendship shows no sign of waning despite the passing of time and Belgium's outspoken opposition to the Iraq war.

While some neighboring towns called a halt to their World War II remembrance ceremonies after the 50th anniversary in 1994, Bastogne has a yearlong program of commemoration that culminates in mid-December with parades, a night vigil and a major exhibition designed to give new generations an idea of America's biggest and bloodiest battle of the war.

King Albert II is due to join U.S. veterans. An invitation has gone out to the White House, although Collard says he's yet to hear if the president will attend.

TURNING POINT

Bastogne was the key turning point in the Battle of the Bulge, a surprise attack by thousands of German troops through the December snow that was Hitler's desperate last attempt to reverse the allied advance that began in June on Normandy's beaches.

Surrounded, outnumbered and under intense bombardment, the commander of the U.S. 101st Airborne in Bastogne, Gen. Anthony McAuliffe received a message from his German counterpart on Dec. 22, 1944, offering him the chance to surrender. McAuliffe's one-word rebuff -- ''Nuts!'' -- ensured Bastogne's place in military legend and the town's continued resistance earned the allied forces time to regroup and repulse Hitler's last offensive.

The cost was high. A massive concrete star, 40 feet high and 260 feet across, stands on the Mardasson hill outside the town as a memorial to the 76,890 Americans killed, injured or reported missing in the Battle of the Bulge.

Built in the late 1940s, it bears the names of the 50 U.S. states and the badges of the American units who fought in the Ardennes. Beneath it is a crypt decorated by the mosaics by the French artist Fernand Leger in honor of Catholic, Protestant and Jewish soldiers.

Nearby, a little museum tells the story of the battle with a display of uniforms and weapons, one of several dotted around the Ardennes. A Sherman tank dominates the town square, which is named after McAuliffe and surrounded by cafes, including one that serves a locally brewed strong ale called ''Airborne'' that's served in a mug shaped like a WWII U.S. army helmet.

There's also a ''Nuts'' liquor distilled from walnuts, which already played a part in local folklore before McAuliffe's famous exclamation. In a custom dating back centuries, the year's newlyweds throw walnuts to children from the town hall balcony every December, to recall the matchmaking that traditionally went on among local farmers during a time-honored nut market.

For this year's anniversary, the local council has also ordered a commemorative wine from a French vineyard, and the Belgian postal service will issue a special series of stamps.

VACATION SPOT

Sixty years on, the Ardennes region is a popular year-round vacation destination in today's border-free Europe. It stretches from northern France, through Belgium and Luxembourg into western Germany in a swathe of forest-covered plateaux cut by steep valleys that plunge to trout-rich streams.

Today, snowfalls like those of the tragic winter of 1944, bring flocks of cross-country skiers to the region, while in the summer history buffs are joined by rock-climbers, hikers and families taking kayak trips down the Semois, Ourthe and Ambleve rivers which snake through the woods. Hunters and fishermen take to the forests in the fall.

Rebuilt after the war, Bastogne lacks some of the old-world charm of neighboring towns and villages, such as Bouillon, which is dominated by a medieval crusader's castle. La Roche-en-Ardenne and Houffalize are nestled in narrow gorges. Durbuy, with its ancient half-timbered houses, claims to be the world's smallest ``city.''

One thing all the Ardennes towns have in common is a reputation for good food.

`PEACE WOOD'

Bastogne's smoked hams and sausages are famed. Local beers include powerful Trappist brews made by monks in the monasteries at Orval and Rochefort. In season, boar and venison served in rich, dark sauces hold pride of place in restaurants.

A new sight on a hillside overlooking Bastogne is the ''peace wood'' planted in 1994 to mark the 50th anniversary of the battle and honor the U.S. veterans who flew over for the commemorations. Each of the 4,000 trees was given the name of a returning veteran, or of a unit that fought in the battle.

The local beech, birch, oak, hazel and elder saplings were planted to form the shape of a mother cradling her child -- the symbol of UNICEF, the United Nations' children's agency -- with the aim of creating a place of reflection and serenity on the site of so much carnage.

Around the edge of the woods, Bastogne invited other cities marked by war to plant trees of their own.

There's an oak from the Basque city of Guernica bombed by Hitler's airforce in the Spanish Civil War; an apple tree from Avranches representing the orchards inland from Normandy's D-Day beaches; a poplar from Oswiecim, the Polish city that the Germans called Auschwitz; and from Jerusalem, two Israeli and Palestinian women came together in 2002 to plant plum trees in memory of loved ones killed in the Middle East conflict.

At the entrance to the wood, a sign carries a heart-wrenching quote from an anonymous German soldier, found chalked on a blackboard in village school: ``May the world never experience such a Christmas night. There is nothing more cruel than to die a soldier's death away from your wife and children . . . from the ruins and blood and death universal brotherhood will undoubtedly emerge.''

A cemetery in the little village of Recogne holds the remains of almost 7,000 German soldiers. The graves of 13,317 Americans can be found in the villages of Henri-Chapelle and Neupre. Over the border, 5,076 more are buried outside the capital of Luxembourg, including Gen. George S. Patton who had his headquarters in the city.

Although the passing of time means fewer and fewer veterans return to Bastogne, new generations keep coming to the battlefields. Some are inspired by the Band of Brothers TV series that graphically portrayed the fighting. Others have a more personal link. In Bastogne's museum visitors' book, there's a simple message from Erica Flegel of Indiana: ``Thank's Granddad.''