/“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” ~ George Santayana
To extend last week’s message on lessons of Pearl Harbor from 78 years ago, note that yesterday was the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the “Battle of the Bulge” that followed the D-Day invasion 6-months earlier and led to VE Day on May 8, 1945 — so that “The Greatest Generation” could turn full attention to finishing the fighting in the Pacific to end World War II on September 2, 1945 with Japan’s surrender to General Douglas McCarthy on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
Click here for yesterday’s White House press release commemorating this important costly invasion that brought an end to Hitler’s NAZI regime — repeated in full below.
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Presidential Message on the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge
The White House
Issued on: December 16, 2019
On December 16, 1944, Nazi forces launched their last major offensive campaign on the Western Front of World War II, deep in the Ardennes Forest. In what would become known as the Battle of the Bulge, the United States and Allied Forces unleashed one of the most consequential—and tenacious—operations in modern military history. Today, we remember the more than 500,000 brave patriots who faced unimaginable peril, including the more than 19,000 who laid down their lives in the gallant stand against tyranny and oppression that would ultimately liberate Europe from Nazi control and secure a victory for the forces of freedom.
Following the arrival of the monumental Allied victory on D-Day, the Nazis knew the momentum of World War II had swung against them. In their last effort to turn the tide of the war, they once again underestimated the resiliency and grit of the American troops.
Despite frigid temperatures and the Nazis’ initial success in breaking the American front, our forces fought with the dauntless fortitude that has defined our military men and women since the founding of our great country. They were led by some of our Nation’s most revered military leaders, but it was ultimately their intrepid and indomitable spirit that fueled our victory. From Elsenborn Ridge and Clervaux to the critical road junctions of St. Vith and Bastogne, Americans fought furiously to slow the Nazi advances, and in doing so they achieved what British Prime Minister Winston Churchill referred to as “undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war,” which he predicted would be regarded as “an ever-famous American victory.”
Seventy-five years later, we honor the remarkable bravery of the valiant heroes who fought in the “Battle of the Bulge.” Part of the Greatest Generation, their sacrifices cemented a legacy of proud service and deep devotion to country that will continue to inspire generation after generation of their fellow Americans.
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This important day was also remembered in local newspapers around the nation, including in our main local paper near our SC farm, The Augusta Chronicle. As an example, click here for the below article by Josiah Buntin III, “Honoring those who fought in the Battle of the Bulge.”
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Honoring Those Who Fought in the Battle of the Bulge
Posted in Education December 16, 2019 by Josiah Bunting III
This Monday, December 16, will mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, the largest and bloodiest single battle fought by the United States in World War II. More than 1 million Allied service members took part in the campaign and more than 22,000 Allies and civilians were killed and an additional 75,000 wounded, missing or captured, making the Battle of the Bulge one of the costliest battles the U.S. Army fought.
While D-Day, Victory in Europe Day, and other milestones of World War II receive the rightful attention and designation of commemoration on the calendar, it’s also important to reflect back at just how important the Battle of the Bulge was at turning the tide in the fight against the German army.
On December 16, 1944, German forces launched an ambitious counterattack against Allied positions in the Ardennes Forest. Their goal was to thwart the Allied advance into Germany. Instead, in this decisive six-week campaign that became known as the Battle of the Bulge, American forces resisted and overcame the German assault, delivering a huge blow to German military capabilities and paving the way for the final push into Germany.
As the German advance continued, American troops in the Ardennes, many of whom were refitting after rough action months before, delayed and resisted the offensive with resolute fervor. One of the most crucial sites of American defense took place in Bastogne, a small crossroads town that was essential to supplying German forces pushing toward the Meuse. By December 21, the rapid German advance westward had encircled the town, which was defended by the 101st Airborne Division, along with troops from nearby battered units. Despite being outnumbered, low on food, medicine and other supplies, and lacking proper cold-weather gear, the Bastogne defenders dug in for a tough fight.
On December 22, the Germans offered Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, the commander of the 101st in Bastogne, the chance to surrender to avoid annihilation. McAuliffe famously responded, “Nuts!” signaling the paratroopers’ resolve to hold their positions no matter the costs. In response, German forces pounded all sides of the besieged city for days, yet each assault failed to break the American positions.
After the 101st spent a frigid Christmas in their foxholes, Patton’s Third Army broke through the German lines to rescue the 101st in Bastogne. Like a belated Christmas present to McAuliffe, the siege of Bastogne was broken. The Third Army’s reinforcements had punctured the bulge and stymied German momentum.
With the tide of the battle turned, American forces could begin to restore lost ground. The 2nd Armored Division halted German tanks headed toward the Meuse, effectively halting Germany’s push westward. With weather improving, reinforcements arriving, and American air support returning, American troops began to retake small towns like Foy, while the British helped reduce the bulge from the north. Their positions breaking, German forces began to withdraw by mid-month. By the end of January, the Allies had retaken all territory lost in the Ardennes campaign, finally hammering out the bulge.
The failed campaign by the Germans burned through vast quantities of men, equipment and gasoline that they could not replace, decimating any hopes that Germany could hamper Allied victory.
The Battle of the Bulge is remembered today as a testimony to the fighting spirit and determination of American soldiers. Their sacrifice, valor and dedication ensured the Allies’ final push into Germany and eventually victory in Europe.
Today, we honor and preserve the memory of ALL Americans who participated in the Battle of the Bulge and helped bring freedom to millions around the globe.
About the Author
Josiah Bunting III is the chairman of the Friends of the National World War II Memorial in Washington. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.
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Many of these memorable events were reproduced in “Patton,” the movie on the famous general who led so many important battles that included those in the “Battle of the Bulge.” General George H. Patton was known as “Old Blood and Guts” … notably, some of his troops said: “Our blood and his guts,” when recalling these momentous days.
Notably, he and his bosses, Generals Omar N. Bradley and Dwight D. Eisenhower, were colonels as war was breaking out in Europe — and after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt named General George Marshal to be the nation’s top commander. General Marshall fired the generals who had not prepared for the War and relied on these “colonels” — and others — who had been studying how to engage the coming adversaries, while their unprepared bosses had ignored the problems and events then forced upon our nation.
As I noted last week, the Army Air Corps played an enormously important role in World War II — as Billy Mitchell and his disciples had forecast for years — and World War II demonstrated to even the slowest among “the powers that were” that we needed a completely separate military service to design, acquire and operate a completely separate U.S. Air Force to meet the nation’s requirements.
So . . . last week the House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act for 2020, NDAA(2020), and President Trump announced he would sign it after the Senate approves it — when it finds the time along with the ongoing “Impeachment Charade” that seems to dominate the Washington scene.
Meanwhile everyone awaits congressional legislation that funds not only for the NDAA(2020) but also appropriations for the entire federal government for Fiscal Year 2020, which began on October 1, 2019. Breaking reports indicate this may occur by the end of this week.
While hoping these reports are correct, I recall my favorite philosopher, Yogi Berra, who memorably said, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”
In any case, appropriately designated funding is needed to support important new programs — without that needed funding, the government will continue to stagnate instead of supporting innovative programs we need to deal with the growing threats that are increasingly acknowledged — and not only for the U.S. Space Force but also to address important issues such as the existential threats to our electric power grid.
Whatever . . . I recall the Battle of the Bulge as an eight year old farm boy, who listened to the daily radio reports of not only that bloody battle but also the war in the Pacific where our Sailors and Marines were leading the advance through the Marshal Islands toward the Japan. I recently again watched “God is My Co-Pilot” by Robert L. Scott — a distant relative who fought with General Claire Chennault’s “Flying Tigers” during that period.
Thankfully, President Truman ordered that the Atomic Bomb be dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to the end of the war in Japan without the loss of tens of thousands of American soldiers in an invasion of Japan. And that ushered in the Cold War — that has occupied a primary place among our primary foreign policy concerns ever since.
Now, we are confronting new realities — and in my opinion the most important threat comes from China and its long standing objective to replace the United States as the preeminent international power. Click here for Michael Pillsbury’s authoritative description of these issues in his The Hundred-Year Marathon: China’s Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower.
Pillsbury is generally supportive of President Trump’s ongoing negotiations with Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, which are critically important to America’s future — though you might not recognize that fact from most news reports that are more focused on the Impeachment Charade, which in my opinion is a potential threat to our Constitutional Republic.
Remember Benjamin Franklin’s response to the question of what the 1787 Constitutional Convention had produced: “A Republic if you can keep it.”
Indeed. While the dangers grow during our time.
Bottom Lines.
Those who died at Pearl Harbor and afterward, up to, during and after the Battle of the Bulge in Europe and in the Pacific during World War II — and in the Nation’s subsequent wars and operations — should be honored by our leaders committing “never again” to be unprepared for such consequential but predictable and indeed predicted threats.
The technology of the 1940s and America’s geographic remoteness permitted our manufacturing power to gear up to win World War II in only about four and a half years. Today’s technology will not give us such a lengthy time to overcome adversaries — such as China — that are already ahead of us in exploiting some key advanced technologies.
We need rapidly to “catch up” and “move ahead” in today’s technological race if America is to remain free and secure.
As noted last week, two such efforts deserving top priority today are: 1) Efforts to “catch-up” and counter the growing military space threat, especially from China, and 2) Efforts to reverse the thus far lethargic federal government efforts to protect the electric power grid from a variety of threats, particularly including EMP.
These efforts deserve a top national security priority. Stay tuned, as Congress “deliberates” on funding these most important initiatives to deal with today’s pressing, even existential, threats to all we hold dear.
What can you do?
Join us in praying for our nation, and for a rebirth of the freedom sought, achieved and passed to us by those who came before us.
Help us to spread our message to the grass roots and to encourage all “powers that be” to provide for the common defense as they are sworn to do.
Begin by passing this message to your friends and suggest they visit our webpage www.highfrontier.org, for more information. Also, please encourage your sphere of influence to sign up for our weekly e-newsletter.
Encourage them to review our past email messages, posted on www.highfrontier.org, to learn about many details related to the existential manmade and natural EMP threats and how we can protect America against them. I hope you will help us with our urgently needed efforts, which I will be discussing in future messages.
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