The List: 2021

1862—During the Civil War, the ironclad river gunboat Baron De Kalb returns after a five-day Yazoo River mission, where the gunboat burns trapped steamers, captures and destroys large quantities of enemy equipment while also taking several prisoners. For "distinguished actions during this mission," five men receive the Navy Medal of Honor.

1942—The minelayers, USS Keokuk (CM 8), USS Salem (CM 11), and USS Weehawken (CM 12) begin mining approaches to Casablanca, French Morocco, which lasts two days.

1943—USS Flying Fish (SS 229) sinks the Japanese fleet tanker Kyuei Maru in the South China Sea west of Luzon Strait. Also on this date, USS Ray (SS 271) sinks the Japanese fleet tanker Kyoko Maru (ex-Dutch Semiramis) west of the Celebes.

1944—Task Group 94.9, commanded by Rear Adm. Allan E. Smith, bombards Japanese installations on Iwo Jima. USS Dunlap (DD 384), USS Fanning (DD 385), and USS Cummings (DD 365) sink Japanese fast transport T.7 and landing ship T.132.

1990—Lt. Cmdr. Darlene Iskra, the first female commanding officer of a U.S. Navy warship, reports for duty on board USS Opportune (ARS 41), then at Naples, Italy, serving until 1993.

Today in History December 27

1512		The laws of Burgos give New World natives legal protection against abuse and authorize Negro slavery.
1831		HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin on board, departs from Plymouth. It will eventually visit the Galapagos Islands where Darwin will form his theories on evolution.
1862		Union General William Rosecrans' army begins moving slowly toward Murfreesboro, Tennessee, from Nashville.
1913		Charles Moyer, president of the Miners Union, is shot in the back and dragged through the streets of Chicago.
1915		In Ohio, iron and steel workers go on strike for an eight-hour day and higher wages.
1932		Radio City Music Hall opens.
1933		Josef Stalin calls tensions with Japan a grave danger.
1939		A series of vicious earthquakes take 11,000 lives in Turkey.
1941		Japanese bombers attack Manila, despite its claim as an open city.
1944		General George S. Patton's Third Army, spearheaded by the 4th Armored Division, relieves the surrounded city of Bastogne in Belgium.
1945		The International Monetary Fund and the Bank for Reconstruction and Development are created.
1947		The new Italian constitution is promulgated in Rome.
1950		The United States and Spain resume relations for the first time since the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s.
1956		Segregation on buses in Tallahassee, Florida, is outlawed.
1968		The United States agrees to sell F-4 Phantom jets to Israel.
1979		President Hafizullah Amin of Afghanistan is ousted and murdered in a coup backed by the Soviet Union, beginning a war that will last more than 10 years.
1983		President Reagan takes all responsibility for the lack of security in Beirut that allowed a terrorist on a suicide mission to kill 241 Marines.
1984		Four Polish officers are tried for the slaying of Reverend Jerzy Popieluszko.
1985		Palestinian guerrillas kill 18 people at airports in Rome and Vienna.
1996		Taliban forces retake strategic Bagram Airfield during Afghan civil war.
2001		China receives permanent normal trade relations with the US.
2004		Radiation reaches Earth from the brightest extrasolar event ever witnessed, an explosion of magnetar SGR 1806-20.
2007		Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto assassinated.
2007		After Mwai Kibaki is declared the winner of Kenya's presidential elections, rioting begins in Mombasa, precipitating an economic, humanitarian and political crisis.

1968 Apollo 8 returns to Earth »

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Thanks to Interesting Facts

There's only one place in the U.S. where four states meet.

Want to try being in four places at once? Then get thee to the aptly named Four Corners Monument, which marks the intersection of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. It's the only place in America where so many states converge, which is especially impressive given that there are 65 spots where three states meet. The exact location of the quadripoint (the technical term for a place where four territories touch) was a matter of more debate than you might expect, with some surveyors arguing that it should have been about 2,000 feet to the west, thanks to changes in the technical reference systems used for various surveys. It wasn't until a 1925 Supreme Court case that the matter was officially settled.

Ending the dispute was an especially lengthy process when you consider that the borders were first surveyed in the aftermath of the Civil War. What's more, it isn't just state boundaries that are marked by the Four Corners monument: The lands of the Navajo Nation, which maintains the site, meet those of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe there. The monument itself is fairly modest, with each state's seal embedded in a cement pad around a circular granite disk that reads, "Here meet in freedom under God four states." Sprawl just so on that disk, and you can have a different limb in Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico each.

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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear … Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻

OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…

From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post

… …

… For The List for Monday, 27 December 2021… This was my final RTR post for 1966 back on 27 Dec 2016, and is my final re-post in this series for The List in Dec 2021… I will resume re-posting of my RTR daily journal for The List on Saturday, 1 January 2022… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻

OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…

From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 27 December 1966… As 1966 draws to a close the Vietnam War is at an impasse…

http://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/rolling-thunder-remembered-27-december-1966-north-vietnam-end-1966-impasse/

This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip

Vietnam Air Losses

Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.

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Thanks to Al

Monday Morning Thoughts for the New Year

A little girl was watching her parents dress for a New Year's Eve party. When she saw her dad donning his tuxedo, she warned, "Daddy, you shouldn't wear that suit."

"And why not, darling?"

"You know that it always gives you a headache next morning."

Submitted by Skip Leonard:

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, but along with that…

· It served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

· It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

· From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

· When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

· And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.

· Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

· Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

· From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

· In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

· When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising ho w much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

· When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool - Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw. They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron. I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron.

Consider passing this to any who you may think should read it…

Near to the door

He paused to stand

As he took his class ring

Off her hand

All who were watching

Did not speak

As a silent tear

Ran down his cheek

And through his mind

The memories ran

Of the moments they walked

And ran in the sand hand and hand

But now her eyes were so terribly cold

For he would never again

Have her to hold

They watched in silence

As he bent near

And whispered the words......

"I LOVE YOU" in her ear

He touched her face and started to cry

As he put on his ring and wanted to die

And just then the wind began to blow

As they lowered her casket

Into the snow....

This is what happens

To man alive.....

When friends let friends....

Drink and drive.

And one more…

Went to a Party, Mom

I went to a party, and remembered what you said.

You told me not to drink, Mom, so I had a Sprite instead.

I felt proud of myself, the way you said I would,

That I didn't drink and drive, though some friends said I should.

I made a healthy choice, and your advice to me was right,

The party finally ended, and the kids drove out of sight.

I got into my car, sure to get home in one piece,

I never knew what was coming, Mom, something I expected least.

Now I'm lying on the pavement, and I hear the policeman say,

The kid that caused this wreck was drunk, Mom, his voice seems far away.

My own blood's all around me, as I try hard not to cry.

I can hear the paramedic say, this girl is going to die.

I'm sure the guy had no idea, while he was flying high,

Because he chose to drink and drive, now I would have to die.

So why do people do it, Mom, knowing that it ruins lives?

And now the pain is cutting me like a hundred stabbing knives.

Tell sister not to be afraid, Mom, tell Daddy to be brave,

And when I go to heaven put "Daddy's Girl" on my grave.

Someone should have taught him that it's wrong to drink and drive.

Maybe if his parents had, I'd still be alive.

My breath is getting shorter, Mom, I'm getting really scared.

These are my final moments and I'm so unprepared.

I wish that you could hold me Mom as I lie here and die.

I wish that I could say, "I love you, Mom!" so I love you and good-bye.

This true story (per the 1999 book, Echoes of the Maggid) is worth more than all the jokes that I send each week. It shows that if we open our minds, we can make this year a better place to live here on earth...

In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters to learning disabled children.

Some children remain in Chush for their entire school career, while others can be main-streamed into conventional schools.

At a Chush fund-raising dinner, the father of a Chush child delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he cried out, "Where is the perfection in my son Shaya? Everything God does is done with perfection. But my child cannot understand things as other children do. My child cannot remember facts and figures as other children do. Where is God's perfection?

The audience was shocked by the question, pained by the father's anguish and stilled by the piercing query. "I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a child like this into the world, the perfection that he seeks is in the way people react to this child. "He then told the following story about his son Shaya:

One afternoon, Shaya and his father walked past a park where some boys Shaya knew were playing baseball. Shaya asked, "Do you think they will let me play?"

Shaya's father knew that his son was not at all athletic and that most boys would not want him on their team. But Shaya's father understood that if his son was chosen to play it would give him a comfortable sense of belonging. Shaya's father approached one of the boys in the field and asked if Shaya could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates.

Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said "We are losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning."

Shaya's father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly.

Shaya was told to put on a glove and go out to play short center field. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shaya's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shaya's team scored again and now with two outs and the bases loaded with the potential winning run on base.

Shaya was scheduled to be up. Would the team actually let Shaya bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shaya was given the bat. Everyone knew that it was all but impossible because Shaya didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, let alone hit with it. However as Shaya stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shaya should at least be able to make contact.

The first pitch came and Shaya swung clumsily and missed.

One of Shaya's teammates came up to Shaya and together they held the bat and faced the pitcher waiting for the next pitch. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shaya. As the pitch came in, Shaya and his teammate swung at the ball and together they hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shaya would have been out and that would have ended the game.

Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman.

Everyone started yelling, "Shaya, run to first. Run to first."

Never in his life had Shaya run to first.

He scampered down the baseline wide-eyed and startled. By the time he reached first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman who would tag out Shaya, who was still running. But the right fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far over the Third baseman's head.

Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second." Shaya ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home.

As Shaya reached second base, the opposing short stop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base and shouted, "Run to third." As Shaya rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him screaming, "Shaya run home." Shaya ran home, stepped on home plate and all 18 boys lifted him on their shoulders and made him the hero, as he had just hit a "grand slam" and won the game for his team.

"That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "those 18 boys reached their level of God's perfection."

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness...you are more fortunate than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death...you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep...you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still alive and still married...you are very rare, even in the United States.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful...you are fortunate because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder, you are blessed because you can offer healing touch.

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you, and furthermore, you are more fortunate than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

Have a great year, count your blessings, and pass this along to remind everyone else how fortunate we all are.

As you got up this morning, I watched you, and hoped you would talk to me, even if it was just a few words, asking my opinion or thanking me for something good that happened in your life yesterday. But I noticed you were too busy, trying to find the right outfit to wear. When you ran around the house getting ready, I knew there would be a few minutes for you to stop and say hello, but you were too busy.

At one point you had to wait, fifteen minutes with nothing to do except sit in a chair. Then I saw you spring to your feet. I thought you wanted to talk to me but you ran to the phone and called a friend to get the latest gossip instead. I watched patiently all day long. With all your activities I guess you were too busy to say anything to me.

I noticed that before lunch you looked around, maybe you felt embarrassed to talk to me, that is why you didn't bow your head. You glanced three or four tables over and you noticed some of your friends talking to me briefly before they ate, but you didn't.

That's okay. There is still more time left, and I hope that you will talk to me yet. You went home and it seems as if you had lots of things to do. After a few of them were done, you turned on the TV. I don't know if you like TV or not, just about anything goes there and you spend a lot of time each day in front of it not thinking about anything, just enjoying the show.

I waited patiently again as you watched the TV and ate your meal, but again you didn't talk to me. Bedtime I guess you felt too tired. After you said goodnight to your family you plopped into bed and fell asleep in no time.

That's okay because you may not realize that I am always there for you. I've got patience, more than you will ever know. I even want to teach you how to be patient with others as well. I love you so much that I wait everyday for a nod, prayer or thought or a thankful part of your heart. It is hard to have a one- sided conversation.

Well, you are getting up once again. And once again I will wait, with nothing but love for you. Hoping that today you will give me some time. Have a nice day!

Your friend,

GOD

This was allegedly written by the CEO of Coca-Cola Brian G. Dyson. It was allegedly used as Georgia Tech's Commencement Address:

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them - Work - Family - Health - Friends - Spirit, and you're keeping all of these in the air.

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls -- family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered.

They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life. How?

· Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.

· Don't set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.

· Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.

· Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life.

· Don't give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

· Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us together.

· Don't be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

· Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

· Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been, but also where you are going.

· Don't forget that a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.

· Don't be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily.

· Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved.

Instructions for Life

· Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

· When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

· Follow the three Rs: Respect for self. Respect for others. Responsibility for all your actions.

· Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

· Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

· Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

· When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

· Spend some time alone every day.

· Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

· Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

· Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.

· A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

· In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.

· Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.

· Be gentle with the earth.

· Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.

· Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

· Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

· Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

As we face a new year, I recall visiting with three old friends, a few years back, at a park in the nation's capital.

It seems like only yesterday that we were all together, but actually it has been 36 years. There was a crowd at the park that day, and it took us a while to connect, but with the aid of a book we made it. I found Harry, Bruce and Paul.

In 1970-72 we were gung-ho young fighter pilots on America and Constellation off Vietnam, the cream of the crop of the U.S. Navy, flying F-4J Phantoms. Now their names are on that 500-foot-long Vietnam War Memorial. I am hesitant to visit the wall when I'm in Washington DC because I don't trust myself to keep my composure.

Standing in front of that somber wall, I tried to keep it light, reminiscing about how things were back then. We used to joke about our passionate love affair with an inanimate flying object-we flew. We marveled at the thought that we actually got paid to do it. We were not draftees but college graduates in Vietnam by choice, opting for the cramped confines of a jet fighter cockpit over the comfort of corporate America. In all my life I've not been so passionate about any other work. If that sounds like an exaggeration, then you've never danced the wild blue with a supersonic angel. To fight for your country is an honor.

I vividly remember leaving my family and friends in San Diego headed for Vietnam. I wondered if I would live to see them again. For reasons I still don't understand, I was fortunate to return while others did not.

Once in Vietnam, we passed the long, lonely hours in Alert 5, the ready room, our staterooms or the Cubi O'Club. The complaint heard most often, in the standard gallows humor of a combat squadron, was, "It's a lousy war, but it's the only one we have." (I've cleaned up the language a bit.) We sang mostly raunchy songs that never seemed to end-someone was always writing new verses-and, as an antidote to loneliness, fear in the night and the sadness over dead friends, we often drank too much.

At the wall, I told the guys only about the good parts of the years since we've been apart. I talked of those who went on to command squadrons. Those who made Captain and flag rank. I asked them if they've seen some other squadronmates who have joined them.

I didn't tell them about how ostracized Vietnam vets still are. I didn't relate how the media had implied we Vietnam vets were, to quote one syndicated columnist, "either suckers or psychos, victims or monsters." I didn't tell them that Hanoi Jane, who shot at us and helped torture our POWs, had married one of the richest guys in the United States. I didn't tell them that the secretary of defense they fought for back then has now declared that he was not a believer in the cause for which he assigned them all to their destiny. I didn't tell them that our commander-in-chief avoided serving while they were fighting and dying.

And I didn't tell them we "lost" that lousy war. I gave them the same story I've used for years: We were winning when I left. I relived that final day as I stared at the black onyx wall. After 297 combat missions, we were leaving the South China Sea…heading east. The excitement of that day was only exceeded by coming into the break at Miramar, knowing that my wife, my two boys, my parents and other friends and family were waiting to welcome me home.

I was not the only one talking to the wall through tears. Folks in fatigues, leather vests, motorcycle jackets, flight jackets lined the wall talking to friends. I backed about 25 yards away from the wall and sat down on the grass under a clear blue sky and midday sun that perfectly matched the tropical weather of the war zone. The wall, with all 58,200 names, consumed my field of vision. I tried to wrap my mind around the violence, carnage and ruined lives that it represented. Then I thought of how Vietnam was only one small war in the history of the human race. I was overwhelmed with a sense of mankind's wickedness balanced against some men and women's willingness to serve.

Before becoming a spectacle in the park, I got up and walked back up to the wall to say goodbye and ran my fingers over the engraved names of my friends as if I could communicate with them through some kind of spiritual touch.

I wanted them to know that God, duty, honor and country will always remain the noblest calling. Revisionist history from elite draft dodgers trying to justify and rationalize their own actions will never change that.

I believe I have been a productive member of society since the day I left Vietnam. I am honored to have served there, and I am especially proud of my friends-heroes who voluntarily, enthusiastically gave their all. They demonstrated no greater love to a nation whose highbrow opinion makers are still trying to disavow them. May their names, indelibly engraved on that memorial wall, likewise be found in the Book of Life. Remember that throughout the new year.

As an afterthought, I find it funny how simple it is for people to trash different ways of living and believing and then wonder why the world is going to hell.

Funny how you can send a thousand 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding life choices, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but the public discussion of morality is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Funny isn't it?

Funny how when you go to forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it to them.

Funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what I think of me.

I wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2022,

"We do not need more intellectual power, we need more moral power. We do not need more knowledge, we need more character. We do not need more government, we need more culture. We do not need more law, we need more religion. We do not need more of the things that are seen, we need more of the things that are unseen.... If the foundation is firm, the superstructure will stand."--Calvin Coolidge

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."--Galileo Galilei

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77-78 years ago American soldiers were involved in the largest and costliest battle of WWII. In the miserable cold of a European Winter.

Battle of the Bulge

In December 1944, Adolph Hitler attempted to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp. Caught off-guard, American units fought desperate battles to stem the German advance at St.-Vith, Elsenborn Ridge, Houffalize and Bastogne. As the Germans drove deeper into the Ardennes in an attempt to secure vital bridgeheads, the Allied line took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle's name. Lieutenant General George S. Patton's successful maneuvering of the Third Army to Bastogne proved vital to the Allied defense, leading to the neutralization of the German counteroffensive despite heavy casualties.

Its objective was to split the Allied armies by means of a surprise blitzkrieg thrust through the Ardennes to Antwerp, marking a repeat of what the Germans had done three times previously–in September 1870, August 1914, and May 1940. Despite Germany's historical penchant for mounting counteroffensives when things looked darkest, the Allies' leadership miscalculated and left the Ardennes lightly defended by only two inexperienced and two battered American divisions.

On December 16, three German armies (more than a quarter-million troops) launched the deadliest and most desperate battle of the war in the west 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 in an attempt to secure vital bridgeheads west of the River Meuse quickly, the line defining the Allied front 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 troops 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 west. Lieutenant General George S. Patton's remarkable feat of turning the Third Army ninety degrees from Lorraine 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.

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A bit more indepth version

Battle of The Bulge

Facts, information and articles about Battle Of The Bulge, a battle of World War II

Battle Of The Bulge Facts

Date

16 December 1944 – 16 January 1945

Location

The Ardennes, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany

Result

Allied Victory

Troop Strength

80,000 Allies initially; ultimately 600,000+
200,000 Germany initially; ultimately 500,000

Casualties

90,000 Allies
100,000 German

Battle Of The Bulge Articles

Explore articles from the History Net archives about Battle Of The Bulge

» See all Battle Of The Bulge Articles

Battle Of The Bulge summary: The Battle of the Bulge (December 16, 1944–January 16, 1945), also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the largest battle fought on the Western Front in Europe during World War II; it is also the largest battle ever fought by the United States Army. It was a German offensive intended to drive a wedge between the American and British armies in France and the Low Countries and recapture the port of Antwerp in The Netherlands to deny the Allies use of the port facilities. The German codename for the buildup to the offensive was Watch on the Rhine (Wacht am Rhine). The actual offensive was codenamed Operation Autumn Mist (Unternehmen Herbstnebel). It fell far short of its goals but managed to create a bulge in the American lines 50 miles wide and 70 miles deep, which gave the struggle its alliterative name. The phrase "battle of the bulge" already existed in the American lexicon as a term for attempts to lose body weight.

The initial German attack force consisted of more than 200,000 men, around 1,000 tanks and assault guns (including the new 70-ton Tiger II tanks) and 1,900 artillery pieces, supported by 2,000 aircraft, the latter including some Messerschmitt Me 262 jets. In the opening phases of the battle, they would be facing only some 80,000 men, less than 250 pieces of armor and about 400 artillery guns. Many of the American troops were inexperienced; the German force included battle-hardened veterans of the tough fighting on the Eastern Front, but they, too, had green units filled with boys and with men who normally would have been considered too old for military service.

During the course of the month-long battle, some 500,000 German, 600,000 American and 55,000 British troops became involved. The Germans lost some 100,000 men killed, wounded and missing, 700 tanks and 1,600 aircraft, losses they could not replace. Allied losses—the majority of them incurred during the first week—included 90,000 men, 300 tanks and 300 aircraft, but they could make up these losses. In addition, an estimated 3,000 civilians died, some during the fighting and others executed by German combat and security forces. See "War Crimes in the Battle of the Bulge."

The Ardennes Offensive was a massive gamble on the part of German dictator Adolf Hitler, one that he lost badly.

Background to the Battle of the Bulge

By the winter of 1944, Nazi Germany's situation was grim. Soviet forces were coming ever closer to the Fatherland from the east, and in the west Allied forces had crossed the German border. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler intended to launch a surprise attack in the west that would divide and demoralize the Western Allies and, perhaps, convince them to join Germany in its war against the communists of the Soviet Union. In May 1940, he had gambled on a surprise attack through the dense Ardennes Forest into Belgium and France and had won a stunning victory. Now he planned for history to repeat itself: once more German armor would advance through the concealing woods of the Ardennes to strike his enemies by surprise.

The German army commander in the West, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, thought the plan too ambitious. Other commanders also objected to taking resources away from the Eastern Front for this operation, but Hitler overruled them all.

Map by Petho Cartography. Click to enlarge.

Field Marshal Walther Model's Army Group B would be responsible for the attack. His forces included Generaloberst Josef "Sepp" Dietrich's Sixth Panzer Army, the largest and best equipped of the three striking armies, which was to drive northward, quickly cross the Meuse River and capture Amsterdam before the surprised Allies could regroup. Directly to the south of this force General der Panzertruppen Hosso-Eccard von Manteufel's Fifth Panzer Army would push west in support of Dietrich's attack. General der Panzertruppen Erich Brandenburger's Seventh Army would protect the southern flank. The build-up was given the defensive-sounding codename Watch on the Rhine. Strict security measures included no radio communication to prevent Allied radio intercepts.

On the opposite side, Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower was planning major operations in the northern and southern sectors of the front. Accordingly, the center, where the German attack was to fall, was the weakest part of the line. The American VIII Corps, under Major General Troy Middleton, consisted of the 4th, 28th, and 106th infantry divisions, most of the 9th Armored Division, and the two-squadron 14th Cavalry group. The 106th Infantry and 9th Armored were green units, untested in combat. The 4th and 28th had suffered high numbers of casualties during operations in the Hurtgen Forest and were receiving thousands of inexperienced replacements. This small, largely untried force had been assigned an 80-mile-long front; normally, a corps would be defending an area only about one-third that length.

Elsenborn Ridge and St. Vith

The German attack achieved the desired surprise but often encountered unexpectedly tough resistance. Their timetable did not allow for delays, but time and again the Americans slowed the enemy advance.

The road network in the Ardennes was narrow and rough. A key road for Sixth Panzer Army's advance ran parallel to a stretch of high ground called Elsenborn Ridge. Along this ridge, ad-hoc groups of tanks, tank destroyers and dug-in infantry stubbornly resisted. General Eisenhower, immediately realizing his men were facing a major attack in the Ardennes rushed artillery to support the ridge. The firepower from their guns left the narrow roads choked with wrecked vehicles, in addition to those that broke down on their own from mechanical failure. After 10 days of intense fighting, Sixth Panzer Army abandoned its attempts to cross Elsenborn Ridge and sought other routes.

Panzerjager IV of the 1st SS Division advancing. National Archives.

Many villages saw intense fighting. Because of the road situation, towns where several roads converged were critically important; one such town south of Elsenborn Ridge was St. Vith, Belgium. At St. Vith and nearby towns, Fifth Panzer Army encountered stiff resistance; on the first day of the German offensive Eisenhower had ordered the 7th Armored Division to St. Vith to support 106th Infantry units. The narrow roads, ice, snow and mud prevented the Germans from massing their superior armor. The St. Vith pocket held until December 21 when, in danger of being encircled, the defenders withdrew. Their determined stand had thrown another monkey wrench into the German timetable. It bought time for the 82nd Airborne Division to set up strong defensive positions west of the town that blunted the enemy's advance and temporarily pushed the attackers back across the Ambleve River. During the course of their engagements some units of the 82nd Airborne suffered over 80% casualties—the 509th Battalion reportedly took over 90% casualties—with most losses coming during the Allied counteroffensive that began in January.

Bastogne

To the west and south of St. Vith another crossroads town became the focus of intense fighting. When Eisenhower ordered the 7th Armored to St. Vith he also ordered the 10th Armored Division to Bastogne. It joined the 9th Armored, several artillery battalions, and infantrymen defending Bastogne and the small towns around it. On the 18th, the 705 Tank Destroyer Battalion arrived, and on the 19th the 101st Airborne. By the 20th the town was encircled by the advancing enemy, and on the 22nd, four Germans arrived with an ultimatum: surrender or heavy artillery will begin firing on the town. Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe sent them back to their commander with a one-word reply: "Nuts." The artillery had already moved farther west, however, so the barrage was not forthcoming, though the Luftwaffe bombed the village by night.

On December 26, Bastogne's defenders received a belated Christmas present: Lieutenant Charles P. Boggess with a few M4 Sherman tanks fought his way into Bastogne from the south. They were the lead element of a relief force from Lieutenant General George S. Patton's Third Army. When Patton struck with three divisions the following day, the German ring around Bastogne was broken.

End of the Battle of the Bulge

By this time, the Nazi offensive was running out of fuel, literally and figuratively. The Germans had waited for bad winter weather to launch their attack, to diminish the ability of Allied aircraft to support the ground troops. The weather also slowed the German advance, however, and this, the narrow roads and stubborn resistance wrecked their timetable. Improving weather conditions allowed Allied planes to take to the skies again and support the counterattacks that began pushing back the Germans. Despite a Luftwaffe offensive in Holland and a second major ground offensive the Germans launched in Alsace on January 1, the Third Reich could not regain the initiative. The Battle of the Bulge is officially considered to have ended January 16, exactly one month after it began, although fighting continued for some time beyond that date. By early February, the front lines had returned to their positions of December 16

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Thanks to THE Bear via Dutch …

Dutch... Here's an ex-carrier skipper's Christmas note to a legion of old shipmates on Facebook... Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻

Begin forwarded message:

From: Jerry Taylor

Date: December 24, 2020

From the bridge, so to speak. Adventurers, patriots and old warriors of the great warship Coral Sea. Tactical call: Mustang. Merry Christmas and Happy 2021…

2020 is about to fall astern. Good riddance. But 2021 won't be any easier. Our nation is divided and political infighting is tearing us apart. Unless stouthearted men and women step forward to follow the cadence of inspiring leaders, who know what needs to be done, and together we are able to put our ship of state on a new course away from shoal water, disaster lies dead ahead for America. Time is short.

Grit and self-sacrifice by all Americans will be required in the new year. Grit and self-sacrifice are qualities that have always been abundant in the brave hearts and fighting spirit of Coral Sea sailors through the ages. In this new year, much will be expected of each us as our nation struggles to set a new course. I would expect old warhorses from Coral Maru — Mustang — to be among the first to step forward and do some duty for our country as the year and historic events unfold. 2021 will be a perilous journey and very memorable year. Buckle-up.

To my old shipmates, and all Coral Sea sailors: I wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a healthy, happy new year…

Bear Taylor, Mustang One, CO-CVA-43 (1983-1984)...

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12/24/20 10:32 AM

USNA-At-Large

CHRISTMAS 1966 – Hill 23 – Tam Ky - Nam

Hill 23, an outpost hill, southwest of Tam Ky, and home of 2nd platoon, India Co 3/5 at the time of Christmas 1966 Vietnam.

There was red mud everywhere. Home was a 4-man sand bag bunker mostly underground, usually with a few inches of water in it as this was also monsoon season. No showers, no hot chow, just c-rations and either day patrol or night ambush.

A cease fire was declared, and I am sure most families thought they could rest easy for a few days from Christmas to New Years that their sons were out of danger. They thought that we all packed up and went back to the rear to see the Bob Hope Show and have a hot Christmas dinner during the so-called cease fire.

Well, the Marine Corps knew that "Charlie" didn't believe in Santa Claus and the little commies sure didn't believe in Jesus Christ so no cease fire for us; in fact, patrols were increased.

Marines had a history of making the best of far worse situations than this and nobody can improvise like the Grunts, so a fire team patrol chopped down a scrawny pine that was decorated with spent cartridges, c-rat can lids, grenade pins. Another patrol went a little off course and brought back some "45" whiskey, which would kill a mule but was bearable, mixed with Kool Aid.

Unpopular c-rations that had been thrown in a corner of a bunker were put in a large pot with a bottle of Tabasco and Lipton's chicken noodle packets for a base to make a helluva mulligan stew with a few stowed bottles of Tiger beer.

Our platoon commander at the time was a WW II and Korea vet Gunny Hanlon as Santa (ha ha) – we had our Christmas.

It was not a traditional Christmas with family and friends, decorated tree and turkey but it was a most memorable one shared by guys with a common bond. We shared bad times and made our own good times, we were Marines. Silent Night was sung on Christmas Eve on Hill 23 by the 68 Marines of 2nd platoon, an Ontos crew and an Amtrac crew.

Although I have enjoyed far better Christmases with my boys and my wife, I will never forget Christmas 1966 on Hill 23 or the men I shared it with.

MERRY CHRISTMAS MARINES, you deserve it!

T. J. Hanley

2nd Sqd Ldr

2nd Plt

India Co 3rd Bn 5th Marines

1st Marine Division

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