Figs From Thistles: Bastogne and Snow Today

The kiddos and I accompanied J to Brussels this past weekend, and on our way, we stopped to see the Belgian city raked in battle for nearly a month in WWII, Bastogne. The battle for Bastogne, later known as the Battle of Bulge, began 65 years ago today.

Like many war memorials, the ground surrounding the monument felt sacred and a sense of peace was palpable. J and I found ourselves imagining, with the help of markers on the roof of the monument, where positions of the defending American forces and the approaches of the Panzer divisions would have been/come. Though the land is not pockmarked as the Normandy beaches still are, guessing the location of foxholes and lines was not hard: much of the landscape consisted of hilly meadows and fields punctuated by outcroppings of symmetrical woods. Those stark woods and rolling fields, covered in two inches of snow, proved to be the last place that nearly 80,000 American soldiers, so far from home, would see. Such service and devotion to the cause of freedom is humbling.

Scanning the fields, I cannot imagine what the horror of holing up in such undesirable terrain (in less than amenable weather) in the face of overwhelming odds, surrounded by several German divisions must have been like. The scene also gave me an appreciation for the often maligned Patton, who led the 1st Armored Division at breakneck pace (20 km/h per day for three days), to Bastogne creating a supply corridor for the besieged men there and drawing two German divisions southward in a pincer movement relieving pressure on the main body.

Ultimately, the Germans did not reach the port city of Antwerp. Their mission thwarted, the divisions retreated and allowed for the push of Allied forces toward Germany and the beginning of the end of the war in Europe.

The kiddos enjoyed the many displays in the Bastogne Historical Center where uniforms of American and German soldiers were on display (in some cases, the uniforms of soldiers who fought in Bastogne). Many other exhibits included personal effects, photographs, vehicles and war-era issued items. Bop and Log were particularly interested in a depiction of supply drops to the surrounded American forces. Littlest enjoyed seeing issued items that soldiers would have had on hand like small shaving kits, rations (sardines and biscuits on Christmas), and primitive stoves. J immediately spotted an original of Gen McAuliffe's Christmas letter to the troops hung on a wall in a plain frame. I found it interesting that many establishments in Bastogne are called after American Generals, and one cafe, is named in nod of McAuliffe's 'Nuts' response! We also set out to visit the town of Foy, separated from the woods by a 1/8 mile wide open field, and the Woods of Peace.

Memorial Stone