Well, back in Bastogne for a couple of days and it has been wonderful. After stopping at Waterloo-big disappointment-it was down to the Ardennes. First stop was to give my sidekick a quick overview of the 401st's stand at Hemroulle on Christmas Day, the site of the 101st Field Hospital that was captured and a stop at the farmyard where my dear friend Bob Bowen was captured. As many of you know, it is always a thrill for me to walk the ground where the glider guys were. The biggest thrill was finding a Garand clip in the foxhole outside Champs that was occupied by non other than my good buddy Carmen Gisi. Huge thrill and a real treasure.
Up early the next day and off to tour the sites of the 106th Infantry Division's stand around St. Vith and along the Schnee Eifel. It was amazing. We stopped in the woods where Colonel Riggs' engineers set up their defensive perimeter. Woods are full of holes-most foxholes, but larger ones for heavy weapons and vehicles. A quick search came away with a canteen, GI fork and pieces of halftrack. We also kept getting hit after hit with the detector so had to stop and move on. From there it was on to Schonberg and the monument to Lt. Wood-the GI officer who carried on his own one-man war against the Germans for days and days. When his body was found, it was surrounded by dead Germans. Next was the monument to African American GIs murdered by the SS outside Wereth and on to the Schnee Eifel where we discovered a huge number of German bunkers and fighting positions, the American Gun Line and a very interesting German trench system that was nearly inact. We also came away with a few more rusty bits. This whole area is much different terrain than the fields around Bastogne and although there was a good bit of hiking involved, we saw some incredibly interesting spots that I can take folks to in a bus. Also saw where one of the 106th Division's regiments surrendered and the road near Poteau to locate the spot where some of the most famous pictures of the war were taken. Finished the day by making contact with a local who can provide groups with rides in authentic American and German half tracks-anyone interested?
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2 comments:
St. Vith Lion in the Way is a very interesting read. The 106th had a very heavy African American component of soldiers. They just happen to be in the path of the main panzer concentration of the Bulge attack. The 106th had just arrived from the US and they did not even have their overcoats, most were frost bitten and their leaders (mostly White) did not want to be in command of Black troops. It was a recipe for disaster. In my opinion someone should make a movie about this.
Total agreement. This story is the perfect one for a movie. Maybe Spike Lee will do a followup WW2 movie to the Miracle at Saint Anna one.
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