Memorial Day: The Battle of the Bulge and the Common Soldier

[Draggingtree]

Ricochet

 Memorial Day: The Battle of the Bulge and the Common Soldier

Ekosj

May 31, 2022 (7 Hours Ago)

My dad was an MP attached to the 28th division — the old PA National Guard. In November 1944, his MP platoon was responsible for directing traffic on what GIs called “Skyline Drive.” The route ran more or less north/south through Luxembourg and Belgium along the front line between the US and German Armies. It was called Skyline Drive because it ran along the crest of ridges and reminded GIs of the roadway along the crest of the Blue Ridge mountains in Virginia and West Virginia.

The 28th division occupied this section of the front in the Ardennes Forest. It was considered a “quiet” sector and the 28th was supposed to be resting and absorbing replacements after their hard fighting in the Hurtgen Forest. Each regiment of the 28th occupied a stretch of front that would ordinarily be occupied by a full division. As a result, there was no continuous front. :snip: 

[Valin]

@Draggingtree

 

In a 1965 analysis of the attack on St. Vith, German General Hasso von Manteuffel said:

Quote

It is the war of the small men, the outpost commanders, the section commanders, the company commanders; those were the decisive people here, who were responsible for success or failure, victory or defeat.........

 

It always is.