This is what happened in The Battle of the Bulge. This was Germany's last desperate attempt at an offensive attack. The Allied Force was lined up along a 600-mile front, starting at the North Sea to Switzerland. On December 16th 1944, the Germans launched a surprise offense attack on the Allied Forces in Ardennes a hilly and wooded region in Belgium. This pushed back the allies creating the beginning of a bulge in their front line position, hence the name, The Battle of the Bulge. Hitler believed that his ground forces were superior to the allies ground forces; he felt the allies would panic in a defensive position, and weather would be all on his side in this attack. He was right about all except one, the ground forces. This was first time that allied ground troops were tested, because foggy skies prevented any air attack, but they matched up, and in many ways were superior to the German ground troops. A well-known example of this is when the Germans tried to overtake Bastogne. The town Bastogne was defended by the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division, when the German Commander asked for their surrender. The 101st commander General Anthony McAuliffe simply replied "Nuts!" according to The Encyclopaedia Britannica. Take that one word anyway you want, but it simply meant that they were not going to surrender, so the Germans chose to bypass Bastogne. However, this did stop the German advance from pushing back allied forces, creating a bigger bulge in the front line. The Germans were moving, but on December 24th, they were slowing down due to lack of supplies and allied resistance and December 25th Christmas Day, the Germans reached there farthest point four miles from the Meuse River. On January 3rd the allies went on the offensive until victory was theirs. Which brings us to our next topic, Donald R. Burgett a U.S. Army Private paratrooper for the 101st Airborne Division.
Donald R. Burgett was an enlisted member of the U.S. Army, rank of private. He was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, The Screaming Eagles. The 101st was one of the elite in World War II, only the 82nd Airborne Division could compare to the 101st. On the day of the German attack in Ardennes, the 101st was called upon to help the other American troops in defending Bastogne. On their long march to Bastogne, Burgett remembers in his own words, biography Seven Roads to Hell "We moved forward again, more cautiously, more spread out. The sound of heavy and light artillery boomed in the distance; small-arms fire echoed and reechoed through the hills. We were moving toward a battle in the north. Who was it? Who was catching hell? Who was winning? Who was losing? With all the firing going on, we knew Americans were making a stand. We had to get there in time to help them." The closer they got to Bastogne, the more enemy fire they encountered, and costing more causalities. Once reaching Bastogne the 101st stood it's ground, it was understood that who ever controlled Bastogne controlled the major roads in Ardennes, thus making is easier to route supplies. The Germans never gained control of Bastogne and were evently pushed back to their original line by the end of the battle. Thanks to books like Private Donald R. Burgett's we have a better understanding what he and others alike, endured to keep Bastogne under Allied control during the Battle of the Bulge.
This concludes my brief overview of the Battle of the Bulge. I hope that I have given you a better understanding of the going-ons in the Battle of the Bulge. I have discussed two topics to help you understand about the Battle of the Bulge, they were what happened and Donald R. Burgett's brief description in the battle. My objective was to help you understand what the men and women went through, not just in WWII but what they went through in one particular battle thanks to people like Donald R. Burgett. We do not distinguish Burgett by his awards, or even a medal of honer. We distinguish him not for just being an enlisted member in the U.S. Army, but standing together with his comrades as one. This concludes my report, and remember the men and woman who fought in this battle. |
