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the desired speed, because thou sands of American units, large and small, down to hastily assem bled task forces” of stragglers just refused to flee They stood and fought, outnumbered and out gunned, buying time until rein forcements could get upTne 101st Airborne Division was thrown in to block oil a mam supplv road the Germans had to have rlhe paratroopers sot up to hold or die at the crossroads town of Bastogne They held, sur rounded and cut off, until arrmu mtion and supplies were nearly exhausted But when the German commander demanded their sur render, the paratroopers' com manding officers forma1 reply was one worn, “Nuts' ’Other gallant stands by oiher great outfits, bloodied, short ot ammunition but hanging on, grad uallv sloped and stopped the fran tic German dnve to the west On the nght shoulder of thebulge, two verv different U S divi sions the veteran, regular 2nd and the green but game 99th — fought one of the greatest dm smnal actions of all tune at the Elsenbom RidgeThe 6th SS Panzcrarmee had to have the ridge to clear one of those vital supply art eras west It threw an elite SS corps against the two U S divisions, whose soldiers, veteran and greenhorn alike, fought like Bengal tigere The SS corps was shredded and beaten backAt the same time, divisions likeAcross the region similar groups fought to the death to hold nameless little crossroads Many of those small but heroic last stands went unrepo*1sd, the bones of the defenders still are being found in thosa dark woods All helped to w in the dayEvery military academy teaches that pickup gangs 'ike these can t be expected to stand, let alone fight Unfortunately for the Wehrmacht, the amateur GLs didnt kno-v mat and so fought, like Spartans with bravery, skill and teamworkAnd old pro units like the vet cran Big Red One, the 1st Divi sion, did. too Early on, when the high commands still were shook up bv the rapid German advance, it moved into line The d.vision sent Armv headquarters this cheery message from up front The general wants you to know that we are m place, that our artuler'v is nght where we want it and that if vou vvfli send us within the next four or five nours dO map sheets of the area, we will start tomorrow mommg to teach those SS bastards the lesson of their lives ”And so thev did So did they all in those awful woods a half-cen tun. ago In that tune and place they, the victors, showed the world what free men can do even against self proclaimed supermen And that is a lesson for us, too,sou sec__Jim Wright is senior mhimnist of the Dallas Morning \m.s
Newspaper Details
The Chronicle Telegram
Elyria, Ohio, US
Sun, Jan 22, 1995
Page 6
Full Page
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Anonymous
USA 17 Apr 2019
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