60th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge
Belgium and Luxembourg
December 18, 2004
In the bitterly cold winter of 1944-45, the Nazi army launched a desperate, massive attack into Belgium and Luxembourg. The German counteroffensive in the Ardennes, also known as the Battle of the Bulge, was the largest and most violent clash of the war in Europe. This year marks the 60th anniversary of that momentous battle. [Read Secretary Powell's statement.]
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Bust of General McAuliffe, Acting Commander of the 101st Airborne Division during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. General McAuliffe was in charge of the defense of Bastogne on December 22, 1944 when the garrison was called on by advancing German forces to surrender. In his written response he could think of nothing more appropriate: "To the German Commander: NUTS! The American Commander." Bastogne was successfully held by the Americans, and Anthony C. McAuliffe became immortalized for a single word.
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On December 18, 2004, Veterans watch the parade commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Batlle of the Bulge in Bastogne, Belgium.
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"To our Liberators" a statue in Clervaux, Luxembourg in commemoration of the heroic fight of the American soldiers in the Battle of the Bulge.
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Statue of a U.S. WWII soldier in Clervaux, Luxembourg.
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A snow-covered landscape near Bastogne, Belgium is a reminder of the conditions in which the Battle of the Bulge took place.
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[Photos courtesy SGT Pablo N. Piedra, HQ USAREUR, Heidelberg, Germany]
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