Cool Pic - Battle of the Bulge

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

12/16/1944:

Tank destroyers supporting the 82nd Airborne. December 16, 1944 is the day the Germans launched their attack in the Ardennes.

 

[anon_xl72qcu5isp39]

Note his winter camo.

 

[hollywood]

My stepdad was there, it's where he got shot in the shoulder and spent months in the hospital fighting to keep them from amputating it. Him and his best friend were in a jeep and got caught in an ambush, his friend did not live to tell about it and dad was damned lucky to have made it back to friendlies who got him to an aid station.

I still remember, as a kid, seeing that huge scar, front and back and asking him about him only for him to say he didn't want to talk about it. Many years later when he came to visit me in DC, we went to the Smithsonian which was doing a WWII exhibit. He saw a full-sized diorama with a jeep, decked out in 45th Infantry insignia and started crying. First time he ever talked about losing his best friend that day to either me or my mother.

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

My stepdad was there, it's where he got shot in the shoulder and spent months in the hospital fighting to keep them from amputating it. Him and his best friend were in a jeep and got caught in an ambush, his friend did not live to tell about it and dad was damned lucky to have made it back to friendlies who got him to an aid station.

I still remember, as a kid, seeing that huge scar, front and back and asking him about him only for him to say he didn't want to talk about it. Many years later when he came to visit me in DC, we went to the Smithsonian which was doing a WWII exhibit. He saw a full-sized diorama with a jeep, decked out in 45th Infantry insignia and started crying. First time he ever talked about losing his best friend that day to either me or my mother.

That was probably in 1995. I was there in D.C. late that summer and they had an outstanding exhibit at the Museum of American History.

 

[hollywood]

That was probably in 1995. I was there in D.C. late that summer and they had an outstanding exhibit at the Museum of American History.

Yep, that was it - 50th anniversary of end of WWII.

 

[ctrawick]

thanks for posting.

 

[TheRedSon]

12/16/1944:

Tank destroyers supporting the 82nd Airborne. December 16, 1944 is the day the Germans launched their attack in the Ardennes.

Is it pulling a trailer?

 

[The Duke]

Is it pulling a trailer?

Yup it's pulling an ammo lorrie or something

 

[hollywood]

Is it pulling a trailer?

It appears to be towing something. Most/all US the tanks were equipped with sort of a "universal" trailer attachment called a "lunette and pintle."

The tanks commonly were used to pull fuel and water tanks as well as field artillery. I would imagine that imaginations lead to lots of improvisation and no telling what got jury-rigged to allow for a tank to pull just about anything. There were some tanks that were specifically designed and used to pull other tanks, trucks, artillery out of mud and/or recover them and tow them for repairs.

Here's a pic of a converted Sherman (M32) used as a recovery vehicle, you can see the pintle and lunette hitch on the back.

Here's a WWII dump trailer that also used the pintle and lunette attachment point and could be pulled by a tank:

And here's the same system being used to tow a fairly large field artillery piece (Howitzer)

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

M-4 Sherman Tanks Lined up in a Snow Covered Field, near St. Vith, Belgium, December 1944.

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

Battle of the Bulge 23 Dec 1944 - The members of the 101st Airborne Division, right, are on guard for enemy tanks, on the road leading to Bastogne, Belgium. They are armed with "Bazookas" (probably an M9 or M9A1).

 

[Cowguy]

I have two uncles, now deceased obviously, that were there. Essentially fist generation German Americans fighting Germans. I've read a ton of books about the battle. Unreal gumption and toughness. Truly the greatest generation.

 

[Orange Jennyslipper]

I had an uncle who would dump my aunt out of bed about once a month and throw the mattress on top of her and start screaming "Stay down, stay down." She said sometimes she had to fight him to wake him up when she got out from under the mattress.

I was pretty young at the time but I remember often being told he had "gone on a fishing trip" only to find out years later that he was in and out of psychiatric care from the time he came home until he died in the early 60's.

There are treatments now for PTSD that are fairly effective. The men who suffered from it after the World Wars really didn't get much help. No one knew how.

 

[HighStickHarry]

I spent my summers with my grandparents. My grandpa had five brothers and two of which went to WWII. One had been through two marriages, apparently violent. We would go visit him and when he relived the stories he was right back there yelling the commands and reliving every detail. I don't remember it being gory but definitely intense and truthful in regards to violence. A lot of the stories were light hearted but it was quite an experience for me.

 

[windriverrange]

Have driven from Bastogne then Houffalize then over to La Glazie (Town next to Stoumont where Pieper and his detachment from the 6th SS was stopped) then over to Malmady, Houffalize & Baugnez (Malmedy massacre at that crossroads) the over to Elsenborn Ridge where the 6th SS was squeezed south and stopped. Course didn't really have time to cover everything but it was an awesome run. Stay one night in Monchau (Germany) very small quaint town.
If you have never stood by a Tiger II (King) it will blow you away at its size (the commanders coupla is about 9' off the ground and it's about 12' wide). Every little town has a tank, monument or something commemorating the Allies.
My great uncle was in one of the units that reliever Bastogne and brought back numerous bayonets, knifes, medals and two of the giant red banners with the black swastika in a circular white field), still have all of that along with pictures of his run from Vianden, Bastogne and then into Germany. He served aboard a quad .50 AA half track, but said they used that setup most of the time against German infantry. Am in the process of scanning all his pictures in right now.
I've read numerous books on The Battle of The Bulge and highly suggest "A Time For Trumpets," as one of the best.
If you ever find yourself with time, rent a car and see as much of the area as you can. Your also within driving distance of seeing Ft Eben Emael, fascinating place. You'll also be treated very well by the Belgiums and the countryside is beautiful.

 

[hollywood]

I heard a story from a former in-law about his much older brother returning from WWII. His brother had only been home a few weeks when he took him out for a drive, at some point there was an airplane from a nearby base taking off/landing that flew over them.... the brother drove the car off the road into a ditch, yelled at him to get out and run for it. It took the brother about 5 to 10 minutes to kind come to his senses.

My dad (birth dad who was ball-turret gunner on B-17's) also suffered from delayed PTSD, some 15 yrs or so after his war experiences. Of course, they didn't have a diagnosis for it at the time. But he was given credit for additional years and given a medical retirement. (Didn't really matter much as he died of a heart attack not but a few months later.)

My own brother, the first month or so he was home from Vietnam would routinely roll out of bed and crawl underneath when he heard a plane. Which was a real problem given we lived only about a mile from the N/S runway at Tinker. My brother also told me when he first got back that some state trooper standing beside the road stepped out from behind his vehicle and pointed a radar gun at him (which were unknown to him) and that he damned near intentionally ran the guy over.

 

[boxter]

My
Dads unit who was at the battle of the bulge.

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]

90MM anti-aircraft gun dubbed "The Black Widiw" on the outskirts of Bastogne, Belgium gettiNG ready to fire on an enemy aircraft.

 

[Marshal Jim Duncan]