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MikeP · 01-25-2003, 02:11 PM

My father was with the 506 PIR in Bastogne during the siege.

The 101 had been relieved after considerable involvement in Holland and were on stand down.

When the offensive began the line was mostly occupied by green troops who bugged out.

The 101 was gathered up and hastily loaded on cattle trucks and moved to fill the holes.

In many cases they had little or no equipment and picked up a lot of stuff that had been "dropped" by these people.

10th Armored was mentioned as having been a major contributor of this equipment.

A lot of other people contributed to the effort of stopping the offensive but the 101 was crucial as Bastogne was directly in the path of the German advance toward Antwerp.

By the time Patton got thru to relieve them they were a pretty ragged bunch.

Later my dad's unit liberated a couple of camps-I had photgraphs he took of these places but lost them when I was a kid. Big piles of starved bodies.

There were some letters he wrote home at that time and he said thay never took prisoners after that. He hated Germans the rest of his life.

His father was in WW1 and nobody was happy about having to leave the farm and go to war with those people a second time.

As a kid I collected Nazi stuff-there was a lot around in the 50s.

I went airborne in 67 and did 20 months in RVN as an advisor with 5th SF and got to see what it was all about.

I got rid of the Nazi stuff and especially SS stuff when I got out.

I too am simply dismayed at the fawning attention people want to attribute to these fanatical murdering bastards. They may have had neat looking gear but those people and their ilk were from the pit itself.

So much for a people that allows their government to think for them.

Off my soapbox, sorry for the rant.

"War is glorious to those who have not experienced it"

01-25-2003, 02:11 PM	#4
MikeP User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: ILL Posts: 686 Thanks: 36 Thanked 452 Times in 198 Posts	My father was with the 506 PIR in Bastogne during the siege. The 101 had been relieved after considerable involvement in Holland and were on stand down. When the offensive began the line was mostly occupied by green troops who bugged out. The 101 was gathered up and hastily loaded on cattle trucks and moved to fill the holes. In many cases they had little or no equipment and picked up a lot of stuff that had been "dropped" by these people. 10th Armored was mentioned as having been a major contributor of this equipment. A lot of other people contributed to the effort of stopping the offensive but the 101 was crucial as Bastogne was directly in the path of the German advance toward Antwerp. By the time Patton got thru to relieve them they were a pretty ragged bunch. Later my dad's unit liberated a couple of camps-I had photgraphs he took of these places but lost them when I was a kid. Big piles of starved bodies. There were some letters he wrote home at that time and he said thay never took prisoners after that. He hated Germans the rest of his life. His father was in WW1 and nobody was happy about having to leave the farm and go to war with those people a second time. As a kid I collected Nazi stuff-there was a lot around in the 50s. I went airborne in 67 and did 20 months in RVN as an advisor with 5th SF and got to see what it was all about. I got rid of the Nazi stuff and especially SS stuff when I got out. I too am simply dismayed at the fawning attention people want to attribute to these fanatical murdering bastards. They may have had neat looking gear but those people and their ilk were from the pit itself. So much for a people that allows their government to think for them. Off my soapbox, sorry for the rant. "War is glorious to those who have not experienced it"