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May 30, 2005
The Payoff: Third Day
On the morning of the 15th, a cold, cloudy day, the 101st resumed its drive northeast of Bastogne.
On the east side of the Bastogne-Houffalize highway the 327th advanced against the high ground east of Bastogne, moving just before noon and seizing their objective before dark. They met only moderate resistance though artillery and mortar fire dogged them all the way. Contact was regained with the surrounded Ace Company, ending that group's day and a half of isolation. The combined company was in good shape though suffering somewhat from shortages of ammunition, food, and water.
Leonard Rapport and Arthur Norwood, Jr., Rendezvous With Destiny: A History of the 101st Airborne Division, p. 655.
"They met only moderate resistance..."
To the survivors of a bitter fight that left tens of thousands dead, merely moderate resistance was surely welcomed. But in a perfect illustration of the mindless random cruelty of war, my uncle Lee was caught by fate: he was killed on this day by a "tree burst", a mortar round that hit high in a tree and detonated, raining shrapnel on those below. He was 22.
Lee was a rifleman in the 327th Glider Infantry; his outfit was part of a sustained four-day attack aimed at pinching off the lower half of the infamous salient. This was the last big operation for the 101st in the Battle of the Bulge, and my mom always said, "If he had made it two more days, he would have been OK." She was right--by the end of January 17th, the fighting was finished; by the 20th the division had left Bastogne for Alsace, 160 miles to the south.
As a teenager I devoured all 829 pages of Rendezvous With Destiny, reading from an edition that belonged to my other uncle Pete, who had been in another army unit relatively close by.
The book was fascinating as a teenager, but now as I reread those chapers I'm overwhelmed with the magnitude of the battle, and the war. Lee was killed on a day when things were winding down, but of course it was still an overwhelming tragedy for my mom's family. And that tragedy was repeated over 400,000 times in World War II, in the US alone.
So, to all those surviving families, and in honor of those who have died defending our freedom:
Thank you.
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Comments
Jeff,
I am simply trying to get the word out about a major breakthrough in adult stem cell research which could totally eliminate the need for embryonic research. I found a tidbit at Newsmax (who deserve recognition for getting this news out) which is truly incredible. I have links to the Newsmax post and the research group in Australia that made the breakthrough.
http://strata-sphere.com/blog/index.php/archives/category/uncategorized/stem-cell-debate/
Let's get this news out since the MSM seems unwilling to. Thanks!
Posted by: AJStrata at May 30, 2005 10:55 AM
Great minds think alike. ;-) I just saw that same article via Free Republic; I'll get back to it later today. Good job.
Posted by: Jeff at May 30, 2005 11:46 AM
