Bastogne and The Battle of the Bulge

When I used to think of The Battle of the Bulge, it was thoughts of belly fat, inches, pounds, calories, exercise or the lack thereof, but last Sunday as we drove home from Brugge, we stopped in Bastogne.  The Battle of the Bulge will never mean the same to me again.  What an eye opener! 

In December of 1944, the Nazi's had a line of troops moving on a sweep upward in a northwesterly direction towards the harbor town of Antwerp.  Hitler's thought was to take over the harbor, thereby cutting off a large source of supplies to the Allied Troops.

I'm not even sure I could explain the logistics of what happened (I'm still in the middle of reading about it, and I'm not sure I remember all the details from a short movie that we viewed).  Even if I could explain it, the details are too long for this post.  The short version is that American troops, hugely outnumbered, ill-prepared for winter, and surprised by Hitler's offensive, not only held off, but took charge (after more troops and supplies came in).  They waged a huge battle which not only took a toll on Nazi manpower, equipment, and supplies, but gave the Russians time to made headway on the Eastern front against the German forces. 

There is a wonderful museum at Bastogne that has a thorough collection of uniforms, firepower, communication devices, and vehicles from that time frame.  During a guided audio-tour through sets of display cases; diaramas including actual tanks, jeeps, and other vehicles; and then a short movie; the story unfolds.  We happened to walk through the museum on the last afternoon that it will be open for two years.  It is due for a major re-model.



This Sherman tank is located just outside the museum.  I wished I would have asked if we could take pictures inside, but I didn't.  It was just so enlightening---kind of wishing I had it on film.

 I was so proud to be an American after touring the museum.  To realize what these brave men had done; to know of the lives they had saved, despite a huge loss on their part; to see the difference they had made to the people of Belgium; and to know they had helped to hamper Hitler's hidious advances was all pretty remarkable.  Then we went outside to see the memorial...

I guess I thought that we had built it to recognize our own; but no, this large edifice was built by the people of Bastogne in memory of what the Americans had done for them.  You could tell they appreciated the sacrifice.  On the way over to the memorial, we saw this:



Airborne Divisions had flown in low and at great risk to drop supplies to the armies and the citizens of Bastogne.  The supplies were wrapped in different colors denoting food, ammunitions, and first aid.  As the parachuted bundles floated to the ground, it looked like a rainbow of color.


The actual memorial is massive.  It is circular in the middle with five points coming outward, forming a star.




A view from the museum side



The names of all 50 of our states are inscribed along the top---both on the inside and the outside.  They are listed alphabetically except for Alaska and Hawaii which must have been added after the initial engraving.



There is a crypt located under this area out in front of the monument.





Ten panels like this (two on each of the star points), list the divisions,  corps, armies, etc. that had participated in the battle.



Ten more numbered panels on the inside tell the story of the battle.

Spying another spiral staircase (if you read our blog about Brugge, you'll recall the spiral staircase in The Belfry), I volunteered DJ to go up on top!  This one only had 60+ stairs instead of 366!



Something didn't seem just right, so I told him to move and I moved to the inside of the memorial...



There, much better!



He couldn't resist a getting a picture of down below!



This was a lot prettier view!

Maybe it was because it was a peaceful Sunday afternoon, but I actually had very tender spiritual experiences as I was on this hill in southeast Belgium.  Despite what I had seen in those display cases and the footage I had viewed on screen, I felt warm and loved and blessed.  I was so grateful to be part of  a country that reaches out to take care of those not its own.  Maybe it was because I was reminded that there's no greater love than to lay down your life for a friend or to lay it down for lots of people you don't know thousands of miles from home.  Maybe it was because two of my boys are serving in the military.  I do know that I came away with a peace that hasn't been there before.  I know that there's lots worse things than losing a son in battle now.  Not that I want to, I don't.  I will pray like I've never prayed before for their safey and preservation if they are sent to the battle's front, but I will have peace.  I was reminded, once again, that the Lord gives us tender mercies all the time.  We almost didn't go to Bastogne because of the weather.  But, we did.  Even after we got into town, we talked about not going to the memorial.  But, we did.  We usually don't go places besides church on Sunday.  But, we did.  And there on the top of that hill, the Lord gave me the gift of peace.  I am so grateful.  So...The Battle of the Bulge will never be about weight and diets, ever again.  I finished a battle that had been going on in my head for months last Sunday, and thanks to the Lord, I came out victorious!  Peace was the prize.