American Experience (1988–…): Season 7, Episode 5 - The Battle of the Bulge: World War II's Deadliest Battle - full transcript

DECEMBER 1944...

HITLER WAGES ONE LAST
DESPERATE ATTACK.

Man:
IT'S REALLY HARD TO BELIEVE,
BUT IT... IT HAPPENED.

Man 2:
WE HAD BEEN SURPRISED
AND WERE IN TROUBLE.

THE BLOODIEST BATTLE
IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

Man 3:
THEY WERE, LIKE,
HUGGING EACH OTHER

AND JUST SHIVERING
FROM... FROM SCARED.

I NEVER HAVE SEEN
SUCH A THING BEFORE.

Man 4:
BECAUSE AFTER YOU'RE
IN COMBAT AWHILE

DYING IS A LOT EASIER
THAN LIVING.

"BATTLE OF THE BULGE,"
TONIGHT ON AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.



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Man:
NATURE IS NOT A FRIEND.

IT IS AN ADVERSARY.

AND YET YOU MUST ADMIRE
THE BEAUTY OF IT

AND ALSO YOU MUST
ADMIRE THE DANGER.

IT IS SO EFFICIENT AS A DANGER.

Man:
BOTH THE ENEMY AND THE WEATHER
COULD KILL YOU

AND THE TWO OF THEM TOGETHER

WERE A PRETTY
DEADLY COMBINATION.

Man:
THE SNOW WAS VERY, VERY HEAVY.

THE COLD WAS DOWN AROUND ZERO.

THE FOG WAS DENSE,
SO YOU REALLY COULDN'T SEE

MUCH BEYOND GRENADE RANGE.

Man:
AT NIGHT IT WAS SO QUIET.

ANYTHING THAT MADE NOISE,
YOU COULD HEAR IT.

THE STILLNESS, AND THE SNOW
SORT OF INSULATED EVERYTHING

AND THEN, TOO,
THE TREES WERE THICK

AND YOU COULDN'T SEE VERY FAR.

YOU WERE LUCKY IF YOU COULD SEE,
SOMETIMES, 20 OR 30 FEET.

Man:
THERE'S NOTHING OUT THERE
IN THE WOODS AND THE TREES

THAT HAVE ANY COMPASSION
TOWARDS ME.

Man:
IT SEEMS LIKE THAT YOU'RE
IN THIS DEADLY STRUGGLE

UNDER MISERABLE CONDITIONS

AND THE WHOLE UNIVERSE
IS UNITED AGAINST YOU.

Narrator:
IN AUGUST OF 1944, AS AMERICAN
G.I.s SWEPT INTO PARIS

A GRUESOME WINTER CAMPAIGN
SEEMED UNIMAGINABLE.

GENE DERRICKSON OF THE 28th
DIVISION WROTE HOME TO HIS WIFE:

"THE ROADS WE JOURNEY NOW... AND
WE ARE TRAVELING FAST ON FOOT...

"ARE LITTERED WITH NAZI
EQUIPMENT, BURNED AND DESTROYED.

"ALONG THE ROAD, I'VE EATEN
BLACKBERRIES, CARROTS

"APPLES AND PEARS.

THEN A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP,
SOFT SLEEPING, ON FLAX."

FOUR MONTHS BEFORE
THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE

DERRICKSON AND HIS DIVISION
LED THE PARADE THROUGH PARIS

PAST THE REVIEWING STAND
WHERE THE BRASS STOOD

AND WHERE THE BRASS STOOD
WAS CLEAR.

HITLER WAS NOW ON THE RUN.

THE WAR
WOULD BE DONE BY CHRISTMAS.

Man:
TO BE PRESENT WHEN THIS
TRIUMPHAL MARCH TOOK PLACE

WAS AS THOUGH IT WAS A REWARD

FOR VICTORIES WON
AND THE ENEMY DEFEATED.

PEOPLE WERE HUGGING AND KISSING
AND GIVING PEOPLE THINGS.

IT WAS A KIND OF A DELIRIUM.

Man:
THE TROOPS CAME DOWN
THE CHAMPS-ELYSEES

AND PROGRESSED
TO THE PLACE DE LA CONCORDE

AND WE ALTERNATED PLAYING
MARCHES WITH THE FRENCH BAND.

THERE WAS JUST WALL-TO-WALL
PEOPLE EVERYWHERE

AND THEY WERE CHEERING

AND GRABBING THE SOLDIERS
AND HUGGING THEM.

Man:
IT WAS BEAUTIFUL.

Narrator:
AFTER FIVE HARD YEARS OF WAR

THE ALLIES HAD WON BACK
CASABLANCA AND TRIPOLI

NAPLES AND ROME,
CHERBOURG AND SAINT LO.

THE LIST OF VICTORIES
SEEMED TO GROW EACH DAY.

Man:
IT LOOKED TO US AS THOUGH WE
HAD CERTAINLY TURNED A CORNER.

WE WERE NOW SO TRIUMPHANT.

AND OUR SHOW OF STRENGTH
AND OF MORAL POSITION

AND MORAL STRENGTH WAS SO
ASTONISHING, SO INSPIRING.

IT WAS VERY HARD
TO BE OBJECTIVE ABOUT IT.

ONE AFTERNOON, I WAS SITTING
HAVING A GLASS OF WINE

AND WATCHING OUR
TRAFFIC STREAM BY...

JUST A STEADY PROCESSION
OF TANKS, TRUCKS, TANK CARRIERS

UNBROKEN FOR HOURS,
LOADED WITH TROOPS

AND EVERYTHING UNDER
THE... UNDER THE SUN.

IT WAS A FEELING THAT,
BY GOLLY, ANY NATION

THAT CAN PRODUCE
ALL OF THESE THINGS

SHIP THEM ALL THE WAY
ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

ALL THE WAY ACROSS FRANCE
AND CHASE THE GERMAN...

THIS WAS A COUNTRY
THAT COULD DO ANYTHING.

WE HAD A GRAND RIDE
RIGHT ACROSS FRANCE.

WE WERE NOT HELD UP ANYWHERE

AND WE WENT ALL THE WAY
ON TO THE SIEGFRIED LINE.

THE GERMAN WAS RUNNING
VERY, VERY HARD.

Narrator:
ONCE THE GESTAPO
WAS USHERED OUT OF PARIS

ALLIED STAFF OFFICERS
AND WAR CORRESPONDENTS

RECLAIMED THE BAR AT THE RITZ.

RESTAURANTS REOPENED,
FASHION SHOWS CAME BACK.

WOMEN COULD HOPE
FOR SILK STOCKINGS AGAIN.

THE WAR DEPARTMENT WAS SHIFTING
TROOPS OVER TO THE PACIFIC.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS

U.S. PRODUCTION OF TANKS,
SHIPS AND AMMUNITION

WAS ALLOWED TO DIP.

Man:
FROM LATE OCTOBER THROUGH
NOVEMBER AND EARLY DECEMBER

THEY WERE BUILDING UP
FOR THIS ATTACK.

THEIR PRODUCTION LEVEL
REACHED ITS HIGHEST

IN THE FALL AND WINTER OF 1944,
SO HOW DID THEY DO THAT?

I'M TALKING ABOUT TANKS,
ARTILLERY, TRUCKS, AMMUNITION.

THEY WERE CRANKING IT OUT
IN THESE UNDERGROUND FACTORIES

THAT HAD SOMEHOW EVADED
OUR AIR FORCE.

Narrator:
THE GERMAN COUNTERATTACK
WAS CONCEIVED AND PLANNED

THE REICHSFUEHRER, ADOLF HITLER.

HITLER WAS, BY HIS OWN LIGHTS,
A MAN OF DESTINY.

FOR HIM, GERMANY'S SUFFERING
WAS MERELY A TEST OF ITS WILL.

HE'D SEEN FOUR MILLION
GERMANS KILLED, WOUNDED

OR TAKEN PRISONER.

NO MATTER.

HE WOULD CREATE A NEW ARMY,
WITH A FANCY NAME:

THE PEOPLE'S INFANTRY,
THE VOLKSGRENADIER.

WHAT IT WAS WAS AN ARMY
OF CRIPPLES AND CONVICTS

CHILDREN AND GRANDFATHERS

BUT THE FUHRER WAS
IN A STATE OF EUPHORIA.

HIS VOLKSGRENADIER WOULD JOIN

THE VERY BEST TROOPS HE HAD,
THE WAFFEN S.S.

IN A SURPRISE ATTACK
IN THE WEST.

"EVERYTHING MUST BE SET ASIDE
FOR THIS," HITLER CONFIDED.

"IT WILL LEAD TO COLLAPSE
AND PANIC AMONG AMERICANS."

HITLER KNEW THAT SOMETHING
WAS WRONG BACK IN OCTOBER...

SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, HE KNEW
THAT HE WAS LEAKING.

ORDERS THAT HE GAVE
WERE REACHING THE ALLIES.

HE THOUGHT HE HAD SPIES
IN HIS STAFF

BUT HE DID THE ONE THING
THAT MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE

TO DO ANYTHING WITH IT,
AND THAT IS, SHUT UP...

RADIO SILENCE, IN EFFECT.

AND WHEN IT STOPPED COMING...

IT JUST HAPPENED TO STOP COMING
IN A PERIOD WHEN WE FIGURED

WELL, THERE ISN'T
ANYTHING TO SAY.

THESE GUYS ARE LOSERS.

WE HAD A PRECONCEPTION
THAT THEY WERE UNABLE

TO LAUNCH A COUNTERATTACK

AND THEY DID EVERYTHING THEY
COULD TO MAKE US BELIEVE THAT

SO YOU COULD SAY IT WAS A CASE
OF SELF-DELUSION ON OUR PART.

Narrator:
ALLIED PLANES WERE
BOMBING BERLIN AT WILL.

THE RUSSIANS WERE DESTROYING
THE WEHRMACHT IN THE EAST.

THERE WAS SPECULATION
THAT HITLER WAS ALREADY DEAD.

IN FACT, HE HAD RETREATED
TO AN UNDERGROUND BUNKER

CUT OFF FROM EVEN HIS HIGHEST
COMMANDERS, PORING OVER MAPS

PLANNING HIS LAST GREAT ATTACK
DOWN TO THE SMALLEST DETAIL.

Kinnard:
THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE...

THE BASE OF IT
REALLY WAS AN 80-MILE FRONT

RUNNING FROM SOUTHERN BELGIUM
DOWN TO ETTELBRUCK

IN THE MIDDLE OF LUXEMBOURG

THE ARDENNES FOREST HERE,
BETWEEN MY THUMB AND FOREFINGER.

HITLER'S CONCEPT WAS TO ATTACK
ON THAT 80-MILE FRONT

SWING NORTH AND SEIZE
THE PORT OF ANTWERP.

HE WAS GOING TO SPLIT
THE BRITISH AND AMERICAN FORCES

AND CAPTURE THOSE PEOPLE
SURROUNDED IN HERE.

Narrator:
HITLER'S REAL TARGET
WAS THE ALLIANCE.

THERE HAD TO BE FRICTIONS

BETWEEN THE BRITISH
AND THE AMERICANS.

IF HE COULD HIT THEM HARD ENOUGH
AND SET THEM TO QUARRELING

THEN HE COULD NEGOTIATE
A FAVORABLE PEACE.

FROM OCTOBER, HITLER
STARTED MASSING THE SOLDIERS

AT THE BORDER.

THEY DIDN'T KNOW
WHY THEY WERE THERE.

NOT EVEN THE COMMANDERS KNEW.

ONE OF THE FEW WHO'D BEEN TOLD
WAS HASSO VON MANTEUFFEL.

THE PRUSSIAN GENERAL WENT
TO THE ARDENNES FRONT

TO TAKE THE MEASURE OF THE
U.S. DIVISION HE WAS TO ATTACK.

NOW, THE 28th, OF ALL
OF THE FOUR ON THE LINE

WAS THE MOST THINLY SPREAD...
SO THINLY SPREAD THAT LITERALLY

DURING THE DAY THEY OUTPOSTED,
ACROSS THE BORDER INTO GERMANY

AND COME DARK, THEY CAME
BACK OVER THE RIVER.

VON MANTEUFFEL CAME DOWN,
GOT IN THE FRONT LINE

WATCHED THIS PROCESS,
AND SAID, "HELL, MAN

"WE DON'T NEED AN HOUR'S
ARTILLERY PREPARATION

"ON THESE GUYS, THE SMART THING
TO DO IS WALK THROUGH THEM

"WHILE THEY'RE HAVING BREAKFAST

"BECAUSE THERE ARE BIG GAPS
BETWEEN THESE OUTPOSTS

"AND WE'LL WALK THROUGH THEM,
AND WHEN WE HIT RESISTANCE

THEN WE'LL CALL IN
THE ARTILLERY."

Man:
WE ARRIVED THERE ON DECEMBER 11.

WE HAD BEEN TOLD

THAT THE DIVISION
THAT WAS THERE BEFORE US

HAD BEEN THERE FIVE TO SIX WEEKS

AND HAD ONLY HAD
TWO CASUALTIES IN THAT TIME.

SO WE EXPECTED FOR IT
TO BE A QUIET FRONT.

WE THOUGHT JUST
WHAT THEY TOLD US:

YOU ARE HERE ON A QUIET FRONT
TO DO PATROLS.

YOU LEARN YOUR TRADE.

YOU GET YOUR FEET WET.

AND IT'S NOT A SITUATION
OF ANY GREAT URGENCY.

THE SECOND DIVISION,
WHOM WE REPLACED...

THE SECOND SAID TO US,
"MAN, THIS IS THE GHOST FRONT.

THERE'S NOTHING OUT THERE."

Translator:
WE SAW THAT SOMETHING
WAS GOING ON:

LOTS OF GERMAN
MILITARY EVERYWHERE

IN THE STREETS,
BUT NOT ON THE MAIN ROADS.

THERE WERE MACHINE GUNS,
TANKS, TRUCKS, CANNONS.

YOU CAN'T NAME IT ALL,
BUT LOTS... LOTS OF EQUIPMENT.

Narrator:
MARGUERITE LINDEN-MEIER
WAS A LUXEMBOURGER

WHO HAD BEEN PICKED UP
BY A GERMAN PATROL

AND TAKEN BEHIND ENEMY LINES.

Translator:
WE DID NOT GIVE OURSELVES
AWAY AS LUXEMBOURGERS.

WE POSED AS GERMANS FROM BAULER.

THEY TOLD US THAT IF WE
POSSIBLY COULD, TO GET AWAY

BECAUSE SOMETHING
WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN.

THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHEN,
BUT THEY SAID

"SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN,
FOR SURE."

"WIR WOLLEN WIEDER NACH PARIS,"
THEY SAID.

"WE'RE ON OUR WAY TO PARIS."

Narrator:
LINDEN-MEIER MADE HER WAY BACK
ACROSS THE BORDER TO LUXEMBOURG

AND REPORTED WHAT SHE'D SEEN
TO THE AMERICAN FORCES.

OTHER CIVILIANS TRICKLED IN,
BRINGING THE SAME STORY.

INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS PASSED THE
REPORTS UP THE LINE OF COMMAND

AND WARNED OF A GERMAN BUILDUP.

THE WARNINGS WERE DISMISSED.

WE DID HEAR TANKS MOVING, TRUCKS
MOVING... ALL SORTS OF NOISES

INDICATIVE OF
THE ASSEMBLY OF STRENGTH

AND WHEN WE REPORTED IT,
WE WERE TOLD...

FROM CORPS, I THINK...
CERTAINLY FROM DIVISION...

"THEY'RE PLAYING
PHONOGRAPH RECORDS.

"THEY KNOW WE'RE
A GREEN DIVISION

AND THEY'RE JUST TRYING
TO PUT THE SCARE ON YOU."

I'M SURE THEY HAD PLAYED
PHONOGRAPH RECORDS

OF TANK MOVEMENT BEFORE
AND GOTTEN SOME RESULTS.

THESE WEREN'T
PHONOGRAPH RECORDS.

THEY WERE TANKS.

BUT WE ACCEPTED THAT...

BECAUSE OF OUR MIND SET

THAT THESE PEOPLE CAN'T REALLY
LAUNCH A SERIOUS ATTACK.

EH BIEN, C'ETAIT
UNE ATMOSPHERE DE LIESSE...

Translator:
IT WAS AN ATMOSPHERE
OF JUBILATION.

EVERY EVENING, IN EVERY
VILLAGE, IN EVERY TOWN

THERE WAS A BALL,
DANCES THAT WERE ORGANIZED

BY THE LOCAL POPULATION,
OR BY THE AMERICANS THEMSELVES.

ET JE PENSE QU'ON
NE PEUT PAS MIEUX RESUMER...

Translator:
THE BEST WAY TO SUM UP
THAT SITUATION IS THIS:

HUSBANDS WERE EVEN PROUD
TO SEE THEIR WIVES FLIRTING

WITH THE AMERICANS, WHO, BELIEVE
ME, DID NOT HOLD BACK AT ALL.

Translator:
THE WORD WENT AROUND:

THE AMERICANS ARE COLLECTING
ALL THEIR RATIONS

TO GIVE A PARTY FOR THE CHILDREN
ON DECEMBER 6, ST. NICHOLAS DAY.

MOTHER SUPERIOR CAME INTO CLASS
TO TELL US ABOUT IT

AND THAT TWO OF US COULD BE HIS
ANGELS, AND I WAS ONE OF THEM.

WE WERE PUT INTO A JEEP, AND
DRIVEN THROUGH THE WHOLE TOWN.

WHEN WE WERE READY TO GO HOME

ST. NICHOLAS TOOK EACH ONE
OF US ANGELS IN HIS LAP

AND GAVE US A KISS.

Narrator:
A QUARTER OF A MILLION GERMANS
WAITED AT THE BORDER.

ON DECEMBER 16, A SATURDAY

CLOUDS AND FOG
COVERED THE VALLEYS.

IT WAS THE WEATHER
HITLER SAID HE NEEDED

TO KEEP THE AMERICAN BOMBERS
OFF HIS BACK.

THAT DAY, A MESSAGE WENT OUT
TO THE FIFTH PANZER ARMY:

"SOLDIERS OF THE WEST FRONT,
YOUR GREAT HOUR HAS ARRIVED."

Kimmelman:
I WAS THE DIVISION SPECIAL
TROOPS DENTAL OFFICER

AND I WAS STATIONED
ABOUT TEN MILES FROM THE FRONT

IN WILTZ, LUXEMBOURG

AND SERGEANT PAUL GIFFORD
WAS LATE

AND I SORT OF WAS A WISEGUY,
AND I TOLD HIM HE WAS LATE

AND HE SAID, "WELL, CAPTAIN,
I'M SORRY, BUT I LOST MY TANK."

AND I SAID, "BOY,
THEY'RE EXPENSIVE AS HELL.

YOU BETTER GO GET THAT TANK."

HE SAID, "WELL,
THE GERMANS TOOK IT."

I SAID, "WELL, YOU BETTER
GO BACK AND GET THAT TANK.

THAT'S BAD BUSINESS."

SO I GOT THE USUAL LAUGHTER.

AND I SAID, "WHAT HAPPENED
TO COLONEL SO-AND-SO?

HE'S GOING TO GIVE IT TO YOU."

HE SAID, "HE LOST
HIS ARTILLERY PIECE."

I SAID, "WHAT'S HAPPENING?"

HE SAID,
"THE GERMANS ARE PUSHING."

DIVISION HEADQUARTERS,
OF WHICH I WAS A PART

WAS AWARE THAT THERE
WERE NOW AN INCREASE

IN THE ENEMY ARTILLERY FIRE
AND ALL THAT

BUT NOTHING TERRIBLY DRAMATIC,
EXCEPT THERE WAS A HUSH...

REALLY AND TRULY,
YOU COULD FEEL A HUSH

AS THOUGH THE CIVILIANS SENSED
WHAT WE DIDN'T COMPREHEND.

Man:
WE WERE GOING TO ETTELBRUCK
TO PLAY FOR THE TROOPS

AND WE BEGAN TO SEE ALL THESE
SOLDIERS THEY'D BROUGHT IN THERE

G.I.s THAT WERE
ALL BANGED UP AND WOUNDED

SO WE WENT TO INQUIRE
AND SEE WHAT THEY HAD PLANNED

AND THERE WERE SO MANY WOUNDED
SOLDIERS LYING IN THIS HOSPITAL.

WELL, THEY CALLED OFF
OUR PERFORMANCE

BECAUSE IT WAS
THE BEGINNING

OF THE BULGE.

WE DIDN'T KNOW IT
AT THE TIME.

YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT,
THAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF IT.

THE SHELLS WERE
FLYING ALL NIGHT LONG

AND THE NEXT MORNING,
THAT WAS SOMETHING ELSE.

HE SAYS, "WELL,
HOW'D YOU SLEEP?"

NOT VERY GOOD, YOU KNOW.

Rutland:
I WENT TO BED,
AND THE NEXT MORNING, AT 6:00

ONE OF MY MESSENGERS
CAME OVER TO WAKEN ME

AND HE SAID,
"EVERYTHING'S POPPING LOOSE."

AND I SAID... I TOLD THIS MAN TO
"OH, GO ON AND LEAVE ME ALONE."

AND THEN AT THAT TIME

I HEARD THE SCREAMING MEEMIES
START COMING IN

THE ARTILLERY AND
ALL TYPES OF ARTILLERY.

THAT WAS DECEMBER THE 16th.

THAT WAS A VERY, VERY ROUGH DAY.

AND BY THAT NIGHT,
THE GERMANS WERE ALL OVER US

WITHIN 10, 15 YARDS
RIGHT IN FRONT OF US.

IF YOU COULD SEE A BUNCH
OF WILD CATTLE RUNNING WILD

THAT'S WHAT IT'D REMIND YOU OF.

I BELIEVE THEY WERE DOPED.

I BELIEVE THAT THE GERMAN
SOLDIERS WERE DOPED

TO A CERTAIN EXTENT

BECAUSE THEY WERE...
THEY WERE ACTING AS IF

"I DON'T CARE
IF I GET KILLED OR NOT."

THEY WERE LIKE WILD MEN.

THAT'S THE BEST I COULD
DESCRIBE IT OF THAT FIRST NIGHT.

I THOUGHT THAT MY DIVISION
HAD BEEN HIT

BY WHAT WE'D BEEN TAUGHT
IN THE FANCY LANGUAGE

OF MILITARY ACADEMIES AND BOOKS,
IS A "SPOILING ATTACK"

AND THAT IT JUST AMOUNTED
TO GETTING OUR ACT TOGETHER

AND WE'D THROW 'EM OUT.

I CERTAINLY NEVER BELIEVED
THAT WE'D BEEN HIT BY A FORCE

THAT WAS REALLY GOING
TO TEAR US UP... NEVER.

Narrator:
THE MEN ON THE FRONT LINE
WERE HUNKERED IN FOXHOLES

CUT OFF FROM EACH OTHER.

THEY HAD NO IDEA
THEY WERE BEING HIT

BY ONE OF THE LARGEST GERMAN
ARTILLERY ATTACKS OF THE WAR

OR THAT THEY WERE OUTNUMBERED
IN SOME PLACES BY TEN TO ONE.

Rutland:
WE LOST MANY MEN THAT FIRST DAY.

AN INFANTRY COMPANY
WAS APPROXIMATELY 200 MEN.

"A" COMPANY WAS 21 MEN
AFTER THE FIRST DAY.

"C" COMPANY COULD ACCOUNT
FOR 59 MEN

AND IN MY COMPANY, I ONLY
LOST 28 MEN THE FIRST DAY.

EVERY COMPANY COMMANDER
WAS MISSING THE FIRST DAY

EXCEPT MY COMPANY COMMANDER.

IT'S REALLY HARD TO BELIEVE,
BUT IT HAPPENED.

AND SOME OF MY BETTER MEN
IN GARRISON

WERE SOME OF THE FIRST ONES TO
CRACK UNDER COMBAT CONDITIONS.

THEY WERE, LIKE,
HUGGING EACH OTHER

AND JUST SHIVERING,
FROM SCARED.

I NEVER HAD SEEN
SUCH A THING BEFORE.

Narrator:
DWIGHT EISENHOWER
AND OMAR BRADLEY

THE TWO MOST POWERFUL
COMMANDERS IN EUROPE

GOT WORD OF THE ATTACK
ON THE 16th, AT VERSAILLES

BUT THE NEWS HAD
LITTLE IMPACT THAT FIRST DAY.

IKE WENT TO A RECEPTION
TO TOAST HIS ORDERLY'S NEW BRIDE

AND HIS OWN PROMOTION
TO FIVE-STAR GENERAL.

THE BRITISH COMMANDER,
FIELD MARSHAL MONTGOMERY

WAS BRIEFED WHILE
ON THE GOLF COURSE.

Hansen:
ON THE AFTERNOON OF THE 16th

THERE WAS NO REAL WORRY
OR CONCERN

ABOUT THE SEVERITY
OF THE ATTACK.

THOSE WORRIES STARTED
ON SUNDAY MORNING

AND I REMEMBER GENERAL BRADLEY
WALKING UP INTO THE WAR ROOM

THAT AFTERNOON, AND HE SAID

"WHERE IN THE WORLD HAVE
THE SON OF A BITCHES GOTTEN

ALL OF THIS STUFF?"

HE PRECEDED THAT BY SAYING,
"PARDON MY FRENCH."

HE WAS A VERY MILD-MANNERED MAN
IN HIS SPEECH

BUT YES, EVERYONE
WAS GENUINELY SURPRISED

BY THE FORCE OF THE GERMAN
ATTACK AT THAT POINT.

Kimmelman:
BY MONDAY, REFUGEES WERE
STREAMING DOWN THE STREETS

WITH THEIR HOUSEHOLD POSSESSIONS

AND THEIR FACES ARE ABSOLUTELY
GRIM AND THERE'S NO GREETINGS

AND YOU KNOW THAT YOU'RE LOOKING
AT A CLASSIC KIND OF THING...

REFUGEES BEFORE THE ENEMY.

AND I WENT UP
TO HEADQUARTERS UP THE HILL

AND THERE IT LOOKED

AS THOUGH IT WAS
A RECENTLY DISTURBED ANTHILL.

PEOPLE WERE RUNNING
IN ALL DIRECTIONS.

SOLDIERS WERE RUNNING,
AND SEEMINGLY HAPHAZARD

JUMPING ON VEHICLES
THAT WERE TAKING OFF.

AT THAT TIME IT WAS...

THERE SEEMED TO BE NOBODY
IN CHARGE, NOBODY IN CHARGE.

I SAW ONE HIGHER OFFICER
ABSOLUTELY LOSE HIS WITS

AND HE SEEMED TO BE
TRYING TO CRANK A JEEP.

THERE HADN'T BEEN CRANKS
ON CARS FOR A LONG TIME.

HE WAS JUST ABSOLUTELY
PANIC-STRICKEN.

AND THAT DISTURBED ME A LOT,
THAT SHOOK ME UP.

Rutland:
IT WAS NOT AN ORDERLY RETREAT.

WE WERE JUST DOING
WHAT WE THOUGHT WAS BEST

AT THAT PARTICULAR TIME.

PRIMARILY, WE WERE BACKING UP.

WE DIDN'T REALLY KNOW
WHERE WE WERE GOING

BUT IT WAS PRIMARILY BACKING UP.

NOTHING WAS ORGANIZED
IN THE WAY OF RETREAT.

NOTHING...

NO, BECAUSE WE WERE
TOO SPREAD OUT

AND CONFUSED
TO BEGIN WITH.

Narrator:
NORM PLUMB AND CLYDE BURKHOLDER
MADE UP THE BETTER PART

OF THE TROMBONE SECTION
OF THE 28th DIVISION DANCE BAND.

CLYDE WAS
A FIVE-FOOT-ONE CROONER

WITH A VOICE REMINISCENT
OF EDDIE CANTOR

BUT WITH LITTLE TALENT
FOR SOLDIERING.

HE AND PLUMB WERE PART

OF THE AD HOC ASSEMBLY
OF REAR GUARD TROOPS

NOW CHARGED WITH ENGAGING
THE PANZERTRUPPEN.

Plumb:
AND THEY DIVIDED US UP, THE BAND

WITH OTHERS... QUARTERMASTER,
PEOPLE FROM FINANCE...

AND A LOT OF THEM HAD WEAPONS

THEY DIDN'T EVEN KNOW
HOW TO USE PROPERLY.

INCLUDING THE BAND.

IN FACT, SOME OF THE BAND,
I HEARD, HAD A BAZOOKA.

YOU'RE KIDDING.

WE WERE LUCKY
WE COULD LOAD A CARBINE

LET ALONE A MACHINE GUN.

THAT'S ALL WE HAD
IS CARBINES.

YEAH, BUT I WAS THINKING THAT
WHEN I BROUGHT THE BULLETS THERE

AND EVERYBODY KEPT SAYING,
"WHAT ARE THEY FOR?"

Patton:
WELL, STARTING AT NOON, WE WENT
TO HELL IN A HAND BASKET.

IN THE WOODS,
WE RAN INTO GERMANS.

AND AS WE PUSHED FORWARD, WE RAN
INTO MORE AND MORE GERMANS

UNTIL BY THE TIME
WE GOT TO THE ROAD

THAT WE WERE SUPPOSED
TO CUT AND GO ACROSS

WE WERE JUST BACKED UP.

THERE WAS A HEAVY FIRE FIGHT.

THERE WAS A LOT OF FIRE.

MY PLATOON WAS
JUST MELTING AWAY.

I WENT BACK AND FOUND
THE COMPANY FIRST SERGEANT

WHO SAID, "THERE'S AN ORDER
FOR US TO PULL OUT, COME BACK"

AND IN THE DUSK I SAW A MAN

AND I YELLED AT HIM,
I'M SURE FAIRLY OBSCENELY

TO GET HIS ACT OUT OF THERE,
THAT WE WERE LEAVING

AND HE WASN'T MINE, HE WAS
A GERMAN, AND HE SHOT ME.

AND I WAS PUT
IN THE AID STATION

AND I REMEMBER DURING THE NIGHT
THE CHAPLAIN CAME TO ME

AND SAID, "OLLIE, WE GOT TO GO.

"AND WE'RE GOING TO LEAVE
THOSE OF YOU WHO CANNOT WALK

"IN THE AID STATION,
UNDER THE CARE OF A MEDIC...

A SOLDIER WHO HAS VOLUNTEERED
TO LOOK AFTER YOU."

AND IT DAWNED ON ME THEN
THAT THINGS HAD GOTTEN SERIOUS

THAT YOU DON'T ABANDON,
YOU DON'T LEAVE YOUR WOUNDED

AND WHAT HE WAS TELLING ME IS,
"WE CAN'T GET YOU OUT."

Rutland:
ON THE EVE OF THE 18th OR 19th

WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN
THE THIRD OR FOURTH DAY

THE SENIOR COLONEL CALLED BACK
TO DIVISION HEADQUARTERS

AND SAID,
"WE HAVE NO AMMUNITION"

BECAUSE THEY ONLY HAD
48 ROUNDS PER MAN TO BEGIN WITH

AND THAT WAS GONE
AFTER THE THREE DAYS.

HE CALLED BACK
TO THE DIVISION COMMANDER

AND SAID, "WE HAVE NO CHOICE
BUT TO SURRENDER."

ENCIRCLED, AND UNDER
ARTILLERY AND EVEN TANK FIRE

AND MANY GERMANS ON EITHER SIDE,
THE REMNANTS WERE SURRENDERED.

WE LOST TWO-THIRDS

OF THE INFANTRY STRENGTH
OF THE DIVISION ON THAT DAY.

Narrator:
MORE THAN 4,000 MEN OF
THE 106th WERE GIVEN UP.

ONLY THE AMERICAN SURRENDER
AT BATAAN WAS LARGER.

THESE MEN HAD BEEN ON THE LINE
EIGHT DAYS, IN COMBAT FOR THREE.

ALAN JONES, THEIR GENERAL,
WAS STUNNED.

"I'VE LOST A DIVISION

FASTER THAN ANY OTHER
COMMANDER IN THE U.S. ARMY."

Kimmelman:
AFTER WE SURRENDERED

THE GERMAN CORPORAL
TOOK ME FORWARD

AND THEN THEY PUT ME
ON THE HOOD OF A CAR.

I WAS SITTING WITH MY LEGS
DANGLING OVER THE GRILL

AND HE HAD A PISTOL TO MY HEAD

AND SO WE WENT UP
AND DOWN SOME HILLS

AND I WAS LIKE A TROPHY
ON THE HOOD OF HIS CAR

WITH THIS PISTOL AT MY HEAD.

AND TO MY ABSOLUTE ASTONISHMENT

I WAS LOOKING AT DROVES,
AT HERDS

OF BEAUTIFULLY UNIFORMED,
YOUNG, HEALTHY-LOOKING

WELL-FED, WELL-EQUIPPED
GERMAN TROOPS

AND MY HEART SANK.

GOD, THEY DID IT.

I MEAN, THEY SURPRISED US.

THEY GOT STORES OF PEOPLE
THAT WE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT.

WOW!

AND THEY CAME BY...
THESE YOUNG, GOOD-LOOKING KIDS...

LAUGHING AT ME AS A TROPHY.

WE HAD BEEN SURPRISED
AND WERE IN TROUBLE.

Man:
♪ THIS IS THE G.I. JIVE,
MAN ALIVE ♪

♪ IT STARTS WITH THE BUGLER
BLOWING REVEILLE OVER YOUR BED ♪

♪ WHEN YOU ARRIVE ♪

♪ JACK, THAT'S THE G.I. JIVE ♪

♪ ROODLE-DEE TOOT ♪

♪ JUMP IN YOUR SUIT ♪

♪ MAKE A SALUTE ♪

♪ VOOT! ♪

Man:
I HAD A FRIEND, HERB SPENCE,
AND ANOTHER, JACK MANLEY.

OF COURSE, WE WERE REAL THRILLED
THAT WE HAD A PASS

AND COULD GET OUT LIKE THAT.

WE GOT TO PARIS,
BIG CITY UNKNOWN TO US.

WE HADN'T BEEN THERE BEFORE
OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT

AND WE WERE LOOKING
FOR A GOOD TIME

AND WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY TROUBLE
FINDING GIRLS, AND LIKED THAT

AND I REMEMBER
STAYING IN A HOTEL

A PLACE CALLED PLACE DE CLICHY
AND A NICE LITTLE HOTEL THERE

AND PLENTY OF SUPPLY OF COGNAC
AND THIS SORT OF STUFF, YOU KNOW

SO WE WOULD SIT AROUND AND TALK
AND THE GIRLS WOULD COME IN

AND THE PARTICULAR GIRL
THAT I HAD

HAD LITTLE, SHORT LEGS
ABOUT SO LONG

AND I THINK SHE WEIGHED PROBABLY

OH, I GUESS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
OF 140 POUNDS

AND SHE DID A PRETTY GOOD
JOB WITH YOU, YOU KNOW

WHEN YOU WERE
IN THE ACTION, LET'S SAY...

WHEN YOU WERE
IN ACTION, IN COMBAT.

♪ THIS IS THE G.I. JIVE,
MAN ALIVE... ♪

Dunning:
SHE WAS A COUNTRY GIRL

AND SHE WOULD COME IN
FROM THE FARM

AND I KNOW SPENCE'S GIRLFRIEND,
SHE WAS A REAL MODEL.

MANLEY DIDN'T CARE.

♪ JACK, AFTER YOU REVIVE... ♪

Kinnard:
WE HAD MEN ON LEAVES
AND PASSES IN ENGLAND.

WE HAD LOTS OF PEOPLE IN PARIS.

SO WE WERE THINKING
ABOUT EVERYTHING

EXCEPT THE FACT THAT WE MIGHT
HAVE TO GO BACK TO COMBAT.

I WAS HAVING A PARTY

IN MY QUARTERS IN MOURMELON,
AND IT WAS A GOOD PARTY

BECAUSE WE WERE ONLY...

WE WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF
THE CHAMPAGNE COUNTRY THERE.

AND I WENT OVER
TO THE HEADQUARTERS

WHERE GENERAL McAULIFFE
INFORMED ME

THAT HE HAD JUST HAD A CALL

THAT THERE HAD BEEN
A BREAKTHROUGH IN THE ARDENNES.

HE KNEW LITTLE MORE
THAN THAT ABOUT IT

BUT THAT WE WERE PROBABLY
GOING TO BE MOVING OUT

THE FOLLOWING MORNING.

SURPRISED WOULD BE TO PUT IT
VERY, VERY MILDLY.

WE WERE FLABBERGASTED.

Narrator:
BY THE EVENING OF THE
SECOND DAY OF BATTLE

THE ALLIED COMMANDERS UNDERSTOOD
THE ENORMITY OF THEIR SITUATION.

25 GERMAN DIVISIONS
WERE ON THE ATTACK

AGAINST ONLY 4½ U.S. DIVISIONS.

EISENHOWER AND BRADLEY REACHED
FOR THE ONLY RESERVES THEY HAD...

THE 82nd AIRBORNE AND THE 101st.

THE 101st WERE PARATROOPS.

THEY'D LED THE WAY IN NORMANDY
AND THEN HOLLAND.

THEY FIGURED THEIR NEXT ACTION

WOULD BE THE TRIUMPHAL JUMP
INTO BERLIN.

Dunning:
WE WERE TOLD BY P.A. SYSTEMS...
YOU KNOW, BROADCASTING.

THEY'D COME DOWN THE STREET
AND SAY "ALL AIRBORNE"...

AND THAT MEANT EVERYBODY
AIRBORNE... NOT ONLY THE 101st...

AND IT WAS TO GET BACK TO YOUR
OUTFIT, NO QUESTIONS ASKED

AND IF YOU DIDN'T

WITHIN SO MANY HOURS
THEY'D ESCORT YOU BACK.

AND THEY TOLD US TO GET
EVERYTHING READY TO GO

AND WE DIDN'T KNOW WHETHER
WE WERE GOING TO JUMP OR WHAT.

IT WAS SORT OF A HANG SITUATION.

WHEN WE GOT BACK TO CAMP,
THEN WE FOUND OUT

AND WE DIDN'T REALLY KNOW
UNTIL WE GOT IN THE TRUCKS

AND THEY SAID,
"YOU'RE HEADED FOR BASTOGNE."

WELL, WHERE'S BASTOGNE,
YOU KNOW?

Narrator:
THE MAIN FIGHT NOW WAS FOR
22-FOOT STRIPS OF PAVEMENT...

THE MAJOR ROADS, MOST OF WHICH
RAN THROUGH TWO TOWNS:

ST. VITH IN THE NORTH
AND BASTOGNE IN THE SOUTH.

A QUARTER OF A MILLION GERMANS

PLUS TANKS, JEEPS,
HORSES AND TRUCKS

SQUEEZED THROUGH THE ARDENNES.

GENERALS STOOD
ON THEIR STAFF CARS FOR HOURS

DIRECTING TRAFFIC.

WHILE THE REMAINS OF THE
AMERICAN FRONT RETREATED

THE WEHRMACHT MOVED ON

TO ST. VITH AND BASTOGNE
AT A CRAWL.

WE WERE TOLD TO MOVE OUT
AND MOVE INTO BASTOGNE.

AND I MEAN, WE WERE SPREAD OUT
ON EACH SIDE OF THE ROAD

RIGHT INTO A BATTLE FORMATION.

ALL ALONG THE ROAD, YOU WOULD
SEE DEAD GUYS, YOU KNOW.

YOU COULD HEAR
THE GUNS GOING OFF.

YOU COULD HEAR
THE GERMANS FIRING

AND IT SOUNDED LIKE IT WAS

OH, MAYBE TWO
OR THREE MILES AWAY.

THE SCENE AT 18th CORPS
HEADQUARTERS IN BASTOGNE

WAS ONE OF SEMI-ORGANIZED
CONFUSION.

THE GERMANS WERE AT THE GATES,
ALMOST LITERALLY

AND CORPS HEADQUARTERS
WAS BUGGING OUT...

WERE MOVING TO ANOTHER LOCATION

BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T WANT
TO BE OVERRUN.

I SAW PEOPLE COMING BACK.

THEY... THEY HAD A LOOK OF...

"WELL, I'VE BEEN BEATEN,
BUT I DON'T WANT TO BE"

AND A CONFUSED,
GLASSY-EYED LOOK.

I MEAN, THEY WERE
SORT OF DAZED, LIKE

AND YOU'D ASK THEM A QUESTION,
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?"

AND THEY REALLY COULDN'T TELL US

BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T KNOW,
IT HAPPENED SO FAST.

THEN SOME OF THEM
WERE JUST PLAIN SCARED.

I MEAN, THEY HAD HAD IT.

THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO.

I REMEMBER ONE YOUNG GUY

KIND OF JOGGING ALONG
AND SLOGGING ALONG

AND HE'D NO WEAPONS OR ANYTHING
AND HE WAS ACTUALLY CRYING.

Narrator:
THE 101st DUG ITSELF

INTO THE FIELDS AND FORESTS
AROUND BASTOGNE.

ITS JOB WAS TO HOLD THE TOWN.

TO THE FAR NORTH,
S.S. TANKERS HAD BROKEN THROUGH.

THEY WERE SEARCHING FRANTICALLY
FOR GAS RESERVES.

AMERICANS KEPT
A FRAGILE GRIP ON ST. VITH

BUT IN THE SOFT MIDDLE

THE GERMANS HAD SPLIT
THE LINE WIDE OPEN.

ON THE 21st,
THE FIRST DAY OF SNOW

BASTOGNE WAS SURROUNDED.

HEAVY CLOUDS GROUNDED
THE AMERICAN BOMBERS.

C-47s, LOADED WITH SUPPLIES,
SAT ON RUNWAYS

UNABLE TO REACH THE TOWN.

Dunning:
WE WEREN'T WHAT YOU CALL
WELL-PREPARED TO GO

INTO A WINTER SITUATION.

I MEAN, WE HAD A SUPPLY

OF NORMAL COMBAT
FATIGUE-TYPE THINGS

BUT THAT'S ABOUT ALL WE HAD.

GLOVES AND THINGS LIKE THAT
WE DIDN'T HAVE.

FOOTWEAR WAS MAINLY
WHAT WE NEEDED.

WE HAD COMBAT BOOTS THAT HAD
THE BUCKLES ON THE SIDE

AND WE NEEDED
SOMETHING TO COVER THEM

BECAUSE WE HAD WORN THOSE
THROUGH NORMANDY AND HOLLAND

AND THEY WERE WORN
PRETTY THIN, SEE.

SOME OF US HAD EVEN CUT HOLES
IN THEM FOR AIR

WHERE WE'D IMPREGNATED
THOSE THINGS WITH GOOK

TO WATERPROOF THEM, SEE.

AND YOUR FEET WOULD
SWEAT IN THOSE THINGS

SO WE'D CUT HOLES.

WELL, THAT WAS STUPID TO DO
GOING INTO BASTOGNE

BECAUSE THE SNOW
WOULD GET IN THERE.

WE HAD LIMITED AMMUNITION

AND THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS,
TOO, THAT WE LACKED.

WE JUST DIDN'T HAVE TIME
TO GET SUPPLIED FULL AMMO.

Narrator:
BASTOGNE NEEDED RELIEF.

GENERAL PATTON'S ARMY
WAS 100 MILES TO THE SOUTH.

GEORGE S. PATTON
HAD A SENSE OF HISTORY

AND THE WILL TO MAKE HIMSELF
A PLACE IN IT.

HE WAS ALREADY PREPARING
HIS MAIN CHANCE

AN ATTACK THAT COULD
PROPEL HIM INTO BERLIN.

WHEN HE GOT WIND OF
THE GERMAN BREAKTHROUGH

HE FEARED IKE AND BRADLEY WERE
GOING TO STEAL AWAY HIS TROOPS

TO PLUG HOLES IN THE ARDENNES.

BUT IT DIDN'T TAKE HIM LONG

TO RECOGNIZE AN OPPORTUNITY
FOR GLORY.

HE TOLD IKE HE COULD PIVOT
MOST OF HIS ATTACK FORCE

WITHIN 48 HOURS,
AND SENT WORD TO BASTOGNE

HIS ARMY WAS ON ITS WAY.

Kinnard:
ON THE 22nd OF DECEMBER,
WHEN WE WERE TOTALLY SURROUNDED

SOME GERMAN OFFICERS
UNDER A WHITE FLAG OF TRUCE

CAME INTO OUR GLIDER REGIMENT

WITH A PAPER
DEMANDING OUR SURRENDER

AND TELLING US ALL THE BAD
THINGS THAT WOULD HAPPEN

IF WE DIDN'T.

THEN WE WENT IN
TO GENERAL McAULIFFE

WHO WAS TAKING A LITTLE
MUCH-NEEDED NAP AT THAT POINT

AND GENERAL McAULIFFE
MISTAKENLY THOUGHT

THAT THIS WAS SOME GERMANS
WHO WANTED TO SURRENDER TO US

BUT WE DISABUSED HIM
OF THAT THOUGHT VERY QUICKLY

AND SAID, "NO, THEY WANT US
TO SURRENDER."

AND TONY McAULIFFE THEN SAID,
"US SURRENDER? AW, NUTS!"

AND THEN HE WENT ON AND HE SAID

"WELL, I WONDER IF WE
OUGHT TO ANSWER THEM"

AND WE ALL FELT THAT
IT REQUIRED AN ANSWER

AND I SPOKE UP AND SAID,
"WELL, WHAT YOU FIRST SAID

WOULD BE HARD TO BEAT."

AND TONY SAID,
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

AND I SAID, "YOU SAID, 'NUTS!'"

SO HE TOOK A PENCIL AND
WROTE TO THE GERMAN COMMANDER

"NUTS! EXCLAMATION POINT

A.C. McAULIFFE, COMMANDING."

WHEN THE SURRENDER ULTIMATUM
WAS LEARNED OF

IT WAS APPARENTLY A GOOD MORALE
BOOSTER FOR THE AMERICAN PUBLIC.

THE AMERICAN PRESS EVERY DAY WAS
SHOWING A PICTURE OF THE BULGE

WITH ONLY BASTOGNE IN THE WHITE

AND ALL THE REST OF IT
WAS GERMAN

AND WE WERE STILL HOLDING OUT

AND THAT WAS ABOUT THE
ONLY GOOD NEWS THERE WAS.

Arend:
BASTOGNE N'AVAIT STRICTEMENT
AUCUNE IMPORTANCE.

Translator:
THE TOWN OF BASTOGNE HAD
NO MILITARY IMPORTANCE.

THE PROOF OF IT WAS
IN THE PLAN OF ATTACK.

THERE WASN'T EVEN A PLAN

TO TAKE THE TOWN ITSELF.

THE GERMANS GOT TAKEN
INTO THE GAME.

ONCE THEY SAW BASTOGNE
WAS BECOMING FOR AMERICA

A SYMBOL OF RESISTANCE

THEN THE GERMANS SET OUT
TO DESTROY THAT SYMBOL.

Narrator:
HITLER MADE IT PLAIN
TO HIS COMMANDERS:

BASTOGNE MUST BE TAKEN.

HE RELEASED EVERY SPARE MAN
TO THE CAUSE.

GERMAN ARTILLERY
FLATTENED THE TOWN.

TANKS AND INFANTRY
ATTACKED FROM EVERY SIDE.

THERE WAS NO WAY TO EVACUATE
THE AMERICAN WOUNDED.

MEDICAL SUPPLIES WERE USED UP.

DOCTORS OPERATED
BEHIND MAKESHIFT CURTAINS.

FOR ANESTHETIC,
THEY USED COGNAC.

THIS GROWING DRAMA
WAS NOT LOST ON PATTON.

HE RADIOED AHEAD.

HE WOULD CRACK THROUGH
ON CHRISTMAS DAY.

Hansen:
PATTON WAS A RATHER
MERCURIAL KIND OF A GUY.

UH... VERY FLASHY.

THEY USED TO SAY THAT
HE WAS THE BEST ASS-KICKER

IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY.

Narrator:
FROM HIS COMMAND POST
IN LUXEMBOURG CITY

PATTON ORDERED HIS MEN
TO ATTACK NIGHT AND DAY.

HIS ARMY NEARED THE SOUTHERN
FLANK OF THE BULGE AT A GALLOP

BUT TWO DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS
THE WEATHER UPSTAGED HIM.

Rutland:
THE WEATHER CLEARED, AND THE
PLANES COULD START FLYING AGAIN.

PLANES WERE COMING OVER
BY THE HUNDREDS.

YOU'D SEE 36 IN A GROUP,
36 MORE, 36 MORE

AND I DON'T KNOW
HOW MANY HUNDREDS

AND WE'D JUST LOOK UP IN THE SKY

AND SAY, "THANK GOODNESS
THEY'RE FLYING AGAIN."

AND SEE THOSE GUYS
DIVING DOWN AND STRAFING.

WE KNEW THEY WERE HITTING TANKS

AND THAT WAS KEEPING
THE KRAUTS MOVING

AND THIS HAPPENED
FROM DAYLIGHT TO DARK.

Narrator:
HITLER HAD GAMBLED
EVERYTHING IN THE ARDENNES:

HIS BEST TROOPS,
HIS NEW RESERVES

HUNDREDS OF NEW TANKS AND
HIS MEAGER SUPPLY OF FUEL.

BUT HE'D ALWAYS KNOWN
THAT WASN'T ENOUGH.

HE'D ALSO COUNTED
ON BAD WEATHER

AND AFTER SEVEN DAYS,
HIS LUCK HAD RUN OUT.

Patton:
THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE
STALLED OUT.

THE ALLIES HELD
THE NORTHERN SHOULDER.

THE SOUTHERN SHOULDER WAS HELD.

THE GERMANS WERE CONSTRICTED
TO THAT 80-MILE BASE

AND DRIVING TOWARD ANTWERP
THEY GOT NO FARTHER

THAN JUST WITHIN SIGHT
OF THE MEUSE RIVER.

NET EFFECT WAS
IT DIED RIGHT THERE.

THAT WAS THE END OF IT.

♪ SILENT NIGHT, HOLY NIGHT ♪

♪ ALL IS CALM ♪

♪ ALL IS BRIGHT ♪

♪ ROUND YON VIRGIN MOTHER
AND CHILD ♪

♪ HOLY INFANT
SO TENDER AND MILD... ♪

Narrator:
PATTON'S ARMY GOT TO BASTOGNE
THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

AND THEY OPENED UP
ENOUGH OF A HOLE

FOR THE PRESS TO SQUEEZE THROUGH

ALONG WITH THE MORALE TROOPS
AND THE MEDAL PINNERS.

McAULIFFE AND THE 101st WERE
THE PRIDE OF THE AMERICAN ARMY.

BUT THE PRICE OF AN EARLIER
PRIDE WAS ALSO ON DISPLAY...

AN ARMY WHICH HAD
HELD ITSELF UNSTOPPABLE

HAD SUFFERED 4,000 DEAD
IN THE BULGE BY CHRISTMAS.

30,000 MORE AMERICANS HAD
BEEN WOUNDED OR TAKEN PRISONER.

THE S.S. HAD EXECUTED HUNDREDS
OF UNARMED AMERICAN PRISONERS

AND IN THE TOWN OF STAVELOT

MORE THAN A HUNDRED
BELGIAN CIVILIANS.

THE AMERICANS HAD GIVEN UP
A POCKET OF LAND 5O MILES DEEP.

IT WOULD TAKE THEM A WHOLE MONTH
TO WIN IT BACK.

Man:
YOUR IMAGINATION KIND OF
RUNS AWAY WITH YOU, I GUESS

ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU HEAR NOISES

AND OF COURSE AT NIGHT
IT WAS WORSE

BECAUSE YOU REALLY DIDN'T
KNOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING.

Man:
WE WERE VERY MUCH
AFRAID OF THE DARK.

YOU COULDN'T SEE THE DANGER

AND SO AS THE LIGHT BEGINS
TO COME, IT'S BEAUTIFUL.

IT PROVIDES YOU AT LEAST A VIEW
OF WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN

AND YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO
HAPPEN IN TERMS OF THE BATTLE.

Newsreel Narrator:
TO MEET THE GERMAN DRIVE

GENERAL EISENHOWER RESOURCEFULLY
REGROUPS HIS FORCES

GIVING FIELD MARSHAL MONTGOMERY

COMMAND OVER THE
ENTIRE NORTHERN SECTOR.

WITH BRITAIN'S FAMOUS "MONTY"

HOLDING RUNDSTEDT
BACK IN THE NORTH

HIS AMERICAN COUNTERPART,
GENERAL BRADLEY

BLOCKS THE NAZIS IN THE SOUTH.

Narrator:
THE FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS

ONCE THE GERMANS
HAD BEEN STOPPED

WAS CLOSING THE HOLE
IN THE AMERICAN LINE

WHERE THE FIRST AND THIRD ARMIES
WERE WEDGED APART.

EISENHOWER'S PLAN WAS
TO JOIN THE TWO ARMIES QUICKLY

AND THEN PUSH EAST.

PATTON WANTED TO MAKE
A BOLDER MOVE

BUT EISENHOWER HELD HIM BACK.

Oliver Patton:
PATTON WANTED DESPERATELY

TO DRIVE RIGHT BACK UP
THE ORIGINAL LINE

AND BE MET BY A COUNTERATTACK
FROM THE NORTH

AND THUS BAG ALL OF THE GERMANS

WHO HAD GOTTEN
THEMSELVES FORWARD

IN THE BULGE, SO-CALLED BULGE.

HE WANTED TO CUT THEM OFF
AND BAG THIS LOT.

I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND EXACTLY
WHY THE DECISION WAS MADE

BUT RATHER THAN TRYING TO CUT
THESE PEOPLE OFF IN A BAG

THE DECISION WAS MADE
TO PUSH THEM OUT.

SO IN EFFECT,
RESERVES WERE COMMITTED

FROM THE SOUTH, FROM THE NORTH
AND FROM HERE

AND THE AMERICAN ARMY
SIMPLY STOOD UP

AND SLUGGED ITS WAY
BACK TOWARD THE START LINE.

SLOW, DOGGED, COSTLY ADVANCE.

Man:
BOTH THE ENEMY AND THE WEATHER
COULD KILL YOU.

IF YOU WERE HIT,
YOU COULD GO INTO SHOCK

AND IN THAT TEMPERATURE,
YOU COULD FREEZE TO DEATH

BEFORE THEY COULD GET TO YOU.

Man:
THE FIRST TIME I DUG IN

AND I WAS DIGGING ME A FOXHOLE

AND I THROWED MY FIRST
SHOVELFUL OF SNOW OVER

AND I HIT SOMETHING,
AND I TURNED THE SNOW

AND THERE LAID A DEAD
AMERICAN SOLDIER... FROZE, SEE?

YOU SAY,
"THAT COULD HAVE BEEN ME.

"I'M HERE NOW, WE'RE HERE.

THIS IS THE REAL THING."

Narrator:
THE AMERICANS ATTACKED

INTO THE WORST EUROPEAN WINTER
IN MEMORY.

BUT EISENHOWER MAINTAINED
HIS GOOD CHEER.

HE WAS A MAN
WHO LIVED BY NUMBERS

AND HE KNEW THOSE
WERE ON HIS SIDE.

IN THE EUROPEAN THEATER

THE ALLIES HELD A TEN-TO-ONE
ADVANTAGE IN TANKS

THREE-TO-ONE IN AIRCRAFT,
2½-TO-ONE IN TROOPS.

IKE POURED HALF A MILLION MEN
INTO THE ARDENNES.

THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE
WOULD BECOME

THE BIGGEST, COSTLIEST
BATTLE IN U.S. HISTORY

FOR MANY YOUNG AMERICANS

THEIR INTRODUCTION TO
THE RAW EXPERIENCE OF WAR.

Man:
OUR FIRST ATTACK,
MAJOR OFFENSIVE

WAS ON JANUARY 7.

WE MOVED UP UNDER ARTILLERY
FIRE TO AN ATTACK POSITION

AND WE WERE HIT FROM BEHIND

AND ACTUALLY IT WAS
ONE OF OUR OWN COMPANIES

IN OUR BATTALION HAD GOTTEN
A LITTLE BIT OFF LINE

AND IN THE CONFUSION THAT
WAS GOING ON AT THAT TIME

THEY MISTOOK US FOR THE GERMANS

AND START FIRING AT US
FROM THE REAR.

AFTER THAT WAS STRAIGHTENED OUT

THEN WE BEGAN
OUR ATTACK ON THE WOODS

AND THEN WE CAME
TO A LARGE, OPEN FIELD.

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FIELD
WAS A LARGE TANK

GIVING DEVASTATING FIRE
INTO OUR RANKS

AND I THINK THE ARMY TERMS IT
"STRATEGIC WITHDRAWAL"

BUT IT REALLY... WE REALLY
JUST BEAT IT OUT OF THERE

AND I WAS SEEING PEOPLE
AHEAD OF ME FALLING

AND BEING HIT

AND SO I WENT DOWN ON MY FACE

AND I LOOKED
RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME.

THERE WAS A FRIEND OF MINE
THAT HAD...

I COULD SEE HE HAD BEEN KILLED.

WE PROBABLY HAD

IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF
200 PEOPLE IN THE COMPANY

AND AT THE END OF THAT DAY

I UNDERSTAND
ABOUT 64 WERE PRESENT.

IT WAS A REAL TURNING POINT
IN OUR LIFE

BECAUSE I DON'T THINK ANY
OF US HAVE EVER BEEN THE SAME

AFTER THAT DAY.

ABOUT MIDNIGHT, I WAS SLEEPING.

MY BUDDY WAS ON DUTY.

AND SOMEHOW OR OTHER

THE GERMANS GOT WITHIN
20 YARDS OF OUR POSITION.

GORDON GOT RIPPED
BY A MACHINE GUN

FROM ROUGHLY THE LEFT THIGH
THROUGH THE RIGHT WAIST.

HE THEN TOLD ME THAT HE WAS HIT
THROUGH THE STOMACH AS WELL.

WELL, WHEN YOU'RE THAT FAR
FROM YOUR HOME BASE

AND IT'S SNOWING,
AND THE TEMPERATURE IS ZERO

YOU DON'T HAVE A CHANCE.

WE WERE CUT OFF.

THE GERMANS HAD OVERRUN
OUR POSITION

AND WE WERE IN THE FOXHOLE
BY OURSELVES.

SO BASICALLY, WE BOTH KNEW
HE WAS GOING TO DIE.

WE HAD NO MORPHINE,
WE COULDN'T EASE IT

AND SO, UH...

I TRIED TO KNOCK HIM OUT.

THE... TOOK OFF HIS HELMET,
HELD HIS JAW UP

AND JUST WHACKED IT
AS HARD AS I COULD

BECAUSE HE WANTED TO BE PUT OUT.

THAT DIDN'T WORK, AND SO, UH...

I HIT HIM OVER THE HEAD
WITH A HELMET.

AND THAT DIDN'T WORK.

NOTHING WORKED.

HE SLOWLY FROZE TO DEATH,
BLED TO DEATH.

THE NEXT MORNING,
AS WE LOOKED AT OUR GEAR

IT LOOKED AS IF I'D SPENT
A DAY IN A BUTCHER SHOP.

MY CLOTHES WERE
ALL COVERED WITH BLOOD

HIS CLOTHES WERE
ALL COVERED WITH BLOOD

THE TERRITORY WE WERE IN
WAS ALL COVERED...

HE JUST...
IT WAS A BUTCHER SHOP.

Kinnard:
THE REALLY HARDEST PART

OF THE FIGHTING FOR THE 101st

WAS NOT DURING THE TIME
THAT WE WERE ON THE DEFENSIVE

EVEN THOUGH WE WERE SURROUNDED.

THE MOST DIFFICULT FIGHTING
THAT WE REALLY HAD

WAS WHEN WE WERE ASKED
TO GO ON THE OFFENSIVE.

BY THIS TIME, THE GERMANS
WERE ON THE DEFENSE

AND THEY WERE TRYING THEIR
BEST TO KEEP AN OPENING

SO THEY COULD GET THEIR
PEOPLE OUT OF THE BULGE

AND BACK TO GERMANY.

Narrator:
THE GERMAN GENERALS KNEW

THEIR ARMY WAS OVEREXTENDED
AND BADLY EXPOSED.

THEY WANTED TO PULL THEIR
MEN QUICKLY ACROSS THE RHINE

TO THE SAFETY OF THE HOMELAND.

HITLER REFUSED.

ON JANUARY 8

HE RELUCTANTLY ALLOWED
HIS MEN TO INCH BACK

BUT THERE WOULD BE
NO EASY RETREAT.

THEY WERE TO FIGHT AS THEY WENT.

THE GERMAN ARMY HAD FOUGHT
THROUGH RUSSIAN WINTERS.

ITS COMMANDERS UNDERSTOOD
WINTER WARFARE.

THEY SET UP DEFENSIVE POSITIONS
ON THE HIGH GROUND

AND IN THE WARMTH OF THE TOWNS.

THE AMERICANS LIVED
OUT IN THE WOODS.

Foster:
MOST OF THE TIME WE WERE
IN A FOXHOLE BY OURSELF.

OCCASIONALLY,
WE'D BE WITH SOMEONE

AND WE WERE... FOXHOLES
PROBABLY SCATTERED OUT

ANYWHERE FROM
30 TO 50 YARDS APART.

YOU HAD VERY LITTLE CONTACT
WITH ANYBODY.

WELL, THE GROUND WAS FROZEN,
IN THE FIRST PLACE

TO SUCH A DEPTH

THAT YOU COULD HARDLY GET DOWN
THE FIRST EIGHT INCHES OR SO.

IT WAS JUST FROZEN
LIKE... CONCRETE.

AND YOU JUST HAD
TO CHIP IT AWAY.

CONSEQUENTLY,
WE FOUND OURSELF USING

OLD FOXHOLES, ONES THAT HAD
BEEN... OR SLIT TRENCHES...

THAT HAD BEEN DUG EITHER
BY THE ENEMY OR BY OURSELF.

OF COURSE, IF YOU WERE
OCCUPYING ENEMY HOLES

THEY KNEW WHERE THEY WERE

SO THERE WAS A CERTAIN AMOUNT
OF RISK EITHER WAY YOU WENT.

ONCE YOU GOT IN,
IF YOU WERE THERE A WHILE...

AND WE USUALLY WEREN'T...

YOU START TRYING TO IMPROVE IT

BY PUTTING LOGS
OVER THE TOP OF IT

TO SHIELD YOU FROM
TREE BURSTS OF ARTILLERY.

Foster:
THEY SHELLED US CONTINUOUSLY.

IF YOU GOT OUT OF YOUR HOLE

YOU WAS LIABLE
TO GET BLOWED AWAY.

Man:
IT WAS A SCREAMING SOUND
TO THE 88s

WHICH WAS THE MAJOR ARTILLERY
OF THE GERMANS

AND AT FIRST IT WAS
ABSOLUTELY FRIGHTENING.

IT WAS A NIGHTMARE.

EVENTUALLY YOU GET
ACCUSTOMED TO IT

YOU BEGIN TO MAKE
JUDGMENTS ABOUT IT.

IS IT COMING IN CLOSE?

AND YOU BEGIN
TO BE ABLE TO ESTIMATE

PRETTY MUCH WHERE
IT'S GOING TO HIT.

Hagerman:
YOU CAN'T FIGHT BACK.

MOST PEOPLE JUST KIND
OF DOUBLE UP LIKE THAT

AND HUNKER DOWN, AS THEY SAY

AND HOPE THAT SOMEBODY ELSE,
NOT YOU, GETS IT.

Narrator:
THE AMERICANS WERE
NOW ON THE ATTACK.

EACH DAY THE MEN HAD TO COME
OUT OF THEIR HOLES

AND ADVANCE INTO ARTILLERY FIRE.

THE GERMANS HAD SUPERIOR GUNS,
AND STILL PLENTY OF THEM.

ARTILLERY ACCOUNTED

FOR HALF OF ALL AMERICAN
CASUALTIES IN THE BULGE.

Stewart:
YOU HAD PEOPLE KILLED
IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS.

AND YOU WOULD SEE
HANDS AROUND, ARMS, BODIES.

YOU'D SEE A WHOLE BODY THERE,
HORRIBLY CHOPPED UP.

Hagerman:
PEOPLE DIDN'T CRUMPLE AND FALL

LIKE THEY DID IN
THE HOLLYWOOD MOVIES.

THEY WERE TOSSED IN THE AIR

THEY WERE WHIPPED AROUND

THEY WERE HIT TO THE GROUND HARD
AND BLOOD SPLATTERED EVERYWHERE

AND A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE
STANDING CLOSE TO PEOPLE

AND FOUND THEMSELF COVERED
IN BLOOD AND FLESH

OF THEIR FRIENDS.

AND THAT'S A PRETTY TOUGH THING
FOR ANYBODY TO HANDLE

AND WE WERE
NO EXCEPTION TO THAT.

Hansen:
WE HAD A STAFF MEETING
EVERY MORNING

ON THE OPERATIONAL SITUATION,
THE INTELLIGENCE SITUATION

AND ALWAYS A MANPOWER REPORT
ON THE CASUALTIES

FROM THE DAY BEFORE.

Narrator:
AS THE G.I.s CREPT FORWARD
IN THE ARDENNES

THEIR GENERALS SIFTED
REPORTS FROM THE FRONT.

THEY WERE GRIM.

PATTON'S ARMY,
KNOWN FOR ITS SPEED

WAS COVERING LESS
THAN A MILE A DAY.

THE ATTACK FROM THE NORTH
WAS EVEN SLOWER.

IKE REMAINED 200 MILES BACK
AT VERSAILLES.

THE FRONT WAS
NOT HIS ONLY WORRY.

HE WAS TRYING TO KEEP
THE PEACE WITHIN HIS COMMAND.

Hansen:
THERE WERE SEVERE STRAINS
DURING THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE.

MONTGOMERY WAS PERCEIVED
IN THE AMERICAN ARMY

AS A RATHER ARROGANT,
STUBBORN LITTLE FELLOW.

I THINK GENERAL BRADLEY
AND OTHERS FEARED

THAT IF MONTY EVER GOT
HIS HANDS ON OUR ARMIES

HE'D NEVER LET GO.

Narrator:
FOR MONTHS, MONTY HAD BEEN
BADGERING EISENHOWER

FOR CONTROL OF THE GROUND WAR.

AFTER THE GERMAN BREAKTHROUGH

IKE HAD RELUCTANTLY
GIVEN HIM COMMAND

OF BRADLEY'S TROOPS
IN THE NORTH.

BUT MONTY WANTED MORE.

HE DEMANDED PERMANENT CONTROL
OF ALL AMERICAN GROUND TROOPS.

IKE WAS SICK
OF THE FIELD MARSHALL

AND THREATENED
TO HAVE HIM FIRED.

ON THE NINTH OF JANUARY

AN ANGRY BRADLEY
MADE THE DISPUTE PUBLIC.

HITLER WAS DELIGHTED.

THIS WAS JUST THE FIGHT
HE'D HOPED FOR.

IT TOOK A STIRRING
SPEECH BY CHURCHILL

TO GET THE ALLIED GENERALS
BACK IN LINE.

Hansen:
THE WAR WENT ALONG

AND EVERY DAY WAS
LIKE THE DAY BEFORE.

IT WAS A SEVEN-DAY-A-WEEK JOB,
IT WENT ON FOREVER.

FOR RELAXATION, GENERAL BRADLEY
DID ALGEBRA PROBLEMS.

AND HE WORKED
AT INTEGRAL CALCULUS

WHEN HE WAS FLYING AN AIRPLANE
OR FLYING IN HIS AIRPLANE.

HE SAID IT RELAXED HIM,
MADE HIM THINK.

Hagerman:
WE WERE ALWAYS
THINKING ABOUT FOOD.

WE WERE ALWAYS THINKING
ABOUT THE COLD

AND HOW TO GET WARM
OR HOW TO GET DRY.

AND WE WERE ALWAYS
THINKING ABOUT SLEEP.

YOU WERE LUCKY IF YOU GOT
TWO OR THREE HOURS' SLEEP

AND IF THE SUN
EVER DID COME OUT...

AND IT DID FINALLY
DURING THE LATTER PART...

IT ALMOST PUT YOU
TO SLEEP JUST IMMEDIATELY.

Conroy:
YOU GOT EXTREMELY TIRED.

WHEN YOU'RE MARCHING,
CARRYING A PACK

AND GOING 10, 20 MILES
UP TOWARD THE FRONT

YOU'RE NUMB, YOU'RE TIRED

AND YOU CAN GO TO SLEEP WALKING.

IT'S BEEN DONE...
IT'S BEEN DONE A LOT.

EXCEPT IF THE ROAD TAKES A TURN
YOU GO INTO THE DITCH.

Stewart:
IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO SLEEP
IF YOU'RE SHIVERING WITH COLD.

ONE OF THE THINGS
THAT YOU WOULD DO

YOU'D LIE DOWN ON YOUR SIDE,
YOU'D BRING YOUR KNEES UP

AND YOU'D BE PAIRED WITH
ANOTHER GUY WHO WAS FACING YOU

SO YOUR KNEES WOULD GO
INTO HIS STOMACH

AND YOUR HEAD AROUND HIS HEAD.

YOU'D HAVE TWO PEOPLE
IN THE WOMB POSITION

TAKING ADVANTAGE
OF THAT POSITION

TO PRESERVE BODY HEAT AND LIFE.

ANOTHER WAY OF DOING IT
TO KEEP YOU OFF THE SNOW

IS YOU'D TAKE THREE PERSONS,
THREE MEN

AND YOU'D PUT YOUR ARMS
AROUND EACH OTHER'S SHOULDERS

SO THAT YOU GOT THREE BODIES,
IF YOU'RE PROPPING EACH OTHER UP

AND THEN YOU LOWER YOUR HEAD

AND YOU GO OFF TO SLEEP
STANDING UP.

YOU NEVER REALLY WENT OFF
INTO A DEEP SLEEP

SORT OF HALF AWAKE, HALF ASLEEP.

Hagerman:
I WOULD GO TO SLEEP AT NIGHT
AND MY FEET WOULD GET COLD

AND I WOULD WAKE UP
AND THEY WERE NUMB.

I'D KICK THEM TOGETHER
AND GET CIRCULATION STARTED.

THEN I WAS GOOD MAYBE
FOR ANOTHER HOUR OR SO.

Rutland:
I HAD FROZEN TOES.

MY BIG TOES WERE AS BIG AS A...
MUCH BIGGER THAN A GOLF BALL

AND I HAD MANY MEN
THAT I HAD TO SEND BACK

THAT HAD FEET AMPUTATED
AT THE ANKLE.

SOME OF THEM WOULD
JUST LOSE THEIR TOES.

Narrator:
HALFWAY THROUGH THE BATTLE
OF THE BULGE

THE ARMY WAS STILL WAITING

FOR ITS MAIN SHIPMENT
OF WINTER BOOTS.

MEN SUFFERING FROM FROZEN
FEET WERE GIVEN WHISKY

OR DISTILLED ALCOHOL TO DRINK
WHICH ONLY MADE THINGS WORSE.

SOME 15,000 SOLDIERS WERE TAKEN
OFF THE LINE WITH FROSTBITE.

Foster:
WE WENT OUT AT DARK

AS CLOSE TO THE GERMAN LINES
AS WE COULD GET

AND I WAS TO REPORT BACK
TO LIEUTENANT CLAWSON

AND REPORT WHAT WE'D SEEN
OR HEARD THAT NIGHT.

SO I WENT BACK TO THE HOUSE
AND TOLD LIEUTENANT CLAWSON

WE DIDN'T HEAR OR SEE ANYTHING.

MY NAME WAS PORKCHOP IN THE ARMY

AND HE SAID, "PORKCHOP,
YOU GO AHEAD AND LAY DOWN HERE

AND GO TO SLEEP AND I'LL
WAKE YOU WHEN I NEED YOU."

SO THIS WAS, LIKE,
7:00 IN THE MORNING

AND I DIDN'T WAKE UP TILL
ABOUT 12:00 THAT NIGHT.

AND WHEN I WOKE UP,
I ALMOST INSTANTLY NOTICED

THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG
WITH MY FEET.

AND THEY'D SWOLLEN UP

ABOUT A THIRD BIGGER
THAN THEY WERE, YOU KNOW

AND THEY HURT THEN

AND WITHIN THREE DAYS, I WAS
BACK IN ENGLAND IN THE HOSPITAL.

I SAW PEOPLE BEING EVACUATED
WITH FROZEN FEET

AND THEIR FEET WERE
JUST AS BLACK AS COAL...

KIND OF MAYBE A GUN STEEL BLUE,
IF YOU WANT TO PUT IT THAT WAY.

IN THE FIRST STAGES,
THEY SWELL UP QUITE A BIT

BUT THEN AFTER THAT

WHEN THEY START TURNING BLUE
AND EVERYTHING

THEY GET ALMOST FLAT.

KIND OF TURNS YOUR STOMACH,
I GUESS.

IT'S A BAD SIGHT.

Foster:
IF YOU DIDN'T GET CIRCULATION
BACK IN X NUMBER OF DAYS...

I CAN'T REMEMBER,
FOUR, FIVE DAYS...

THEN THERE WAS
A GOOD POSSIBILITY

THAT GANGRENE WAS SETTING
IN OR HAD SET IN

AND IF YOU WENT ANOTHER
THREE OR FOUR DAYS

AND YOU DIDN'T START
GETTING FEELING

THEY AMPUTATED FEET.

I DO KNOW THERE WAS ONE BOY
JUST ABOUT THREE BUNKS FROM ME

HE'D BEEN THERE
A FEW DAYS BEFORE

AND WHEN THEY INFORMED HIM

THAT HE WAS GOING TO HAVE
TO HAVE HIS LEFT FOOT REMOVED

I REMEMBER THAT BOY,
LIKE, WENT CRAZY.

PEOPLE DO GET HURT.

PEOPLE GET WOUNDED,
PEOPLE DIE IN WAR

AND THERE ALWAYS HAD TO BE A
STREAM OF REPLACEMENTS COMING IN

PARTICULARLY FOR
THE RIFLE COMPANIES.

IT WAS A CRITICAL SITUATION

AND WE WERE NOT GETTING
THE REPLACEMENTS THAT WE NEEDED.

Narrator:
INFANTRYMEN MADE UP ONLY 10%
OF THE TOTAL AMERICAN ARMY

BUT THEY TOOK 70%
OF THE CASUALTIES.

EISENHOWER WAS ANXIOUSLY
COMBING OUT THE REAR ECHELONS

LOOKING FOR MEN.

HE DIDN'T NEED
MORE FANCY HARDWARE.

IN THIS WEATHER,
A LOT OF IT DIDN'T EVEN WORK.

THE HIGH COMMAND UNDERSTOOD.

THERE WAS ONLY ONE WAY
TO TAKE GROUND.

THE KEY TO THE FIGHTING ABILITY
OF A FORCE IS THE GUY

WHO PICKS UP A RIFLE,
THE INFANTRYMAN

AND THERE AREN'T THAT MANY
INFANTRYMEN IN THE DIVISION.

THERE ARE ONLY
ABOUT 3,200 INFANTRYMEN

WHO PICK UP THEIR RIFLES
AND GO FORWARD.

FROM NORMANDY TO BASTOGNE

I WOULD GUESS PROBABLY
OUR RATE OF CASUALTIES

I HAVE HEARD THE FIGURES OF
ANYWHERE FROM 250% TO 300%.

AND THAT SEEMS
A LITTLE FANTASTIC

BECAUSE WE HAD
A TERRIFIC AMOUNT OF TURNOVER

IN THIS TYPE OF THING.

YOU'D BE THERE ONE DAY AND YOU'D
HAVE ALL NEW GUYS THE NEXT DAY.

Narrator:
THE ARITHMETIC WAS SIMPLE.

THE ARMY HAD BEEN LOSING
2,000 MEN A DAY

FOR ALMOST A MONTH.

NEW MEN HAD TO BE FOUND
TO TAKE THEIR PLACE.

PHYSICAL STANDARDS WERE LOWERED,
TRAINING CUT SHORT.

MANY RECRUITS WERE JUST
OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL.

THEY WERE ILL-PREPARED
AND LITTLE ENCOURAGED.

AS ONE ASSIGNING OFFICER
WAS FOND OF TELLING THEM

"MOST OF YOU AREN'T COMING BACK.

JUST AS WELL
GET USED TO IT NOW."

THEY WERE SUDDENLY LOADED
INTO TRUCKS BY THE NUMBERS

AND SENT OFF
TO A DIVISION SOMEWHERE.

AND PARTICULARLY
IN THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE

WE HAD MEN WHO WERE SENT IN
AS REPLACEMENTS JOINING A UNIT

SERGEANTS NEVER EVEN
GOT TO KNOW THEIR NAMES

BEFORE THEY WERE WOUNDED
OR KILLED THE NEXT DAY.

Hagerman:
WE REALLY DIDN'T
GET TO KNOW THEM.

WE JUST KIND OF TOLERATED THEM,
SO TO SPEAK

AND AS I LOOK BACK ON IT NOW

I REALIZE THAT WE PROBABLY
TREATED THEM PRETTY SHABBILY

AND I FEEL SORRY FOR THEM.

A LOT OF THEM WERE KILLED

AND WE NEVER EVEN
KNEW WHO THEY WERE.

SOMEBODY SAID,
"WE GOT CASUALTIES.

WHO WERE THEY?"

AND THEY SAID,
"A COUPLE NEW GUYS.

I DON'T KNOW
WHAT THEIR NAMES ARE."

SO SOMEBODY HAD TO CHECK THE DOG
TAGS TO FIND OUT WHO THEY WERE.

Rutland:
ON JANUARY THE 13th

WE WERE ALMOST
TO THIS LITTLE TOWN OF COULEE

AND THE ARTILLERY
STARTED COMING IN.

I HAD AT LEAST 15 OF
MY NEW MEN THAT I HAD...

I KNEW THE NAMES ON PAPER

BUT I HADN'T PUT THE NAME
AND THE FACE TOGETHER YET

BECAUSE I'D ONLY HAD THEM
A WEEK OR TEN DAYS.

AND ABOUT 15 OF THOSE MEN
WERE KILLED JUST LIKE THAT

IN A PERIOD
OF TEN MINUTES OR LESS.

Narrator:
THE AMERICANS WERE
TAKING BACK THE ARDENNES

ONE SMALL TOWN AT A TIME.

FIRST GUNNERS BLANKETED
THE TOWNS WITH ARTILLERY.

THEN THE GROUND SOLDIERS
CAME OUT OF THE WOODS ON FOOT

AND IN TANKS,
SHOOTING AS THEY WENT.

WHEN G.I.s FOUGHT
THEIR WAY INTO A TOWN

THE CIVILIANS
WERE NEVER IN SIGHT.

ON MENAIT UNE VIE
DANS LES CAVES.

Translator:
WE LIVED OUR LIVES
IN THE CELLARS.

YOU TRIED TO LIVE THERE
WITH THE MEANS YOU HAD

WITH WHAT YOU COULD GET TO EAT.

JE ME RAPELLE QUE
LES CONDUITES D'EAU ETAIENT...

Translator:
I REMEMBER THAT THE WATER
MAINS HAD BEEN DESTROYED.

THERE WAS NO WATER, SO
I REMEMBER MY FATHER WENT OUT.

IT WAS WINTER.

EVERYTHING WAS FROZEN
AND HE BROUGHT BACK THE SNOW

AND PEOPLE MELTED IT
TO DRINK IT.

AND THIS WATER WAS BLACK...
BLACK FROM GUNPOWDER

FROM ALL THE SHELLS
EXPLODING IN THE AREA.

Narrator:
WHILE CIVILIANS PRAYED
IN THEIR BASEMENTS

THEIR TOWNS WERE FALLING
AROUND THEIR EARS.

THE BELGIAN TOWN OF HOUFFALIZE
WAS PARTICULARLY UNLUCKY.

EISENHOWER HAD PICKED IT
AS THE PLACE

WHERE THE DIVIDED ARMIES
WOULD JOIN.

U.S. FORCES
PULVERIZED HOUFFALIZE

TRYING TO GET THE GERMANS OUT.

ON JANUARY 13,
PATTON BEGAN HIS FINAL ASSAULT.

HIS MEN WERE "CHASING
A SINKING FOX," HE INSISTED

"AND BABBLING FOR THE KILL."

THE GERMAN BULGE,
DRIVEN INTO THE ALLIED LINES...

THE AMERICAN LINES...
HAD A START LINE

AND WE WERE PUSHING THEM BACK
TOWARD THAT START LINE

LITERALLY WITH TWO HANDS...

ONE FROM THE SOUTH
AND ONE FROM THE NORTH...

AND ON THE 16th AT HOUFFALIZE,
THOSE TWO HANDS JOINED.

SO YOU HAD REJOINED...

YOU NOW HAD A SOLID
AMERICAN FRONT

BUT IT STILL HAD TO GO
TEN OR A DOZEN MILES

TO WIN BACK
TO THE GERMAN START LINE.

Narrator:
THE DAY AFTER HOUFFALIZE
WAS TAKEN

PATTON CONGRATULATED
HIS CORPS COMMANDERS

ON THEIR VICTORY
AT THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE.

BUT WHATEVER THE PAPERS SAID,
THIS FIGHT WAS NOT OVER.

IT WOULD TAKE TWO WEEKS
TO GO THE LAST TEN MILES.

THE MEN AT THE FRONT WERE
GETTING ALMOST NO REPLACEMENTS.

PLATOONS OF 40 HAD BEEN
GROUND DOWN TO EIGHT OR TEN.

STILL, THE COMMAND
ORDERED THEM TO TURN

AND FIGHT THEIR WAY EAST.

Conroy:
SO THE FELLOWS, THERE WERE
A HELL OF A LOT LESS OF THEM

AND THEY WERE IN TERRIBLE SHAPE.

A BOSTON GUY, McCARTHY

WAS SUFFERING FROM BOTH
DYSENTERY AND UPSET STOMACH

AND HE WAS THROWING UP...
HE WAS WORKING BOTH ENDS...

AND HE GOT AWFULLY WEAK.

THEN ONE ATTACK THEY WENT INTO...
HE WAS A SERGEANT...

HE PASSED OUT RIGHT
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ATTACK.

HIS GUYS TOOK HIM OVER
TO A HAY STACK, PULLED IT APART

PUT HIM IN IT, PACKED HIM DOWN
TO KEEP HIM FROM FREEZING

FINISHED OFF THE ATTACK AND
CAME BACK AND GOT HIM LATER ON.

IT WAS VERY TOUGH.

THEY WOULDN'T SEND HIM BACK.

HE TRIED TO GO BACK.

NOTHING SENT YOU BACK,
EXCEPT BIG HOLES... OR DEAD.

Narrator:
"THE FIRST QUALITY
OF A SOLDIER," NAPOLEON SAID

"IS CONSTANCY IN ENDURING
FATIGUE AND HARDSHIP.

COURAGE IS ONLY SECOND."

IN THE FINAL STAGES
OF THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE

THE MEN ON BOTH SIDES
WERE SPENT;

THEIR ARMIES'
RESOURCES DWINDLED.

ALL THAT WAS LEFT WAS SURVIVAL
OF THE MOST PRIMITIVE KIND.

THE GERMAN TROOPS WERE IN
TATTERS, BUT THEY KEPT FIGHTING.

IF THEY TRIED TO SURRENDER,
THEY'D LIKELY BE SHOT.

GERMAN DEAD WERE LEFT
TO FREEZE WHERE THEY FELL

PAST THE POINT OF PITY.

AMERICAN SOLDIERS SAT ON THEM
LIKE LOGS TO EAT THEIR RATIONS.

ON THE 22nd OF JANUARY

PATTON CALLED BRADLEY AND
URGED THAT ALL ARMIES ATTACK

WHETHER THEY WERE FATIGUED
OR HAD LOSSES OR NOT.

BLOOD WAS SO SHORT THAT
AMERICAN FIELD HOSPITALS

HAD TO BLEED
HEALTHY ENLISTED MEN.

PENICILLIN WAS
RECYCLED FROM URINE.

THE INSTRUCTIONS TO THE DOCTORS
NEVER CHANGED.

THROUGHOUT THAT FALL AND WINTER
THEY SALVAGED ANYONE THEY COULD

AND SHIPPED THEM
BACK TO THE FRONT.

Kimmelman:
MEN WHO WERE WOUNDED
AND WERE REDEEMABLE

WERE IN A VERY BAD POSITION.

THERE WAS A KIND OF MERCILESS
RULE ABOUT SENDING THEM BACK IN

IF THEY WERE ABLE TO GO.

AS FAR AS THEY COULD TELL,
IT WOULD BE REPEATEDLY

IF THEY WEREN'T KILLED

OR SO WOUNDED
THAT THEY WERE DESTROYED.

IT'S VERY HARD TO FORGET
THE EXPRESSIONS ON THEIR FACES.

THEY HAVE A KIND
OF A HOLLOW-EYED

LIFELESS, SLACK-JAWED EXPRESSION

AND THEY ALMOST DON'T
SEE YOU AS YOU GO BY.

AND AFTER A WHILE YOU LEARN
NOT TO GREET THEM

BECAUSE THEIR MINDS
ARE ELSEWHERE.

IT'S ALMOST AS THOUGH
THEY'RE GOING TO A HOPELESS DOOM

AND THERE'S
A PHRASE FOR THESE MEN.

THEY WERE CALLED "RAGMEN."

THESE WERE INFANTRYMEN,
INFANTRY MEDICS OR SUCH

GOING BACK UP
TO A HOPELESS FUTURE

OR NO FUTURE, AND HAVING
NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER.

DETERMINED,
AND THEIR PRACTICE...

THEIR PRACTICED MARCH,
THEIR PRACTICED STEP

IS AS ALWAYS BACK UP
WHERE THEY MUST GO.

IT JUST LOOKED ALMOST ENDLESS

LIKE YOU WERE GOING TO BE THERE
THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

IF YOU WERE WOUNDED, YOU COULD
BE OUT OF IT FOR A WHILE.

AT LEAST THAT WAS TIME THAT
YOU'D BE BACK IN A HOSPITAL

AND COULD WARM UP

AND GET SOMETHING TO EAT
AND BE ABLE TO TAKE A BATH

AND THAT SORT OF THING

BUT THEN YOU KNEW
THAT YOU HAD TO GO BACK UP.

IF YOU'RE LUCKY,
IT'S GOING TO BE A LEG WOUND.

IF YOU'RE NOT LUCKY,
IT'LL BE WORSE.

AND IF YOU'RE VERY, VERY LUCKY,
YOU'LL TAKE IT THROUGH THE HEAD.

BECAUSE AFTER YOU'RE
IN COMBAT AWHILE

DYING IS A LOT EASIER
THAN LIVING.

A FRIEND OF MINE, OLLIE AND I

FELL INTO A DEPRESSION
IN THE GROUND.

IT HARDLY QUALIFIED
AS A FOXHOLE.

WE WERE BOTH NUMB,
ABSOLUTELY NUMB WITH EXHAUSTION

AND ALL HE COULD SAY
FOR ABOUT 24 HOURS A DAY WAS

"WE GOT TO SHOOT OURSELVES.

"WE GOT TO TAKE A BULLET TO
OUR ARM OR A LEG OR SOMEWHERE.

"WE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE

"BECAUSE WE'RE NEVER
GOING TO MAKE IT."

HE SAID, "WE'RE JUST NEVER
GOING TO MAKE IT."

AND MY STOMACH
STARTED TO CURL UP

AS IF I WAS GOING
TO START TO CRY

AND I WAS AFRAID
I WAS CRACKING UP.

WHEN THE ENEMY'S 500 YARDS AWAY

AND YOU GOT SUPPORT
TROOPS BEHIND YOU

AND YOU'RE SITTING
THERE IN A HOLE

WITH A GUY WHO WANTS
TO SHOOT HIMSELF

AND YOU'RE READY TO CRY.

THAT'S NOT NORMAL.

AND OTHER FELLOWS
ARE ALREADY CRACKED.

Announcer:
FOR EVERY FOUR MEN WOUNDED

ONE SOLDIER WILL BECOME
A PSYCHIATRIC CASUALTY.

SUCH MEN MAY
BE SHAKING OR CRYING

BUT MORE OFTEN

THEY ARE JUST VERY TIRED
AND DIRTY AND DEPRESSED.

THEY ARE UNNERVED
AND HAVE NO INITIATIVE.

THEY'RE NOT QUITTERS,
BUT ARE TRULY ILL.

TELL ME, SOLDIER,
WHAT'S YOUR TROUBLE?

I CAN'T STAND
SEEING PEOPLE KILLED.

WHAT WERE
YOU AFRAID OF?

EVERYTHING.

WHAT IN
PARTICULAR?

WHAT IN
PARTICULAR?

DEAD.

WHAT?

DEAD.

DEAD WHAT?

DEAD PEOPLE,
I CAN'T STAND SEEING THEM.

I CAN'T HEAR YOU.

I CAN'T STAND
SEEING DEAD PEOPLE.

Kimmelman:
PEOPLE WHO WERE NOT
NECESSARILY SEVERELY WOUNDED

BUT WHO WERE NO LONGER
IN CHARGE OF THEMSELVES

THEY WOULD PUT THEM IN
A DETACHMENT OR AN INSTALLATION

TO PUT THEM THROUGH A KIND OF
A VERY QUICK AND DIRTY PROCESS

IN WHICH THEY WERE
GIVEN SODIUM AMYTAL

OR ONE OF THESE OTHER,
IT'S A SORT OF TRUTH SERUM THING

BUT IN THE FORM OF TABLETS

AND THIS WOULD GIVE THEM
A VERY DEEP, DEEP SLEEP

ALMOST A TRANCELIKE SLEEP,
FOR 24, SOMETIMES 48 HOURS.

DURING THIS TIME

THE ENLISTED MEN
WOULD SOMETIMES GO BY

BECAUSE THERE'D BE SCREAMING AND
THEY WOULD BE DEEP, DEEP ASLEEP

AND THERE'D BE TERRIBLE
EXPRESSIONS OF THEIR FEAR.

YOU'RE BACK
ON THE BATTLEFIELD NOW.

WATCH OUT... THOSE
SHELLS ARE COMING.

WATCH OUT,
DUCK!

Kimmelman:
THE ASSUMPTIONS WERE

THAT THIS WOULD HAVE SOME
KIND OF CATHARTIC EFFECT

THE SODIUM AMYTAL

WHICH THE MEN CALLED BLUE 88s.

YOU KNOW, THE MOST
EFFECTIVE ARTILLERY PIECE

OF THE GERMANS WAS THE 88

AND THIS WAS BLUE 88s

BECAUSE THE SODIUM AMYTAL
WAS A BLUE TABLET.

AND THEN THEY WOULD COME OUT OF
THIS, DEPENDING ON THE DOSAGE...

24, 48, 72 HOURS... AND THEY'D BE
WALKING AROUND COMPLETELY NUMB.

SOMETIMES THEY WOULD BE
SLIPPING AND FALLING.

THAT TOOK A FEW MORE HOURS

AND THEN THEY WOULD BE GIVEN
A SHOWER, NEW CLOTHES

AND A PEP TALK AND THE ATTEMPT
WAS MADE TO SEND THEM BACK.

I SAY "THE ATTEMPT" BECAUSE
IT DIDN'T ALWAYS SUCCEED.

THEY WEREN'T SUITABLE
TO BE RETURNED.

THE THING
THAT REPELLED ME SO BADLY

WAS THAT YOU WERE TALKING TO MEN

WHO WEREN'T
IN CHARGE OF THEMSELVES

AND YOU WERE SHEPHERDING
THEM BACK TO THE FRONT.

ONCE THE CHIEF OF STAFF
ASKED ME TO TALK TO THEM.

HE SAID, "YOU'RE GOOD AT THAT."

I SAID,
"I REALLY DON'T WANT TO."

AND HE SAID, "I KNOW, BEN,
DO IT ANYHOW."

I WENT OUT AND I TRIED
HAPHAZARDLY TO TRY TO GET THEM

TO PERSUADE THEM TO GET
IN THEIR TRUCKS AND GO BACK.

THEY'D FINISHED
WITH THEIR 72 HOURS.

THEY'D GOTTEN THEIR CLOTHES

AND THEY JUST LOOKED AT ME

AND HALF OF THEM LOOKED
AS IF THEY COULDN'T FOCUS

AND FINALLY ONE OF THEM SAID,
"DON'T YOU GUYS UNDERSTAND?

"IF YOU CAN STILL WALK...

"AND SEE...

THEY'LL KEEP SHIPPING YOU BACK."

SO I DIDN'T DO THAT AGAIN.

AND I TOLD MY COMMANDING OFFICER
I WOULDN'T...

Narrator:
IN THE LAST FEW DAYS OF JANUARY

AMERICAN TROOPS MADE THEIR WAY
BACK TO THE ORIGINAL LINES

THE ONES THEY'D HELD BEFORE
THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE BEGAN.

THE BOOKS ON THE BATTLE
OF THE BULGE WERE CLOSED.

16,000 AMERICANS HAD BEEN KILLED

60,000 MORE WOUNDED OR CAPTURED.

GERMAN CASUALTIES
WERE SAID TO BE TWICE THAT.

THERE WAS NO CEREMONY
TO MARK THE END OF THE BATTLE

NOT EVEN A HEADLINE.

THE G.I.s SIMPLY KEPT MOVING
FORWARD INTO GERMANY.

Hansen:
THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE
WOULD BE REMEMBERED

AS THE GREAT SURPRISE
OF THE CAMPAIGN IN EUROPE.

I THINK GENERAL BRADLEY
WOULD HOLD

THAT IT SPEEDED
THE END OF THE WAR

BECAUSE THE GERMAN
TOOK SO MANY CASUALTIES

AND WHEN HE WAS AS SEVERELY
DEFEATED AS HE WAS

IN THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE

IT HELPED END THE THING BY MAY.

AN INTELLIGENCE FAILURE?

CERTAINLY WE DIDN'T
KNOW HE WAS COMING.

WHEN YOU LOOK BACK ON THE RECORD

YOU CAN SAY, "HEY, YOU
SHOULD HAVE SEEN THIS

OR YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THAT."

I DON'T THINK ANYONE DID.

Arend:
QUAND NOUS AVONS COMMENCE
A ARRIVER DANS LES ARDENNES...

Translator:
MAKING OUR WAY BACK
INTO THE ARDENNES

IT WAS SOMETHING QUITE AMAZING.

EMERGING FROM THE SNOW
WERE TWO THINGS:

HOUSES THAT WERE DESTROYED

BECAUSE THE VILLAGES
WERE PRACTICALLY ALL DESTROYED

AND HUGE, BLACK HOLES

VAST NUMBERS OF THEM,
IN THE FIELDS.

C'ETAIT UN PAYSAGE
D'APOCALYPSE.

Translator:
IT WAS AN APOCALYPTIC LANDSCAPE.

REALLY, A MADMAN
WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ABLE

TO IMAGINE SUCH A LANDSCAPE.

PAR EXEMPLE,
ON AVAIT ENTERRE LES GENS,

MAIS TRES SOMMAIREMENT...

Translator:
PEOPLE HAD BEEN BURIED,
BUT VERY SUMMARILY

BECAUSE IN WINTER,
EVERYTHING WAS FROZEN.

CA NOUS FAISAIT PEUR

ET NOS PARENTS, BIEN SUR, TACHE
DE NOUS RETENIR DE CES LIEUX...

Translator:
IT WAS FRIGHTENING

AND OUR PARENTS, OF COURSE

TRIED TO KEEP US
FROM THOSE PLACES.

STILL, THEY WERE EVERYWHERE,
THESE BODIES HALF-BURIED.

APRES DEUX OU TROIS ANS,
ON A FINI PAR QUAND-MEME...

Translator:
IT WAS TWO OR THREE YEARS BEFORE
THEY MANAGED TO FIND THE BODIES

OF ALL THE SOLDIERS
THAT HAD FALLEN.

Hagerman:
EVERY TIME IT SNOWS OR SOMETHING

I'LL THINK ABOUT THOSE DAYS
DURING THE BULGE.

IT BRINGS BACK MEMORIES
OF THE FRIENDS THAT I LOST

AND THE DESPERATE FEELING
THAT WE HAD IN THOSE DAYS.

IT KIND OF IRKS ME
THAT AFTER 50 YEARS

I STILL THINK THAT WAY.

I SHOULD FORGET IT
AND GO ON ABOUT MY LIFE

BUT I GUESS IT MADE SUCH
AN IMPRESSION

IT'LL ALWAYS BE
WITH ME, I GUESS.

Conroy:
THESE MEMORIES ARE THERE
A LOT MORE VIVIDLY

EVEN AFTER 50 YEARS, THAN
PROBABLY WHAT I DID YESTERDAY.

I CAN TELL YOU
HOW DEEP THE SNOW WAS.

I CAN TELL YOU THE COLOR
OF THE SNOW

AND THE BLOOD THE NEXT MORNING.

I KNOW WHAT EQUIPMENT I HAD ON.

I KNOW THE WORDS THAT WE SAID.

THEY STAY WITH YOU.

Stewart:
IT DOESN'T GO AWAY.

IT SLEEPS SOMETIMES,
BUT THEN IT AWAKENS AGAIN.

THINGS ARE HAPPENING,
PEOPLE ARE DOING THINGS

THAT YOU NEVER DREAMED
YOU'D EVER SEE OR HEAR ABOUT.

IT'S AN ENORMITY
OF AN EXPERIENCE

AND EVERYTHING AFTER THAT
HAS BEEN A FOOTNOTE.

THERE'S MORE ABOUT
THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE

AT AMERICAN EXPERIENCE ONLINE.

BROWSE AN INTERACTIVE TIMELINE
OF THE WAR

AND READ PERSONAL STORIES

FROM SOLDIERS AND NURSES
WHO WERE THERE.

ALL THIS AND MORE
AT PBS ONLINE.

"BATTLE OF THE BULGE"
IS AVAILABLE

FOR $19.95 PLUS SHIPPING
AND HANDLING

FROM WGBH BOSTON VIDEO.

TO PLACE AN ORDER,
CALL 1-800-255-9424.

Man:
"I DON'T THINK ANY MAN
CAN EXACTLY EXPLAIN COMBAT.

IT'S BEYOND WORDS."

Man 2:
"I DON'T REALLY WANT TO GET
TO KNOW ANYBODY OVER HERE

"BECAUSE IT WOULD BE BAD ENOUGH
TO LOSE A MAN.

I DAMN SURE DON'T WANT
TO LOSE A FRIEND."

Woman:
"I LOVE YOU SO,
AND MISS YOU SO."

FROM THE REVOLUTION
TO THE GULF WAR

THESE ARE THEIR WORDS.

"WAR LETTERS"... NEXT TIME
ON AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.

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