[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 10 (Wednesday, January 21, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H434-H435]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
BATTLE OF THE BULGE 70TH ANNIVERSARY
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Perry) for 5 minutes.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Speaker, I wish to remind everybody about a real-life
story of being outnumbered 10 to 1, a story of courage, will,
discipline, suffering, immense sacrifice, and success, a tale of two
great militaries, surprise, weather, overwhelming force, and sheer
resolve. It is marked with the graves of thousands and exemplifies the
struggle for the very future of freedom in our world.
The story ends with the 101st Airborne and Patton's Armor being
victorious in January and February of 1945, and I think it is important
to recognize the accomplishments of all the units who struggled and
suffered greatly under the German siege of a small town in Belgium
named Bastogne. This January and the recent December marks the 70th
anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge.
Most people know of the 101st Airborne, nicknamed the ``battling
Bastards of Bastogne,'' and the plight of Patton's Armor, as chronicled
in so many stories and movies now burnished into the collective
consciousness of our Nation, and rightly so.
However, Mr. Speaker, on this 70th anniversary, I want to remind us
of an often untold story of the other heroes of the Battle of the Bulge
and the little but critical town of Bastogne. It is a story of the
American soldiers of the 28th Division from Pennsylvania, who held at
all costs.
In late October to mid-November of 1944, the battle of the Hurtgen
Forest was described as a meat grinder. The 28th Division was in a
fierce battle with the German 73rd Corps. For the 28th, the battle
losses were 248 officers and 5,452 enlisted men. After the battle, the
weary division needed a rest.
The Ardennes Forest was thick and seemingly impenetrable. It was
known as a quiet sector in which the 28th could reequip, reorganize,
and assimilate thousands of new replacements into the ranks while the
division rested.
Greatly weakened by the previous battle, the 28th Division was spread
out over some 25 miles along a front which was more than double that
which was recommended in standard practice by any division at the time.
On the morning of 16 December 1944, the peace was shattered by the
opening barrage of the Germans opening up one of the largest displays
of artillery bombardment ever, signaling the start of Hitler's last
great offensive on the Western Front in World War II.
For the next 4 days, without any sleep, often without food, elements
of the 28th Division and their affiliates fought continuously, often
until the last bullet and life, to deny the enemy success. It was
exceptionally cold, foggy, damp, and, of course, snow covered, exactly
what Hitler had counted on, as the winter would only add to the element
of surprise.
The German 5th and 15th Panzer Armies, 6th SS, and 7th Army attacked
the U.S. 8th Army in a line between Aachen and Bastogne with a plan to
go as close as possible down the seam between American, Canadian, and
British forces to split them.
After crossing the Meuse River, the attacking Panzers were to turn
north and capture the port city of Antwerp, thus collapsing the supply
lines and the alliance.
The timetable established by the German general staff and German high
command called for the capture of the entire 28th Division sector early
in the morning of 16 December and the capture of Bastogne by the same
evening of that day. Bastogne was a major road junction which was
needed by the Germans for armor and resupply units.
In the early morning hours of 16 December, the 28th Division received
a message telling them to hold at all costs. Keystoners, as they were
known, were dug in and began the slow and painful art of trading space
for time, trading space for time and life.
The 110th Regiment was soon surrounded and fought to the last round.
From 0530 that morning of the 16th until sometime late in the afternoon
of the 18th and early on the 19th in some locations, men of the 110th
Infantry Regiment fought and held, giving ground only when forced out,
but all the while buying precious time for General Eisenhower to find
and move reserves forward from deep inside France.
The other two regimental combat teams of the division, the 109th and
112th Infantry Regiments, did only slightly better. The 110th Regiment
stayed in place as they were assigned the center sector of the
division. The regiment alone fought elements of five German divisions,
of which it was outnumbered at times 7 to 1.
I must abbreviate due to time.
While there are many things that come to mind when we think of the
Battle of the Bulge like the 101st Airborne, Patton's Armor, or Easy
Company from the Band of Brothers, please also remember the names and
places familiar to those others who held at all costs: the 103rd, the
109th, 110th, 111th, 112th of the 28th. These are the echoes of the
28th Division and the men who held at all costs and traded space for
time so that the 101st and Patton's Third Army could get into position
in time to defeat the German offensive.
{time} 1015
Mr. Speaker, we can learn a lot from these dedicated soldiers who
refused to surrender but fought on for what they believed in. I just
wanted to remind everyone and to offer my salute to these finest
Americans.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to remind everybody about a real life story of
being outnumbered 10 to 1.
[[Page H435]]
A story of courage, will, discipline suffering, immense sacrifice and
success. A tale of two great two militaries, surprise, weather,
overwhelming force and sheer resolve. A story marked with the graves of
thousands, and that exemplifies the struggle for the very future of
freedom in our world.
The story ends with the 101st Airborne Division and Patton's Armor
victorious in January and February of 1945.
We must recognize the accomplishments of all the units that struggled
and suffered greatly under the German siege of a small town in Belgium
named Bastogne.
This past December 2014 through the end of January 2015 marks the
70th Anniversary of the one of the most significant and deadly battles
of World War II--the Battle of the Bulge.
We must also remember the German units and the actions of their
Soldiers committed to their nation's cause. We must recount their
actions as well--the cause of their leadership, the unfortunate actions
that occurred in those desperate hours and learn from that history so
that we may never again have to re-endure them.
Most people know of the 101st Airborne (nicknamed the ``Battling
Bastards of Bastogne'') and the plight of Patton's Armor as chronicled
in so many stories and movies now burnished into the collective
consciousness of our Nation--and rightly so. However Mr. Speaker, on
this 70th Anniversary, I'm reminded of an often untold story of other
heroes of the Battle of the Bulge, in the little but critically
important town of Bastogne. It's the story of the American Soldiers of
the 28th Division from Pennsylvania who held at all costs.
In late October to mid-November of 1944, occurred the Battle of the
Huertgen Forest--described as ``the meat grinder''--where the 28th
Division fought a fierce and deadly battle with the German 73rd Corps.
For the 28th, battle losses were 248 officers and 5,452 enlisted men,
after which the battle-weary Division needed a rest and were moved to
the Ardennes Forest, thick and seemingly impenetrable but quiet sector
in which the 28th Division could reconstitute, reorganize and
assimilate thousands of replacements into the ranks while the Division
recovered. Greatly weakened by the previous battle, the 28th Division
was spread out over some 25 miles along a front more than double that
which was recommended in standard practice by any division at the time.
On the morning of 16 December 1944, the peace was shattered by the
opening barrage of the Germans in one of the largest and most deadly
artillery bombardments ever--signaling the start of Hitler's last great
offensive on the Western Front in WWII. For the next four days without
any sleep, and often without food, elements of the 28th Division and
their Allies fought tirelessly--to the last bullet in most cases--as
well as to the last life, to deny the enemy success.
The day and night were punishing--freezing, wet, foggy and snow-
covered--exactly what Hitler had counted on, as the winter would only
add to the element of surprise and exponentially increase his chances
for success. The German 5th and 15th Panzer Armies, 6th SS and 7th Army
attacked the U.S. 8th Army and aligned between Aachen and Bastogne with
a plan to fight as close as possible down the seam between American,
Canadian and British forces in order to split them. After crossing the
Meuse River, the attacking Panzers were to turn north and capture the
port city of Antwerp, thus collapsing the supply lines and the
Alliance. The timetable established by the German General Staff and
High Command called for the capture of the entire 28th Division sector
early in the morning of 16 December, and the capture of Bastogne by the
same evening. Bastogne was a major road junction that was needed by the
Germans for armor and resupply units.
In the early morning hours of 16 December the 28th Division received
the order to ``Hold at all costs!''
``Keystoners'', as they were known, were dug in and began the slow
and painful art of trading space and lives for time--time enough for
the 101st Airborne and Patton's Armor to get into the fight, and win
it.
The 110th Infantry Regiment soon was surrounded and fought to the
last bullet. From 0530 hours on 16 December, until sometime late in
afternoon of the 18th and early on the 19th in some locations, men of
the 110th Infantry fought and held--giving ground only when forced
out--but while buying precious time for General Eisenhower to find and
move reserves forward from deep inside France.
The other two Regimental Combat Teams of the Division--the 109th and
112th--did only slightly better, and the 109th ran out of ammunition on
the 18th. These scattered and battered units of the 28th Division held
out in the face of overwhelming odds--delaying the Germans as long as
they was by any standard a miraculous feat because of the complete and
massive confusion of the Battle.
However, the 110th Regiment stayed in place as they were assigned the
center sector of the Division. This Regiment alone fought elements of
five German divisions, outnumbering the Americans 7 to 1.
Overall the 28th Division would identify elements of 9 divisions in
its sector before the Battle was over. Early on, the force ratios
reached 10 to 1 in the Germans' favor, but still Pennsylvania's 28th
Division valiantly held its ground.
Small determined units, low on ammunition, food, water, anti-tank
weapons, and morale, continued to stand and fight until forced to
retreat, captured or killed.
The old 110th, which had served the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and
the Nation since 1873, started to fight with just over 2200 Soldiers.
When all was said and done, less than 750 officers and men could be
found still fighting. Some unit strength reports have it just around
500 unit members still standing. The German Fifth Panzer Army was so
ravaged by the Keystoners that many say it ultimately cost the Germans
the battle.
The Division held until it could hold no more, and it never ordered a
single retreat. It was a continuous fighting withdraw under fire--
described as ``We made the Germans pay for every yard, every road
junction, and fighting house by house, floor by floor, often hand-to-
hand when the ammunition ran out.''
The 28th inflicted 11,700 casualties on the enemy at a cost of 3850
Americans killed and wounded, and another 2000 captured when they
simply ran out of ammunition.
There are many footnotes to this intense Battle:
On 17 December, Allied prisoners of war were executed in cold blood
by elements of the 6th SS Panzer Army. Some 100 prisoners were killed
where they stood at Malmedy on direct orders from German Colonel
Joachim Peiper.
On 19 December, 6000 Allied Troops surrendered to the encircling
German Army at Schnee Eiffel.
On 20 December, the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne completely
was encircled by the German 47th Panzer Corps and the US 10th and 19th
Armored Divisions completely were encircled by the German advance.
After holding on to Bastogne for a full week while encircled, the 101st
repelled the final German thrust with the arrival of the 4th Armored
Division.
On 25 December, the 2nd Panzer Division was stopped by a combined
force of British and American armor made up of General Montgomery's
29th Armored Brigade and the American 2nd Armored Division.
7 February 1945 marked the end of the battle where the German
casualty count was a staggering 82,000 men, matched only by the 77,000
casualties suffered by the American Army.
While many things come to mind when we think of the Battle of the
Bulge--like the 101st, Patton's Armor or Easy Company (made famous by
the book and movie, ``Band of Brothers'', please also remember the
names and places familiar to the others that held at all costs:
The 103rd, 109th, 110th, 111th, 112th Infantry Regiments; the towns
and grounds of Clervaux, Wilt, the Clerf River, Foy and Noville; and
the other units like Combat Command B, 48th Armored Field Artillery,
Combat Command R, 158th Engineer Battalion, 630th Tank Destroyer
Battalion, 1278th Engineer Battalion and the 299th Engineer Battalion
who suffered and fought to reconstitute and support this brave
endeavor. These are the echoes of the 28th Division and the men and
units who held at all costs and traded space for time so that the 101st
and Patton's 3rd Army could get into position in time to defeat the
German offensive.
Mr. Speaker, we could learn so much from these dedicated Soldiers who
not only refused to surrender, but fought for what they believed in.
I remind us all of this tale of heroism, tireless and selfless
service, and salute these brave Americans.
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