[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.

                          ____________________