[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 22193]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     CELEBRATING THE 99TH INFANTRY

  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, this past August, the surviving members of 
the 99th Infantry Division met together in Fort Mitchell, KY. Of this 
division, only a few remain. But the survivors and their widows 
gathered in August to complete the final chapter of the story of this 
exceptional group of Americans.
  The Battle of the Bulge is well known to most Americans, but the 
efforts and triumphs of the 99th Infantry are less well recognized. 
These men played a crucial role in the eventual Allied victory, though 
few knew it at the time. This battle is best described by Professor 
Stephen Ambrose, the preeminent World War II historian who provides a 
snapshot of their efforts in an article in the Military History 
Quarterly. Ambrose describes the scene along Elsenborn Ridge:

       To the north, between Monschau and Losheim, the U.S. 99th 
     Infantry Division, newly arrived in Europe, and the 2nd 
     Infantry Division . . . did not simply delay the German 
     advance but stopped it along the critical point of the whole 
     battle, Elsenborn Ridge. The low ridge . . . was the main 
     objective of Sepp Dietrich's 6th Panzer Army. Elsenborn Ridge 
     was the Little Round Top of the battle. The German General 
     Dietrich drove his units mercilessly, but he could not take 
     it due to the steadfastness of the American resolve and the 
     sheer courage of these brave men facing the ultimate test in 
     brutal conditions.

  Ambrose adds,

       ``In the vast literature of the Battle of the Bulge, 
     Elsenborn Ridge always yields pride of place to the far more 
     famous action . . . at Bastogne. Everyone knows about the 
     101st Airborne at Bastogne; almost no one knows even the 
     names of the 99th and 2nd Infantries. Yet it was along 
     Elsenborn Ridge . . . that these two ordinary infantry 
     divisions, largely out of touch with their commands, 
     outnumbered 5 to 1 and worse, outgunned and surprised, 
     managed to stop the Germans in their main line of advance. 
     The Germans never did take the Ridge.

  Their heroic stand at Elsenborn Ridge helped turn the tide at the 
Battle of the Bulge, where we suffered some 80,000 casualties. Although 
many of the 99th have passed on, their tradition remains strong, 
especially among their descendents.
  Mr. George Pedersen, a distinguished Virginia businessman, is the 
nephew of 99th Infantry soldier, SGT Arnie Goa. Like most of his fellow 
soldiers of this little known but critically important action, Sergeant 
Goa has passed into history, but his legacy lives on, and George 
Pedersen thought it important to commemorate his uncle and the soldiers 
of the 99th, so he volunteered to underwrite the reunion, paving the 
way for the remaining soldiers and their families to meet, exchange 
stories, and complete that final chapter of distinguished service to 
their Nation.
  Many of these fine men may have passed, but in a very real sense, 
Sergeant Goa's spirit, and the spirit of his fellow soldiers, lives on 
in the lives and sacrifices of our young men and women in uniform who 
serve our country today. I know that these veterans of that long ago 
battle would all be immensely proud of those who now follow in their 
footsteps. I commend these veterans and their families for their great 
contribution to each of us, and I commend Mr. Pedersen for his 
contribution to their memories.

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