Dec 1944, Belgium Jack Damn is a radioman crawling around in snow

[irisblue]

My father in law, of blessed memory, always gave us socks at Christmas. Warm socks

Thank you Jack for so many things

[cilla4progress]

1. My god...

Such sacrifice!

❤️❤️❤️

[Irish_Dem]

2. Cold haunted Battle of the Bulge vets for the rest of their lives.

Many US soldiers froze to death, and there were thousands of frostbite and trench foot injuries.

Deadly cold weather, freezing rain and snow with frigid temperatures made for misery.

On top of that the Americans were outnumbered, and surrounded by a German surprise attack.
It looked dire for the Yanks.

The German general asked the Americans to surrender and the famous "NUTS" was the American general's
reply. (Meaning the Germans could go to hell.)

The Americans held on despite the desperate conditions. And won the battle

They paid a huge price with 75,000 casualties. It was one of the largest and bloodiest battles of WWII.

It was the last major German battle, a desperate attempt by Hitler to stop the Allies.
It didn't work, the catastrophic German losses in the battle prevented Germany from resisting
Allied forces and four months later Germany surrendered.

So your father in law was part of stopping Hitler.

[underpants]

3. My grandfather was there.

I never heard him speak of it. I do know that he had been in a glider at least once. During Bulge he was climbing out of a fox hole when a mortar landed in it. Three of his buddies died. He spent 2 years at the Army hospital at the Greenbrier. He lost one pinkie.

[Irish_Dem]

5. Gliders were used to deliver medical staff, gasoline, and artillery ammunition, vehicles, etc.

Of course it was very dangerous during the Battle of the Bulge.
Surrounded and outnumbered by Germans.
And the horrific cold and snow.

The gliders were less noticeable to the enemy than traditional aircraft.

Your grandfather is very lucky to have survived.
It was a very bloody and brutal battle.

[underpants]

6. He's was in a glider before the Bulge

From what I’ve always understood, if 1/2 the soldiers in the glider were able to join the fight it was considered a success.

[Irish_Dem]

9. Yes the gliders sometimes crash landed in fields at night.

Some of the troops didn't make it. The pilots were trained as infantry combat, because they could go on to fight if they survived.

Yes the US used gliders throughout WWII.

[irisblue]

4. .

https://militaryhistorynow.com/2020/09/15/nuts-the-story-of-the-famous-american-reply-to-the-german-surrender-ultimatum-at-bastogne/amp/

[greatauntoftriplets]

7. My father was there for part of it.

Some idiot in a tent lit a cigarette next to a gas heater which ignited. My father's hands were badly burned and so he was evacuated to a hospital in England. Had that not happened, I might never have been born.

He didn't really speak about it otherwise.

[Irish_Dem]

10. Yes the casualties were very high in that battle.

Odds are you might not be here, that is correct.

Yes these guys came home and never said much about any of it.
It was too hard to speak of it.

[greatauntoftriplets]

11. I think he was just relieved to be out of it.

And his hands healed. Mostly, he talked about the fun things that happened because there were some good moments.

[Irish_Dem]

13. Yes the men came home and just wanted to be at peace and raise families.

I am glad he could talk about some of it.

[greatauntoftriplets]

14. And that's what he did.

[Emile]

8. My father lost two toes to frost bite in Belgium.

You would think that would have been deserving of a Purple Heart, but not in WW2.

[Irish_Dem]

12. Thousands of American GIs lost toes, fingers, etc. during that battle.

I guess they figured there were too many to acknowledge.

Also so many GIs froze to death, the ones just losing body parts seemed minor I guess.

[keithbvadu2]

15. Socks were recognized by Bill Mauldin.