Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Battle of the Bulge, one of these guys is my dad in this picture

Godog57, thanks for sharing the pic, and great timing. My Dad also fought at the Bulge. Tanker in Patton's 10th Armored Division. Didn't speak much about it. What I know from him took 50 years to accumulate. Brought back a P-38, SS dagger, flag, and tail section with swastika he cut off the 109 he shot down that was strafing his column with the Ma Deuce on the turret of his tank. Bronze star for that.

My uncle was killed in that battle....

Thanks for sharing!

My grandfather was in the 42nd infantry division. Actually 292nd Field Artillery Observation Battalion. Through France, the Siegfried Line, and Germany, including Dachau. Ended the war in Austria. He brought back some Nazi flags, a Walter .22 rifle, a couple swords and a couple helmets including a unique SS helmet.

Thanks for sharing Godogs57 and to all who served.

I’ll raise a toast to your uncle this Memorial Day!

My dad too! He was cold natured till the day he passed.

Another story he'd tell me was about his times in the foxhole as well. One time it filled with water up to just below his knees....and the water froze solid with his feet in it. He said eventually he couldn't feel a thing, so after awhile, he was "ok". Frostbite naturally got him and his feet were permanently scarred up pretty badly.

Another foxhole story regarded his foxhole buddy (they always dug holes for two guys). That person was always lamenting how he knew he was "not going to make it home"....dad would shake him up and tell him it was nonsense, he would be just fine. Some time later a German sniper shot that person, splattering his face and brains all over my dad. Naturally it affected my dad greatly and he'd always tell me to value the life you had and that the only reason I was here was because the sniper chose that guy over him....so be happy with your life, no matter what. Indeed.

I must be too young for this forum. Everybody is talking about their dad and for me my Grandpa served in in the Navy in WWII. My other Grandpa was in the Korean War. As far as my dad goes he fought in the war on drugs but he was with the Axis powers doing all the drugs he could before the man kicked down the door.

Bless em all, bless em all, the long and the short and the tall…

After the war two of them went to work for Bethlehem Steel and the other to New Jersey Zinc. That generation were true studs! Get drafted, get thrown into that meat grinder, come out and hold a job at the same place for 30 plus years and raise a functional family.

I'm not seeing a photo. But thanks for your dad and what he did

My dad was drafted in November 1942. Spent most of the war stateside, but was transferred to an infantry unit in the Fall of 1944. He finished training in Paris Texas in December 1944 just as the battle started. He was rushed to NYC, and arrived in Belgium mid January as a replacement after the worst of the fighting was over. He'd be 95 if we hadn't lost him 5 years ago.

I always figured dad was transferred to the infantry as a build up for the invasion of Japan. But the Battle of the Bulge changed plans.

Edit: I'm seeing the photo now. Don't know why it wasn't showing up earlier. Great shot.

I had family in on several of the big battles: Pearl Harbor, Tarawa, and the Bulge. I had another uncle who was a marine in the Pacific but he'd never tell anyone where all he'd been. My FIL was a fighter pilot and was on Okinawa training for the invasion when they dropped the bombs. He came very close to being in on what could have been the biggest of them all.

We had family who fought at the Bulge... my wife's grandfather fought there, and being from Minnesota, spoke
fluent German since he was a kid... they pulled him out of the line, and used him to interrogate German prisoners.

My Uncle Carl was one of the oldest three brothers who joined in 1941... Charles was killed in North Africa, after being
there only 3 days....in a Jeep that hit a mine... oldest brother Bill was killed in October 1945.. after going thru the entire
war, his ship was on the way after being in Tokyo Harbor for the Surrender of Japan... his ship went down in a typhoon
off the coast of Japan.... Carl served in North Africa, Italy, Southern France and Austria... he was transferred stateside
after the war in Europe... was given 6 weeks off with the rest of his unit...

they were told to get their affairs in order, as they were going to Japan, for the invasion...
he was at Ft Lewis Washington when the Atomic Bombs were dropped...

They all had been told that they were probably not going to be returning home when
Japan was invaded....He was 24 years old at the time...

Young men like most of the guys he had served with....and many of those he knew never did make it home
giving their lives in No Africa, Italy, France, Austria and finally Germany...

My dad was a radioman and fought in N Africa, Italy, and a few others. I wish I had talked to him more when I had the chance. I just wasn't interested back then and he was a quiet man.

my great great uncle charles kenny carter was there. five feet tall and they had to order smaller boots for him. quietest most respectful man i ever met.

My Uncle Russ was killed there
My Dad was radioman on PT 66 s.pacific coral sea etc.
Another uncle served on a destroyer in the S.Pacific, deck gunner,
said it bothered him to shoot Jap sailors in the water after sinking their ship, but it was more humane than just leaving them to die a slow death.
Hard, yet kind men.

Dad missed the Battle of the Bulge. He served under General Patton, and would have been there, but he was recovering from a machine gun round he took in the belly. It should have sent him stateside, but he refused to go and demanded to be sent back to his unit. He made such a big stink about it that the MP's hauled him back to his unit to get him out of their hair.He finished out the war in the mad rush towards Germany the last few weeks. He spoke of the troops they were facing at that point-mostly old men and very young boys. He was on a half track racing forward with an armored column and the Germans were trying to surrender, but as was the case with men serving under Patton, their orders were to stop for nothing. Dad said the Germans would go into the middle of the road with their hands up trying to surrender, and if they didn't get out of the way, they got run over by the tracks and tanks. One of his nightmare memories. Dad said they were constantly outrunning their supply lines in the rush forward, and had to scrounge gas, food, and ammo. The Krauts could run 30-06 through their Mausers, and Dad told me they took a lot of G.I. ammo off the surrendering Germans. They were killing our boys with our own ammo.

That’s a fantastic picture, and thank you for sharing your Dad’s legacy with us! I’ll show it to my 95 year old neighbor and buddy Harold tomorrow. P-47 pilot, flew The Bulge. Still a stud, proud to have served, and a great man today. There aren’t many of them left. My Dad, USMC, has been gone for 15 years.

Deepest and most heartfelt gratitude to those who fought in WWII and those who worked so hard for the war effort. Without their selfless sacrifice it would be a very different world today.

As much gratitude to those who followed their fathers into the service. Most of these men ended up in Vietnam. They continued their father's legacy valiantly with an enemy every bit as fierce and also the enemy at home. All of these good men are cut from a different cloth; a generation no greater than the other. God Bless Them.

My dad was there too .We are SOOO fortunate to have been raised by such men.We grew up surrounded by Greatness, for there is no other word.

I am, they would never talk about, six boys went to the service and only 4 made it home. They grew up in Pennsylvania in a small lumber / tannery town.