On this day in 1944...

It was cold in northern Europe in December, 1944. On this day, 61 years ago, things seemed to be going well. Then Feld Marschall Walter Model said, "Armee Gruppe B, angreifen, bitte" and things went south. Well, mostly west, actually. With the green or resting troops of the US First Army under LTG Hodges taking the brunt of the assault, things didn't go well this day. For anybody. And they all look so young.

A lone decorated headstone stands beside 5,076 other headstones containing the remains of American World War II military veterans at the American Military Cemetery in Luxembourg. The site was liberated by the U.S. 5th Armored Division on Sept. 10, 1944, and a temporary military burial ground was initially established on Dec. 10, 1944. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Ted Banks

Update: UtahMan of The Pacific Slope found this the CMH pub I used for linkage:

Sorry to comment so soon again, but I just wanted to point this out
from that Ardennes history John found.

Read Chapter 14:

"A small group of stragglers suddenly become tired of what seems to be eternally retreating. Miles back they ceased to be part of an organized combat formation, and recorded history, at that point, lost them. The sound of firing is heard for fifteen minutes, an hour, coming from a patch of woods, a tiny village, the opposite side of a hill. The enemy has been delayed; the enemy resumes the march westward. Weeks later a graves registration team uncovers mute evidence of a last-ditch stand at woods, village, or hill."

And we don't know who they were.

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