remembrance tour "Battle of the Bulge" (right in my back yard)

[bluefoxamazone]

We took old Betty for a tour around the monuments and special places of the battle of the Bulge where so many young guys fought (and died...)for our freedom.

You see pictures of the Mardasson museum, Barriere Hinck, Bois Jacques with the foxholes, Bastogne barracks... hope you enjoy them;

greetings from Belgium.

 

 

(This was our first big trip from Flanders to Bastogne 200 miles in an ambient temperature of 35°C. The car ran fine, overheating problems gone thanks to a total flush of the engine and a new water distribution pipe. I have installed an electronic thermometer and it never exceeded 80°C, even when driving up the hills)I am happy....)

 

[busycoupe]

I’d love to see it someday. My uncle was a seargent in Patton’s third army who marched behind the tanks to relive Bastogne.  He would’t Talk abou t it much, he just said that it was cold! 

[knuckleharley]

2 hours ago, bluefoxamazone said:

We took old Betty for a tour around the monuments and special places of the battle of the Bulge where so many young guys fought (and died...)for our freedom.

You see pictures of the Mardasson museum, Barriere Hinck, Bois Jacques with the foxholes, Bastogne barracks... hope you enjoy them;

greetings from Belgium.

 

 

(This was our first big trip from Flanders to Bastogne 200 miles in an ambient temperature of 35°C. The car ran fine, overheating problems gone thanks to a total flush of the engine and a new water distribution pipe. I have installed an electronic thermometer and it never exceeded 80°C, even when driving up the hills)I am happy....)

 

I had a cousin that married a young man that was a paratrooper in the 101st. He ended the war as a platoon sgt.

 

One of my neighbors as a kid was a draftee that got a battlefield commission to 1st Lt Platoon Leader of Armor with Patton in Africa. Never saw him mad in my life until somebody mentioned Patton to him. I thought his head was going to explode.

[Flatie46]

Thanks for sharing. My dad was in the 7th infantry and my uncle was involved In the D-day landing at Omaha beech. I wished more people understood the meaning and importance of these memorials. 

[Worden18]

Thank you for sharing this; I enjoyed your post.  My uncle flew a bomber in the European theater in WWII.

[knuckleharley]

8 hours ago, Flatie46 said:

Thanks for sharing. My dad was in the 7th infantry and my uncle was involved In the D-day landing at Omaha beech. I wished more people understood the meaning and importance of these memorials. 

I understood them to the point where starting in the 3rd grade my goal was to become a paratrooper. I even wore jump boots to elementary school. Joined the army on my 17th birthday after enlisting for a guaranteed assignment to jump school (airborne unassigned),and ended up serving 6 years in Special Forces before getting medievaced from VN while on my second tour there in 1969.

No longer physically able to remain in a Special Forces or other airborne unit,I was assigned to the regular army as a babysitter (NCO) for young draftees who didn't want to be there and who spent more effort trying to avoid doing anything useful than they did actually doing anything. The regular army didn't like me any better than I liked them,so I took my discharge in 1970.

It is a rare day that passes that I still don't miss being in SF,though. This is  due entirely to the people I served with. Nobody had to be ordered to do anything. If someone saw something that needed to be done,they did it and didn't bitch about it. Best time of my life.

[dpollo]

Thank you.   The metric speedometer suggests that your car was originally intended for sale in Europe.  Interesting.

[plymouthcranbrook]

Great pictures of both the Memorial and your car.My Father was in the Corp of Engineers in France for sure and maybe Germany as well. He also did not talk much about the war unless he had had a few beers then he might tell a story or two.  As a young boy I hung on every word.

[bluefoxamazone]

8 hours ago, plymouthcranbrook said:

Great pictures of both the Memorial and your car.My Father was in the Corp of Engineers in France for sure and maybe Germany as well. He also did not talk much about the war unless he had had a few beers then he might tell a story or two.  As a young boy I hung on every word.

his and this from many others service is highly appreciated! thanks