Battle of the Bulge

As we prepare for another holiday season, you might take a few moments to reflect on the events of December, 1945.

By early December, the Allies seemed to be winning the war. Intelligence reports suggested that the Germans were no longer able to mount significant offensive actions, but they were very wrong.

In the early morning hours of December 16th, the Germans launched a major offensive, which was to later become known as the Battle of the Bulge. By the end of the battle in early January, the Americans suffered some 80,000 casualties with 19,000 Americans killed in action. In the first few days of the battle, two entire regiments had been surrounded and forced to surrender, the GIs marched back to German POW camps. The Germans suffered some 84,000 casualties and the loss of tanks and equipment that could not be replaced. It was a fierce battle fought in ice, snow, and bitter cold.

Carl "Art" Koski was one of the young GIs caught up in the Battle of the Bulge as indicated in the following clip from the digital version of Ordinary Heroes: Six Stars in the Window.