Commentary

Calling on America to Pay Special Regard to Combat Veterans

They were bombed at Pearl Harbor, survived D-Day, shivered in the bloodstained snow at the Battle of The Bulge, sweated in the Vietnamese jungles. They are special, a breed apart. They are U.S. servicemen who served in combat. To save their country, they risked death...

Task Force Muir Escapade: It Could Have Been Hollywood

In early March, 1945, the impatient Gen. George S. Patton couldn’t restrain himself; he wanted to drive farther and faster into Germany. After breaking out of Belgium and Luxembourg, Patton aimed to catch the enemy offguard and ultimately to ford two key rivers, the...

Who Really Liberated Bastogne? A Probe of History

Fifty-three years after World War II, not even those who spilled blood fully appreciate the 87th Infantry Division's magnificent and decisive role during the largest land battle ever fought by American troops. That was the Battle of the Bulge, or Ardennes campaign, as...

The 87th and Los Alamos

As the war ended in Europe (May 8,1945), and after 134 days in combat, we received a message from General Culin, our 87th Division Commander, on our way back stating that after arriving in the states we may be going to the Pacific in support of the invasion of Japan....

The Power and the Glory: The 87th Division Attacks

One major offensive was timed to jump off at 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 30, 1944. That was German. Another major offensive was timed to jump off at 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 30, 1944. That was American. In the center of this titanic clash was the 87th (Golden Acorn) Division, a...

From a Letter Home to My Wife in May 1945

After crossing the Siegfried Line, we stayed at Allensdorf for a week, and on March 11th I got my first bath! Then came the long fascinating drive to the Moselle River. The 11th Armored had done the job, and there were dead German, horses, and equipment all along the...

Would We Be Here Today Without Those Two A-Bombs?

It was a heart-stopping sentence buried in the last paragraph of a mimeographed letter that was handed out on our trip home from Europe in July, 1945: "After furloughs, we will meet again at Fort Benning, Ga., to begin a brief but strenuous period of training before...

Solemn Remembrance: Vet Returns to Pay Respects to Former Lieutenant

Kneeling beside Henry Compton’s grave at Casco Township’s McDowell Cemetery one recent afternoon, Jim Hennessey of Bayonne, N.J., had a flash of insight. “It’s ironic,” he said, nodding to the beautiful fall foliage. “The trees were just like this in the Ardennes” at the start of what would become the brutal Battle of the Bulge in late 1944.