Christine in Bastogne, Belguim

The Battle of the Bulge occurred at Bastogne, Belgium, beginning 16 December 1944 and lasted until 25 January 1945.  This is a fascinating battle and I recommend you read up on it.  Others have written more eloquently about it than I could ever.  The show Band of Brothers renewed interest in the battle.  So you can also watch that.  But I would like to point out that Easy Company were not the only ones to participate in the battle-far from it.  Many brave Americans gave their lives or were injured during the fight.  I believe around 16,000 Americans died and 64,000 were injured.  The Germans knew they could not win this battle with just fighting and their weapons.  They struck when the weather took a turn for the worse, so American planes could not support our troops.  The weather improved on 23 December and the bombers followed the tank tracks in the snow to take out the tanks.  Also, they dropped much needed supplies.

On December 10, 2011, the USO offered a walking tour of the battlefield.  And since it is around the anniversary day of the battle re-enactors were there.   The troops had to face snow (with little to no snow weather gear) and Germans.  We had a sunny day with no precipitation or enemies (as best I could tell there were no German re-enactors).  This made hiking much easier (or so you would think).  In many areas, the route was covered in black ice.  Not fun.

You had the opportunity to participate in an 8km, 18km, or 23 km walk.  I walked the 18km hike.  (This is *just* over 11 miles.)  I hiked through the woods, mud (yes, this city girl walked through mud-it's good I purchased hiking boots prior to my move), and water-logged clay.  I am fairly certain the entire hike was uphill.  Around the middle of the hike, I slipped on icy cobblestone (my slipping on cobblestone actually is a frequent occurrence around Europe).  I believe this is when I hurt my ankle.  And so I walked in pain for about 4 or 5 miles.  PSA:  Do not wave at buffalo.  Yes, the buffalo was looking at me.  And then I waved.  Then he charged.  Luckily, the electric fence stopped him.  There are no pictures of this event.  I was too busy moving out of the way.  And you would do the same thing.  Thanks to Joe for the camel pack-it came in handy on my walk through the woods.

Mud that I crossed over.  

3 German soldiers were buried in each grave (2 Unknown soldiers, 1 Known)

Me on the clay road-one of the more walkable parts

Veterans of WWII

Christine