[gentle orchestral fanfare] [dramatic music] [artillery booming] [machine gun fire] - DEAR VETERANS, THE PEOPLE OF WILTZ AND THE SURROUNDINGS WILL NEVER FORGET YOU... male narrator: IN DECEMBER 2004, TWO WEST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES ROLLED OUT THE RED CARPET FOR A GROUP OF SENIOR CITIZENS FROM AMERICA.

- I'M MIKE SAMBERG FROM MERCED, CALIFORNIA.

I WAS A RIFLEMAN.

- HERSCHEL PEIPER.

I WAS A SIX-CYLINDER PFC.

AND SOMEWHERE, WHICHEVER WAY WILTZ IS, THERE IS A DELUXE FOXHOLE... - THIS IS A MEMORABLE DAY.

YOUR RECEPTION HERE IS FANTASTIC.

MY COMPLIMENTS.

narrator: TO THE PEOPLE OF BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG, THESE MEN WERE CELEBRITIES.

60 YEARS AGO, THEY FOUGHT HERE IN ONE OF THE MOST BLOODY, HORRIFIC BATTLES EVER FOUGHT BY A U.S. ARMY.

MANY STILL CARRY THE SCARS.

- ALL THESE YEARS, I WOKE UP CRYING AND SAYING, "DON'T SHOOT.

DON'T SHOOT."

WE HAD TO GATHER THEM UP... AND BURY THEM.

narrator: NOW THEY'VE RETURNED, TRAVELING FROM NORTH CAROLINA... - THE FACT THAT I DIDN'T GET KILLED... - I'LL PROBABLY HAVE DREAMS OF '44, '45... - YOU CAN NEVER, NEVER GET IT OUT OF YOUR MIND.

narrator: AND ALL OVER THE WORLD TO REMEMBER A TIME MOST HAVE TRIED TO FORGET.

- IT BRINGS BACK A LOT OF BAD MEMORIES.

TO SEE SOMEBODY GET KILLED IS A TERRIBLE THING.

narrator: THE PEOPLE OF BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG DID NOT FORGET, AND 60 YEARS LATER, THEY THREW A HOMECOMING LIKE NO OTHER.

- HEY, MY BROTHER.

[band playing] - [woman speaking in French] [applause] - I CRIED.

I CAN'T HELP IT.

narrator: TRAVEL WITH THEM NOW BACK IN TIME TO 1944 AND 1945, WHEN THEY WERE YOUNG AND IN THE FIGHT OF THEIR LIVES.

SEE HOW IT CHANGED THEM AND THE LESSONS THEY LEARNED.

TRAVEL WITH THEM NOW AS VETERANS OF THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE GO MARCHING ONCE MORE 60 YEARS LATER.

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[soft instrumental music] ♪ ♪ - ONE MORTAR SHELL CAME IN AND LANDED IN THAT HOLE WITH ALL OF US IN IT.

[machine gun firing] - I THINK THAT WAS THE WORST THING, WHEN I SEEN HIM COMING AND I TOOK A SHOT AT HIM.

[gunfire] - WE LOST OVER 1/3 OF OUR UNIT.

- 1,000 TO 1,500 PATIENTS A DAY FOR ABOUT 10 TO 12 DAYS.

- SO IN HERE, THAT IS LIKE THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE IN PARIS.

BUT, YOU KNOW, OURS IS NICER.

IT'S BIGGER.

[laughter] - COME ON, BUCK.

YOU CAN'T JUST BE TAKING PICTURES.

- YOU AND THE CANNON.

- THANK YOU.

- THERE'S A LOADER OVER THERE.

OVER IN THAT BACK SECTION, THERE'S... narrator: THESE MEN KNOW ALL ABOUT THE WEAPONS OF WAR.

60 YEARS AGO, THEY LEFT THEIR LIVES AND THE UNITED STATES TO BATTLE AN EVIL FORCE THREATENING TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD.

ADOLF HITLER AND HIS NAZI ARMIES HAD RUMBLED ALL OVER EUROPE, INVADING TOWN AFTER TOWN, OCCUPYING ENTIRE COUNTRIES, AND HIS AIR FORCE HAD POUNDED BRITAIN, INCLUDING LONDON, FOR WEEKS ON END.

THE UNITED STATES TRIED TO STAY OUT OF IT.

BUT WHEN JAPAN ATTACKED PEARL HARBOR... - DECEMBER 7, 1941: A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY... narrator: AND GERMANY AND ITALY DECLARED WAR ON THE UNITED STATES, THERE WAS NO TURNING BACK.

LIVES IMMEDIATELY CHANGED.

25-YEAR-OLD DICK ALEXANDER, A NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOLTEACHER, WAS DRAFTED.

SO WAS MILT SERKES, A UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI FRESHMAN.

- I WASN'T CRAZY TO GO, BUT I KNEW WE HAD TO GO.

narrator: SHIRLEY RICKER, THEN SEVEN YEARS OLD, TRIED TO TALK HER DAD, HOMER, OUT OF GOING.

- HE CAME THROUGH AND ASKED ME, "HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF I WENT TO WAR?"

AND I TOLD HIM HE COULDN'T DO IT.

narrator: EVEN SO, THE MASSACHUSETTS BANKER AND FATHER OF TWO MARCHED OFF TO FIGHT.

AHREN JACOBSON, A JEWISH MAN FROM BUFFALO, SIGNED UP THE DAY AFTER HE TURNED 21 AND NO LONGER NEEDED HIS PARENTS' PERMISSION.

19-YEAR-OLD BOB REED ALSO VOLUNTEERED.

- WHEN I GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL IN JUNE 1943, I COULDN'T WAIT TO ENLIST, REALLY.

narrator: BOB'S PARENTS WERE PROUD BUT CONCERNED.

HIS FATHER, A NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, WROTE JUST AFTER HE LEFT FOR BOOT CAMP.

- "DEAR BOB, YOUR STAR HANGS IN OUR FRONT WINDOW.

"I CERTAINLY ADMIRED THE WAY THAT YOU MARCHED DOWN THE STAIRS AT THE PENN STATION AND AWAY ON YOUR BIG ADVENTURE."

narrator: WOMEN JOINED THE FIGHT AS WELL.

ROSE DEWING, A NURSE FROM MASSACHUSETTS, REPORTED FOR DUTY IN SEPTEMBER 1943.

SOON, SHE WOULD BE IN FRANCE, WORKING OUT OF TENTS IN THE FIELDS OF NORMANDY.

JUNE 6, 1944: D-DAY.

COMBAT ENGINEER JIM BURKE LANDED AT 6:30 A.M. ON UTAH BEACH.

MASTER SERGEANT DICK ALEXANDER WAS SOON ON OMAHA.

MILT SERKES JUST MISSED THE FIRST WAVE.

- THEY INSPECTED THREE OBSERVATION BATTALIONS, AND APPARENTLY WE DIDN'T DO VERY WELL IN OUR INSPECTION.

AND THE UNIT THAT SUBSEQUENTLY WAS CHOSEN TO LAND WITH THE INVASION REALLY GOT SHOT UP.

narrator: THE G.I.s BEGAN DRIVING THE GERMANS BACK ACROSS FRANCE, BELGIUM, THE NETHERLANDS, LUXEMBOURG, LIBERATING TOWNS AND VILLAGES THAT HAD BEEN OCCUPIED FOR YEARS.

OCTOBER 1944: LIEUTENANT ROSE DEWING, WITH THE 130TH GENERAL HOSPITAL, WAS TRANSFERRED TO CINEY, BELGIUM, WHERE SHE CARED FOR SOLDIERS AND LOCAL RESIDENTS AT MONT DE LA SALLE, A CATHOLIC SCHOOL.

- AS EACH OF THESE BOYS ARE COMING THROUGH, THEY'RE WOUNDED.

THEY'RE NOT FULLY CONSCIOUS AT TIMES.

THEY SOMETIMES THINK YOU'RE THEIR MOTHER, OR THEY'RE TALKING.

THEY'RE PRAYING.

THEY'RE CONFESSING.

WE HAD NO TIME TO UNWRAP THEM, TO PUT STETHOSCOPES ON THEM, TO TAKE BLOOD PRESSURES.

WE JUST KIND OF RAN OUR HANDS UNDERNEATH THE CANVAS LITTER, AND THE ONES THAT HAD THE MOST BLOOD GOT PUSH--MOVED UP FIRST.

narrator: NEW RECRUITS POURED INTO THE FRONT, INCLUDING 19-YEAR-OLD CLAYTON CHRISTENSEN, JUST OUT OF RADIO SCHOOL; HANK ZIMMERMAN, WITH THE 101ST AIRBORNE; AND EARLE HART, WITH THE 87TH INFANTRY DIVISION.

ON THE TRIP OVER, EARLE WAS SHOCKED WHEN HIS PLATOON SERGEANT TOLD HIM... - "I'M NOT COMING BACK."

YEAH, AND YOU DO A DOUBLE TAKE.

I SAID, "NOT COMING BACK?"

narrator: DECEMBER 1944: SIX MONTHS AFTER THE INVASION OF NORMANDY, THINGS WERE LOOKING UP.

THE ALLIED FRONT NOW CURVED ALONG THE GERMAN BORDER WITH BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG, EXTENDING SOUTH INTO FRANCE.

MANY G.I.s REGROUPED THERE AND PREPARED FOR THE NEXT OFFENSIVE, WHILE OTHERS WERE ALREADY IN IT IN GERMANY'S DARK, DENSE HUERTGEN FOREST.

- WHERE THE SOLDIERS REALLY GOT WORN DOWN.

IT WAS MUCH WORSE IN HUERTGEN.

IT WAS MORE LIKE NORMANDY.

GO OVER TO THE SMOKIES, AND YOU START UP SOME OF THOSE HILLS AND GET ON THE RIDGES WHERE-- THESE MOUNTAIN LAUREL RIDGES.

THE HUERTGEN WAS LIKE THAT.

IT WAS REALLY HORRENDOUS.

narrator: UNIT AFTER UNIT WAS CHEWED UP THERE, THEN SENT TO REST IN THE ARDENNES FOREST, A RELATIVELY QUIET AND RUGGED AREA IN BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG NEAR THE FRONT LINES.

BY EARLY DECEMBER 1944, ABOUT 83,000 G.I.s WERE POSTED ALONG THE 85-MILE FRONT, INCLUDING MANY NEW TO COMBAT.

BUT HOPES WERE HIGH THAT THE WAR WOULD SOON BE OVER.

LITTLE DID THEY KNOW WHAT WAS TAKING PLACE JUST MILES AWAY IN GERMANY.

THERE, UNDER THE COVER OF DARKNESS AND STRICTEST SILENCE, ADOLF HITLER WAS QUIETLY ASSEMBLING TROOPS FOR A MASSIVE LAST-DITCH ASSAULT, A SURPRISE ATTACK THROUGH THE ARDENNES FOREST, AN AREA NO ONE WOULD SUSPECT.

MANY OF HITLER'S GENERALS DOUBTED IT WOULD WORK, BUT HE GATHERED EVERY AVAILABLE WEAPON AND MAN HE COULD FIND, SOME FROM THE SOVIET FRONT, WHERE THE FIGHTING WAS PARTICULARLY BRUTAL.

BY DECEMBER, HE HAD AMASSED OVER 250,000 TROOPS AND NEARLY 1,000 TANKS.

DECEMBER 14TH: HITLER TOLD HIS COMMANDERS THE OFFENSIVE MUST BE PRECEDED BY A WAVE OF TERROR AND FRIGHT, AND NO HUMAN INHIBITION SHOULD BE SHOWN.

NEITHER THE AMERICANS ALONG THE FRONT LINES NOR THE BRITISH FURTHER NORTH HAD ANY IDEA WHAT WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN.

- I'D NEVER BEEN AWAY FROM HOME OVERNIGHT.

- BEING JEWISH, I WASN'T GOING TO GET CAPTURED.

I MADE UP MY MIND.

- PEOPLE TRIED TO ESCAPE, AND THEY GOT SHOT.

I THINK EVERY DAY, THEY SHOT SOMEBODY.

narrator: 60 YEARS AFTER THAT AWFUL TIME, 100 SURVIVORS AND THEIR FAMILIES ARRIVED IN BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG TO FACE THE PAST HEAD-ON.

EACH HAD STORIES TO TELL AND MEMORIES TO SHARE.

OVER THE NEXT TEN DAYS, THEY WOULD REVISIT ONE OF THE MOST PAINFUL TIMES IN THEIR LIVES, DECEMBER 1944 AND THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE.

[weapons firing] THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE BEGAN IN THE DARK AT 5:30 IN THE MORNING OF DECEMBER 16, 1944, WHEN HITLER'S CONFIDENT ARMIES CHARGED INTO THE AMERICAN FRONT LINES.

[siren wailing] - DEAR VETERANS... narrator: EXACTLY 60 YEARS LATER, DECEMBER 16, 2004, AT 5:30 IN THE MORNING, VIGILS ACROSS BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG RECALL THE ATTACK.

- IN 1944, ACTUALLY, IT WAS HELL IN THE ARDENNES.

WE JUST CAN IMAGINE HOW HARD YOU SUFFERED HERE.

- MOST OF US CAME ON THE BUS.

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT EVERYBODY, BUT SOME COMING ON THE BUS, I CAN ASSURE YOU I WAS CRYING.

I WAS CRYING... NOT FROM THE EVENTS OF THIS MORNING BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO SO MANY OF MY FRIENDS, BUDDIES AFTER THIS MORNING.

narrator: WITH THE FIRST SHOCKING BLOWS, THERE WAS CHAOS AS STUNNED G.I.s DUG IN, SURRENDERED, OR WITHDREW, SOME OUTNUMBERED BY ESTIMATES OF AS MUCH AS SIX TO ONE.

SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER GENERAL DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER ORDERED TWO ARMORED DIVISIONS, THE 10TH AND THE 7TH, TO HEAD TO THE ARDENNES.

FOR SOME UNITS, IT WAS ALREADY TOO LATE.

- TANK AFTER TANK AFTER TANK OF THE AMERICAN FORCES WENT BY US, WILD-EYED SOLDIERS AND INFANTRY INTERSPERSED-- SOME RUNNING, SOME LIMPING, WILD-EYED, FRIGHTENED, LIKE GHOSTS.

narrator: SY BOSWORTH WAS A FORWARD OBSERVER IN BASTOGNE.

- COMPANY HEADQUARTERS HAD LOST COMMUNICATIONS WITH BATTALION HEADQUARTERS, SO THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE FOGGIEST IDEA OF WHAT TO DO.

narrator: THE GERMANS ATTACKED ON THREE FRONTS.

THE MAIN THRUST WAS FROM THE NORTH, TOWARDS ELSENBORN RIDGE.

TROOPS IN THE CENTER CHARGED TOWARD ST. VITH AND HOUFFALIZE, WHILE ARMIES TO THE SOUTH WERE TO ADVANCE AND FORM A DEFENSIVE FLANK.

G.I.s SCRAMBLED TO JOIN THE FIGHT.

COOKS, BAKERS, MPs, CLERKS PITCHED IN.

BUT THE GERMANS KEPT COMING, SOME TAUNTING, "SEE YOU IN AMERICA."

GERMAN ARMIES WERE HELL-BENT TO REACH THE BELGIAN PORT OF ANTWERP OVER 100 MILES WEST.

HITLER WAS CERTAIN THAT ONCE THERE, THEY WOULD SPLIT THE ALLIES AND CHANGE THE COURSE OF THE WAR.

EARLY ON, TRAFFIC JAMS AND STRONG RESISTANCE, ESPECIALLY IN THE NORTH, ATE UP TIME AND PRECIOUS FUEL.

STILL, BY THE END OF THE FIRST DAY, THE FRONT LINE BULGED, AND THE AMERICANS WERE JUST BEGINNING TO REALIZE THE MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM.

- YOU CAN'T QUITE BELIEVE IT'S REAL.

UNTIL THEN, WE HAD THE INITIATIVE, AND WE WERE MOVING FORWARD, AND WE HAD THE CONFIDENCE.

narrator: DECEMBER 17, 1944, DAY TWO: THE FRONT WAS IN SHAMBLES, U.S. POSITIONS UNDER SIEGE.

G.I.s FOUGHT BACK FROM BUILDINGS, HILLS, FORESTS, IN POCKETS LARGE AND SMALL.

IN LUXEMBOURG, ONE COMPANY HOLED UP IN A HOTEL, ANOTHER IN A HAT FACTORY.

MEANWHILE, HITLER'S WAVE OF TERROR WAS ROLLING.

MALMEDY, BELGIUM: WHERE A GERMAN S.S. PANZER DIVISION CAPTURED SOLDIERS WITH AN AMERICAN FIELD ARTILLERY OBSERVATION BATTALION, THEN COLD-BLOODEDLY GUNNED THEM DOWN.

AT LEAST 86 DIED.

THE NEWS TRAVELED FAST.

- THIS KIND OF THING MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE, BECAUSE THE FELLAS KNEW WHAT THE GERMANS WERE DOING TO THEM.

THEY WEREN'T TAKING PRISONERS; THEY WERE KILLING THEM.

narrator: MORE TROOPS HEADED TO THE ARDENNES, INCLUDING JIM BURKE AND HIS COMBAT ENGINEERING SQUAD.

THEY ARRIVED IN MARTELANGE NEAR BASTOGNE, ORDERED TO DRIVE THE GERMANS OUT.

- ALL WE HAD WERE RIFLES; ONE MACHINE GUN, .30 CALIBER; AND A BAZOOKA.

AND THERE WERE 25 OF US.

narrator: HANK ZIMMERMAN WAS IN FRANCE BUT NOT FOR LONG.

- WE GOT UP--I GOT UP OUT OF BED ONE MORNING, AND WE WENT OUTSIDE, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, THEY'RE THROWING AMMUNITION AT US, WANTED US TO GET ON THE TRUCK.

THEY HAD TRUCKS ALL LINED UP.

WE DIDN'T KNOW WHERE WE WERE GOING TILL WE WERE ON OUR WAY.

AND WE DIDN'T HAVE THE PROPER CLOTHING OR ANYTHING FOR THE WINTER.

narrator: THE 101ST WAS SOON ON ITS WAY TO BELGIUM, EVEN AS OTHER TROOPS WERE PULLING BACK.

- AND THEY WERE COMING TOWARDS US.

THEY WERE IN A PANIC.

HALF OF THEM DIDN'T EVEN HAVE RIFLES OR ANYTHING.

SCARED OUT OF THEIR WITS.

AND THEY KEPT HOLLERING AT US, "THE GERMANS ARE COMING!

THE GERMANS ARE COMING!"

ONE OF THE GUYS SAID, "YEAH, WE KNOW.

WE'RE THE RECEPTION COMMITTEE."

narrator: THEIR DESTINATION: BASTOGNE.

THEIR ORDERS: HOLD AT ALL COSTS.

- SEVEN ROADS AROUND BASTOGNE.

WE WERE ALL SITUATED WHERE EACH COMPANY HAD TO KEEP THE GERMANS FROM COMING THROUGH THESE ROADS.

narrator: NORTH OF THERE, THE HORRORS CONTINUED.

STAVELOT, BELGIUM: GERMANS MASSACRED OVER 100 CIVILIANS, INCLUDING WOMEN AND CHILDREN.

- WE HAD CHASED THE GERMANS OUT BECAUSE OUR REGIMENT LIBERATED THE CITY.

THEY CHASED US OUT TWO TIMES, AND WE COME BACK.

AND THE THIRD TIME, WE HELD IT.

WE HAD A LOT OF PEOPLE KILLED.

narrator: RETREATING ENGINEERS BLEW BRIDGES AND GAS DEPOTS, BLOCKED ROADS, ANYTHING TO SLOW DOWN THE GERMANS.

BUT STILL THEY CAME, ESPECIALLY THROUGH THE CENTER, WHERE AMERICAN TROOPS WERE SPREAD THIN AND MANY BRAND-NEW.

- OUR DIVISION WAS A GREEN DIVISION, NEW TO THE CONTINENT.

AND WE WERE NOT REALLY THAT WELL TRAINED.

narrator: 19-YEAR-OLD DAVID BAILEY, WITH THE 106TH INFANTRY DIVISION, HAD JUST ARRIVED ON THE FRONT LINES.

- MY REGIMENT WAS THE 422ND, AND MOST OF THEM WERE EITHER CAPTURED OR KILLED.

THIS LOOKS LIKE A FOXHOLE.

[gunfire] narrator: ON A HIGH RIDGE CALLED THE SCHNEE EIFEL, THOUSANDS OF SOLDIERS SURRENDERED.

WHAT WAS LEFT OF THE 28TH PULLED BACK.

THE WEATHER WAS BAD; PLANES COULDN'T FLY.

AND TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, WORD SPREAD THAT ENEMY SOLDIERS DRESSED LIKE AMERICANS WERE TRYING TO WREAK HAVOC.

CHECKPOINTS WERE EVERYWHERE.

EVERYONE WAS SUSPECT.

WILTZ, LUXEMBOURG, EAST OF BASTOGNE, FELL.

EISENHOWER ASKED GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON JR. TO TURN THREE OF HIS DIVISIONS, IN FRANCE AND HEADED EAST, TO THE NORTH TOWARD BASTOGNE.

IT MEANT AN ABRUPT 90-DEGREE TURN OF THOUSANDS OF MEN AND THEIR EQUIPMENT.

THE 11TH ARMORED WAS SENT WEST.

TO THE NORTH, NEAR ELSENBORN RIDGE, RADIOMAN CLAYTON CHRISTENSEN, WITH THE 99TH INFANTRY DIVISION, GOT NEW ORDERS FROM HIS CAPTAIN.

- HE SAYS, "I'M GOING TO MAKE A REAL SOLDIER OUT OF YOU, SERGEANT."

SO HE SAID, "GET YOUR MEN WITH YOU.

"IN THE MORNING, WE'RE GOING TO GO UP TO ELSENBORN RIDGE AND DIG IN."

WE'D LOST CONTACTS ON BOTH THE SOUTH AND THE NORTH.

THE 106TH, ON THE SOUTH, HAD BEEN HIT PRETTY HARD.

narrator: ONCE ON THE RIDGE, THE ORDERS BECAME EVEN MORE OMINOUS.

- AND HE SAID, "WE'RE MAYBE SURROUNDED.

"WE'RE NOT GOING TO SURRENDER.

"WE WILL NOT RETREAT.

WE'RE GOING TO FIGHT TO THE LAST MAN."

AND THEN HE SAID, "PASS THE WORD."

ALL NIGHT BEFORE, I HEARD THE CLINKS AND THE CLANKS OF ALL THAT TRACKED EQUIPMENT COMING OUR WAY.

narrator: DECEMBER 20TH, ECHTERNACH, LUXEMBOURG, FELL.

TO THE NORTH, THE 99TH INFANTRY DUG IN.

- THE FIRST WAVE WAS TEN TANKS WITH INFANTRY RIDING ON THEM AND INFANTRY SUPPORTING AND COMING BEHIND THEM.

OUT OF THE FIRST WAVE, WE KNOCKED OUT SEVEN, AND THE REST PULLED BACK.

narrator: THREE TIMES, THE GERMANS STRUCK, COMING AS CLOSE AS 50 FEET TO CLAYTON'S COMPANY.

AND EACH TIME, UNDER HEAVY FIRE, CLAYTON RAN MESSAGES TO FORWARD POSITIONS.

THE 99TH HELD.

- WE COULD HEAR NOISES OUT THERE AFTER IT TURNED DARK, AND THEY WERE OUT IN FRONT OF US, CLEARING OUT THEIR WOUNDED AND DEAD.

DURING THAT THIRD ATTACK, A SHELL HIT CLOSE TO MY HEAD SOMEWHERE, AND IT RUPTURED BOTH EARDRUMS, SO I WAS TOTALLY DEAF.

narrator: CLAYTON SAYS HE PRAYED A LOT THAT DAY, SO FAR FROM HIS NORTH CAROLINA HOME.

- I NEVER MET AN ATHEIST OVER THERE, NOT THAT DAY.

narrator: FIVE DAYS AFTER THE ONSLAUGHT BEGAN, THE BULGE IN THE LINES HAD GROWN AS THE GERMANS CONTINUED THEIR DRIVE TO THE MEUSE RIVER AND ANTWERP.

- AT FIRST, WE WERE UNDERNEATH THE ROOF.

WE HAD NOT GONE IN THE STABLE YET.

BUT WE WERE GETTING SHOT AT ON THE OTHER SIDE, SO WE CAME AROUND HERE.

narrator: DECEMBER 21ST NEAR BASTOGNE, JIM BURKE AND OTHERS IN HIS SQUAD WERE IN A STABLE, SURROUNDED.

- AND THE CAPTAIN SAID TO ME, "WE AREN'T GOING TO BE ABLE TO GET OUT OF THIS.

WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO SURRENDER."

AND I SAID, "ALL RIGHT.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?"

SO HE HANDED ME HIS HANDKERCHIEF.

HE SAID, "YOU GO FLAG THIS IN THE WINDOW."

IT'S A DOOR WHERE THEY LET THE ANIMALS IN AND OUT.

narrator: 60 YEARS LATER, A LOCAL HISTORIAN HELPED JIM FIND THE STABLE, AS WELL AS THE BUILDING WHERE JIM AND OTHERS SPENT THEIR FIRST NIGHT AS PRISONERS OF WAR.

- WE WENT DOWN IN THE BASEMENT HERE.

UPSTAIRS WAS THE GERMANS, AND THEY WERE HAVING A PARTY.

I THOUGHT I WOULD JUST GO TO A NICE, WARM PLACE WHERE THEY WOULD PUT ME IN PRISON AND KEEP ME AND FEED ME AND-- narrator: IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF A NIGHTMARE.

THE SITUATION IN BASTOGNE WAS ALSO BLEAK.

- WE HEARD THAT WE WERE SURROUNDED BY THE GERMANS.

AND ONE OF THE GUYS PIPES UP, "THEY GOT US SURROUNDED?

THE POOR BASTARDS."

THAT'S JUST THE WAY WE FELT.

narrator: GERMAN TROOPS TIGHTENED THE NOOSE EVEN MORE.

FOOD AND SUPPLIES DWINDLED, CASUALTIES SOARED, AND HEAVY SNOWS FELL IN WHAT WAS THE WORST WINTER IN 80 YEARS.

- THE WEATHER WAS WHAT GOT US, MOSTLY.

IT WAS, LIKE, 20, 25 BELOW ZERO, AND WE HAD TO LIVE OUT IN THAT FOR OVER A MONTH.

narrator: TO THE NORTH, AFTER DAYS OF HEAVY FIGHTING, GERMAN TROOPS SLAMMED INTO ST. VITH.

THOUSANDS WERE KILLED OR WOUNDED, AND BY NIGHTFALL, TANKS WERE ROLLING IN THE STREETS.

BUT THE UNEXPECTED RESISTANCE HAD COST THE GERMANS PRECIOUS TIME.

DECEMBER 22ND, BASTOGNE: THE GERMANS DEMANDED THAT U.S. GENERAL ANTHONY MCAULIFFE SURRENDER.

- AND HE SAID, "AW, NUTS."

HE SAID, "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO TELL THEM?"

AND ONE OFFICER SAID, "WELL, WHAT YOU JUST SAID: NUTS."

AND SO THAT'S WHAT THEY DID TO THE GERMAN COMMANDER, "NUTS."

AND WHILE THEY'RE TAKING THIS GERMAN GENERAL BACK, THE OFFICER WHO WAS TAKING HIM BACK, HE SAID, "IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS 'NUTS' MEANS, IT MEANS GO TO HELL."

NOBODY WOULD HAVE WANTED TO SURRENDER.

I KNOW I DIDN'T.

I DIDN'T SEE ANYBODY THAT WANTED TO.

narrator: THE NEXT DAY, A BREAK.

SKIES CLEARED, AND PLANES FLEW, RAINING PRECIOUS SUPPLIES ON DESPERATE G.I.s.

- WE WERE SO LOW ON AMMUNITION AND ARTILLERY ROUNDS, IF THAT SUN DIDN'T COME OUT WHEN IT DID, WE'D HAVE BEEN FIGHTING WITH BAYONETS.

THAT'S HOW BAD IT WAS.

narrator: CHRISTMAS 1944, DAY TEN: HITLER'S TROOPS LAUNCHED THEIR HEAVIEST ATTACK ON BASTOGNE, BATTLING TO WITHIN A MILE OF THE CITY.

OTHER GERMAN TANKS SURGED WEST, MEETING STIFF RESISTANCE FROM ALLIED TROOPS.

THE NEXT DAY, THE 83RD DIVISION, IN THE HUERTGEN FOREST, MOVED TO AN AREA NEAR THE MEUSE RIVER.

- WE HAD CHRISTMAS DINNER THERE IN THE HUERTGEN, AND THE NEXT DAY, WE WERE GONE.

narrator: THE GERMANS ADVANCED TO JUST MILES FROM THE MEUSE RIVER, BUT THERE THEY STALLED, OUT OF GAS AND SUPPLIES.

NEARBY AT MONT DE LA SALLE, WHERE LIEUTENANT ROSE DEWING WORKED, A LITTLE GIRL WAS BORN IN THE HOSPITAL LOBBY.

IN BASTOGNE, PATTON'S 4TH ARMORED ARRIVED.

THE SIEGE WAS BROKEN, AND MORE TROOPS WERE ON THEIR WAY TO FACE NOT ONLY SOME OF HITLER'S TOUGHEST SOLDIERS BUT HORRIFIC CONDITIONS AS WELL.

- THE GUYS HAD TO DRIVE WITH WHAT--WE CALL THEM CAT EYES.

YOU KNOW, YOU TAKE A NORMAL HEADLIGHT, AND YOU PAINT IT OUT, AND YOU JUST HAVE A LITTLE HOLE IN THE MIDDLE.

IT WAS JUST ENOUGH, YOU KNOW, SO THEY COULD BE SEEN, THAT YOU WOULD KNOW THERE WAS SOMETHING THERE.

- IN AND OUT OF LITTLE BACK ROADS, WHEREVER THEY COULD GO.

IT WAS AN AMAZING SIGHT TO SEE THIS CONVOY.

narrator: BODIES SHIVERED.

FEET AND WEAPONS FROZE IN THE UNIMAGINABLE COLD.

THE WEATHER WAS AS CRUEL AS THE WAR.

- IT WAS 15 DEGREES, MAX, DURING THE DAY AND BELOW ZERO AT NIGHT.

- A NUMBER OF US DID WEAR OVERSHOES AND FILL OUR BOOTS WITH STRAW TO KEEP OUR FEET WARM.

- STUCK IN HOLES, AND THERE WAS WATER IN THE HOLES.

WE WERE KEPT IN FOXHOLES FOR AS MUCH AS THREE TO FOUR DAYS, WHERE WE COULDN'T GET OUT OF THEM.

narrator: AL GROSSENBACHER WAS ONE OF THOUSANDS WHO SUFFERED FROM TRENCH FOOT, OR FROZEN FEET.

- DOCTOR IN THE AID STATION SAID, "YOU'VE GOT FROZEN FEET, SON, BUT WE NEED YOU ON LINE.

"WE CAN'T LET YOU OUT.

"WE CAN'T PULL YOU BACK.

THERE'S NO WAY TO PULL YOU BACK."

- OUR DIVISION, THE COMBAT ARM, WAS PRACTICALLY WIPED OUT.

narrator: DECEMBER 26, 1944: AHREN JACOBSON, WHOSE DOG TAGS WERE STAMPED WITH AN "H" FOR "HEBREW," WAS CAUGHT IN NAZI CROSSHAIRS.

- FIVE OF THESE ROYAL TIGERS APPEARED FROM NOWHERE, AND THESE FIVE WENT UP AND DOWN THE LINE, RAKING US WITH DIRECT FIRE FROM THE 88s.

THAT'S AN 88 ALSO, I GUESS.

IT SEEMED AN ETERNITY, BUT I THINK--AND I THINK IT WAS ALL NIGHT THAT WE WERE BLASTED LIKE THIS.

narrator: EARLY THE NEXT MORNING, AHREN VENTURED OUT, LEAVING ONE OTHER SOLDIER BEHIND.

- I SAID, "I'M GOING TO CHECK THE LINE AND SEE WHO'S LEFT."

AND WE WERE THE ONLY ONES LEFT.

- WE WERE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST.

YOU KNOW, WHERE?

WHAT?

BY THIS TIME, WE KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING GOING ON UP THERE.

THE WORD "BULGE" WASN'T BEING USED.

- EARLE HART'S CAPTAIN WAS KILLED AS SOON AS THEY ARRIVED IN THE ARDENNES.

- ONE OF THE GUYS OFFERED TO TRY AND HELP HIM AND SO FORTH, AND HE SAID, "NO, YOU GOT TO KEEP GOING."

THAT'S THE JOB OF THE MEDICS, YOU KNOW, AND THAT'S THE DISCIPLINE OF COMBAT.

narrator: BOB REED, AN AMMUNITION BEARER FOR HIS ANTITANK PLATOON, ALSO CAME UNDER HEAVY ENEMY FIRE RIGHT AWAY.

- TREETOPS WERE FALLING AROUND US, AND TWO GUYS GOT KILLED.

ONE DIED IMMEDIATELY; ONE DIED ABOUT FOUR DAYS LATER.

ANOTHER GUY GOT WOUNDED.

- I HEARD A SHELL COMING IN.

AFTER YOU'RE THERE A LITTLE WHILE, YOU CAN TELL WHEN THEY'RE GOING TO COME CLOSE.

AND I DIVED FOR MY HOLE, BUT I DIDN'T MAKE IT.

narrator: JOHN SIRK, FATHER OF ONE WITH ANOTHER THE WAY, WAS WOUNDED ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF BASTOGNE.

- WHEN I COME TO, A MEDIC WAS HELPING ME.

HE SAID TO ME, HE SAID, "MAN, THAT'S A MILLION-DOLLAR WOUND."

narrator: JOHN WAS SOON ON HIS WAY HOME.

HOMER RICKER JR. NEVER MADE IT.

HE WAS KILLED IN HIS FOXHOLE DURING A FIERCE FIREFIGHT IN LUTREBOIS, BELGIUM, OUTSIDE BASTOGNE.

- WHEN A SOLDIER CAME TO THE DOOR IN YOUR HOUSE-- AT YOUR HOUSE, YOU KNEW YOU WERE IN TROUBLE.

YOU KNEW THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG.

IT WAS THE MOST FEARED THING.

narrator: JANUARY 1945: ALLIED TROOPS FROM THE NORTH AND SOUTH BEGAN DRIVING TOWARD EACH OTHER TO SEVER THE NAZI ADVANCE.

JANUARY 8TH: AT HIS GENERALS' REQUEST, ADOLF HITLER AGREED TO A LIMITED WITHDRAWAL FROM THE WESTERN TIP OF THE BULGE, BUT HIS SOLDIERS FOUGHT ON.

THE NEXT DAY, EARLE HART WATCHED IN HORROR AS THREE MEMBERS OF HIS PLATOON WERE SHOT DEAD, INCLUDING HIS PLATOON SERGEANT, THE SAME MAN WHO TOLD HIM HE WOULDN'T RETURN HOME.

- HERE'S A GUY THAT WAS OLDER.

AND, BELIEVE ME, I NEVER FORGOT THAT WHEN I SAW HIM THERE, TRYING TO GET UP.

THAT'S HOW I'M ONE OF THREE IN THAT PLATOON THAT WENT ALL THE WAY.

IT DOES A NUMBER ON YOUR HEAD THAT THE ONLY WAY OUT IS TO BE CARRIED OUT, DEAD OR WOUNDED.

IT'S THAT SIMPLE.

- YOU LIVE FROM, LIKE, ONE DAY TO ANOTHER.

YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOUR TURN IS COMING, YOU KNOW.

- ANOTHER GUY AND I CAN REMEMBER SAYING, "HEY, YOU KNOW, GUESS WHO GOT IT TODAY?"

I MEAN, IT WAS JUST LIKE WHO CUT A CLASS OR WHO GOT SICK.

AND THAT'S THE PITY OF IT, HOW EASY IT IS FOR A HUMAN BEING TO ADJUST TO A SITUATION.

narrator: MID-JANUARY 1945, A MONTH INTO THE BULGE: ELEMENTS OF THE 1ST ARMY FROM THE NORTH AND 3RD ARMY FROM THE SOUTH MET IN HOUFFALIZE, BELGIUM, ONE OF MANY TOWNS REDUCED TO RUBBLE BY THE FIGHTING.

FOOT BY DIFFICULT FOOT, THE G.I.s LIBERATED HOUFFALIZE AND PUSHED THE NAZIS THE LAST MILES TO THE ORIGINAL FRONT.

BACK HOME IN THE UNITED STATES, FAMILIES CONTINUED TO RECEIVE THE DREADED NEWS.

PRIVATE REX M. BOWERS HAD JUST WRITTEN HOME, TELLING HIS LOVED ONES: - "I JUST HOPE I'LL BE ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES "THAT GETS TO COME HOME.

"IT'S NOT HOW GOOD A GUY IS OVER HERE BUT WHETHER YOUR NUMBER IS ON THAT BULLET."

narrator: PRIVATE BOWERS WAS 24 YEARS OLD.

[drum cadence playing] ♪ ♪ - I DON'T THINK THAT OUR COUNTRY REALIZES, YOU KNOW, WHAT THEY HAVE DONE FOR US.

- THE SACRIFICES THEY MADE FOR US.

- WE COME FROM SPAIN.

WE COME IN TO SEE THE VETERANS PEOPLE, BECAUSE WE THINK THEY WORKING VERY HARD FOR THE PEACE IN THE WAR.

- YOU HAD OUR NATION'S DESTINY IN YOUR HANDS.

UNFORTUNATELY, THE SNOWS TURNED RED WITH AMERICAN BLOOD IN THE ARDENNES.

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN SOLDIERS MARCHED THROUGH OUR EUROPEAN COUNTRIES ON THEIR WAY TO THE HEART OF GERMANY.

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN SOLDIERS LUCKILY WENT HOME AFTER THE WAR.

BUT MANY TENS OF THOUSANDS, THEY DIDN'T DO SO.

THEY STAYED ALREADY HERE, ROW AFTER ROW.

[cannon firing] [cannon fires] narrator: THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE WAS DECLARED OFFICIALLY OVER JANUARY 28, 1945.

DURING THE SIX WEEKS OF FIGHTING, THERE WERE 81,000 AMERICAN CASUALTIES, INCLUDING 19,000 WHO DIED.

THE GERMANS SUFFERED 100,000 CASUALTIES.

IT WOULD TAKE YEARS TO FIND THE BODIES.

THE WAR IN EUROPE CONTINUED, AND JIM BURKE REMAINED A PRISONER OF WAR, SHUFFLING ACROSS GERMANY ON FOOT OR IN STINKY, WRETCHED BOXCARS FROM ONE BONE-COLD PRISON CAMP TO ANOTHER.

- WE'D GO THROUGH SMALL TOWNS, NOT AROUND THEM.

WE GO RIGHT THROUGH THE MAIN STREET, AND PEOPLE WOULD COME OUT AND LOOK.

EVERY MORNING, WE GOT SOME SOUP AND SOME KIND OF COFFEE, MAYBE A PIECE OF BREAD, NOTHING MORE THE REST OF THE DAY AND NIGHT.

narrator: STARVED, THE P.O.W.s ATE ANYTHING THEY COULD FIND.

SOON, THEY GOT SICK.

- AND EVERYBODY HAS DIARRHEA AND DYSENTERY, AND THEY DON'T MAKE IT TO THE BATHROOM, SO YOUR CLOTHING IS FULL OF YOUR OWN, UH, STUFF.

THEY DID KILL SOME PEOPLE WHO LAID DOWN IN THE GROUND AND COULDN'T MOVE ANYMORE.

AND IF THEIR FRIENDS WOULDN'T PICK THEM UP, THEY SHOT THEM.

PEOPLE TRIED TO ESCAPE, AND THEY GOT SHOT.

THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT FOR THE LAST FOUR MONTHS WAS, I WAS GOING TO BE KILLED SOMEDAY.

narrator: BRITISH TROOPS LIBERATED JIM AND OTHER P.O.W.s FROM A CAMP IN NORTHERN GERMANY ON MAY 6, 1945.

JIM HAD LOST 50 POUNDS AND CONTRACTED TUBERCULOSIS.

[applause] THE NEXT DAY, GERMANY SURRENDERED.

THE FIGHTING IN EUROPE WAS FINALLY OVER-- IN ITS WAKE, DECIMATED LIVES AND A LITTERED COUNTRYSIDE.

- DURING THESE TERRIBLE EVENTS OF THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE, MANY SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS LOST THEIR LIFE HERE OR AROUND IT.

OUR VILLAGES WERE HEAVILY DAMAGED, AND THE TOWN OF ST. VITH HAS BEEN COMPLETELY DESTROYED.

BE ASSURED WE SHALL TAKE CARE OF YOUR MONUMENTS FOR YOU.

WE SHALL NEVER FORGET YOU.

[applause] - THOSE THAT WERE P.O.W.s, RAISE YOUR HAND.

OKAY.

ALL RIGHT.

[trumpet fanfare] ♪ ♪ - ON DECEMBER 18, 1944.

HE WAS MAJOR GENERAL MOEHRING, AND HE WAS THE DIVISIONAL COMMANDER...

THE IDEA OF A MUSEUM STARTED RELATIVELY EARLY WHEN I WAS A KID.

IT WAS A HOBBY.

WHEREAS OTHERS COLLECTED STAMPS, WE COLLECTED MILITARY ARTIFACTS.

narrator: A MUSEUM IN DIEKIRCH, LUXEMBOURG, DEDICATED TO THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE SPARKED MANY MEMORIES.

- THE 3RD OF JANUARY, '45, I WAS TAKEN PRISONER, PINNED DOWN IN A FOXHOLE, TWO BULLET HOLES IN MY HELMET, ONE CREASED MY SCALP.

- WE HAD THE OLIVE DRAB.

WE USED TO STEAL SHEETS AND PUT THEM ON.

- GUN IS AN 88, WHICH IS VERY GOOD, HAD A HIGH VELOCITY, HAD A FLAT TRAJECTORY.

THE PROJECTILE WOULD ALMOST BE THERE BEFORE YOU COULD HEAR IT.

- IT WAS THE THIRD MINE THEY TRIED TO PULL OUT.

IT EXPLODED.

WE HAD TO GATHER THEM UP... [crying] AND BURY THEM.

IT WAS A LONG TIME AGO.

I STILL CAN NEVER FORGET IT.

narrator: MANY OF THOSE WHO RETURNED IN 2004 CAME FOR A PARTICULAR REASON.

AHREN JACOBSON MADE THE TRIP AGAINST DOCTORS' ORDERS, DETERMINED TO CELEBRATE THE FREEDOM THAT THE BATTLE HAD WON.

MILT SERKES, WHO WORKED IN A COMMUNICATIONS CENTER GATHERING INTELLIGENCE, HAD NOT SPENT MUCH TIME WITH FRONT-LINE VETERANS UNTIL NOW.

- I'M REALLY IN AWE OF THESE PEOPLE, WHAT THEY DID AND HOW THEY HANDLED IT.

AND IT'S AMAZING TO ME HOW THEY GOT THROUGH IT.

- I CAME HERE TO PAY MY RESPECTS AND TO SAY A QUIET LITTLE PRAYER FOR THE MEN THAT WERE SLAUGHTERED HERE, TO SAY A PRAYER FOR THE SURVIVORS AND THEIR FAMILIES.

THEY WERE ALL VICTIMS OF THE GREAT PLAGUE OF MANKIND, MAN'S INHUMANITY TO MAN.

- THAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT THE 157 CIVILIANS-- FROM 6 MONTHS OLD TO 80, 90 YEARS OLD-- THAT WERE SLAUGHTERED AND KILLED.

WHEN THEY DUG THAT GRAVE, I WALKED PAST THAT GRAVE BEFORE THEY PUT THE BODIES IN.

- SHOW US YOUR DAD'S PLAQUE.

- THIS IS MY DAD'S RIGHT HERE.

narrator: FOR SHIRLEY RICKER THEIS, THE 2004 TRIP WAS ONE MORE STEP IN A LONG JOURNEY TO COME TO GRIPS WITH HER FATHER'S DEATH.

IT TOOK SHIRLEY 50 YEARS TO FIND OUT HOW AND WHERE HE DIED THANKS TO A FAMILY FRIEND WITH ACCESS TO ONCE-CLASSIFIED INFORMATION, 50 YEARS TO LEARN THAT HOMER RICKER JR. WAS ONE OF TEN BRAVE MEN WHO RESCUED 81 FRIGHTENED FRENCH CHILDREN TRAPPED INSIDE A CHATEAU THEIR PARENTS THOUGHT WAS SAFE, AND 50 YEARS FOR SHIRLEY TO TRAVEL TO BELGIUM TO THE COUNTRYSIDE WHERE HER FATHER DIED AND TO HENRI-CHAPELLE CEMETERY, WHERE HE IS BURIED.

ONLY THEN DID SHIRLEY, ACCOMPANIED BY HER DAUGHTERS AND MEMBERS OF HER FATHER'S 35TH INFANTRY DIVISION, BEGIN TO HEAL.

- YOU KNOW, I STOOD THERE, AND THEY-- THEY STOOD BEHIND ME, AND THEY PLAYED TAPS AND THE ANTHEMS.

IT MAKES ME CRY NOW.

BUT, OH, YOU KNOW.

IT WAS SO SPIRITUAL.

IT WAS A CLOUDY DAY, AND WE STOOD THERE, AND AS THAT MUSIC WAS PLAYING AND EVERYTHING, THE SUN BROKE THROUGH, AND I COULD FEEL THE WEIGHT JUST LIFT OFF ME.

AND IT WAS LIKE, "OKAY, THIS IS ALL RIGHT," YOU KNOW.

WE'VE COME FULL CIRCLE.

IT'S OKAY NOW.

narrator: ROSE DEWING YOUNG RETURNED TO CINEY, BELGIUM, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 60 YEARS.

LOCAL RESIDENTS, MANY OF THEM CHILDREN IN 1944, EMBRACED THE NURSE WHO HAD CARED FOR THEM DURING THE WAR.

- ARE YOU--ARE YOU JESSICA?

- YEAH, SHE'S YOUR JESSICA.

- OH!

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT.

narrator: JESSICA WAS THE LITTLE BABY DELIVERED IN THE HOSPITAL LOBBY 60 YEARS AGO.

MEETING JESSICA AND HER FAMILY WAS JUST ONE OF THE MANY SURPRISES FOR ROSE.

- LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BE QUIET, PLEASE.

- MADAME, AFTER 60 YEARS, YOU ARE NOW BACK ON THE FIELD OF YOUR MILITARY OCCUPATIONS.

AS A MATTER OF FACT, YOU WERE ENTRUSTED WITH CARING FOR THE LOCAL CIVIL LIFE AND MAINLY WITH THE CHILDREN.

WE DO WANT TO PROMOTE YOU TO THE RANK OF HONORED CITIZENS OF THE TOWN FOR ALL SERVICES GIVEN TO THE LOCAL POPULATION AND TO THE LOCAL MEDICAL CORPS BETWEEN OCTOBER 1944 AND OCTOBER 1945.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH MOST DEEPLY FOR WHAT YOU DID DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR.

- THANK YOU.

[applause] I WAS ONLY A YOUNG GIRL THEN, AND I FEEL-- I'M FEELING YOUNG AGAIN.

IT'S JUST OVERWHELMING.

IT REALLY IS.

- WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SAY TO ALL THESE PEOPLE HERE?

- OH, I--WELL, I LOVED YOU 60 YEARS AGO, AND I LOVE YOU TODAY.

- YOU WERE FIGHTING WITH THE 3RD-- - 1ST ARMY, 7TH CORPS.

- AND 3RD ARMORED DIVISION.

COMING THROUGH THE ARDENNES.

narrator: FOR DICK ALEXANDER, THE 2004 TRIP WAS ONE OF MANY TO THE ARDENNES, TIMES TO REFLECT ON HITLER'S ENORMOUS GAMBLE THERE.

- PEOPLE DON'T CALL IT THE "BATTLE OF THE GERMAN NECK STUCK OUT," BUT THAT'S BASICALLY WHAT THEY DID.

SOME PEOPLE WILL ARGUE, AND I WOULD BE ONE OF THEM, THAT TO A GREAT EXTENT, THE ADVANCE THAT THE GERMANS MADE WAS ILL-ADVISED FOR THEM, BECAUSE IT EXPOSED THEM, AND THEIR LOSSES WERE HEAVIER THAN OURS.

THEY COULDN'T REPLACE WHAT THEY HAD.

IF THEY HAD STAYED ON THE RHINE, THEY COULD HAVE GIVEN US A LOT MORE OF A FIGHT WHEN WE GOT TO THE RHINE.

narrator: DICK SAYS HE IS ALWAYS MOVED BY THE APPRECIATION STILL SHOWN.

- IT AMAZES ME HOW THEIR CHILDREN HAVE BEEN EDUCATED IN THE TRUTH OF WHAT HAPPENED.

- THE WARMTH AND THE GRATITUDE EXPRESSED BY THE BELGIANS AND THE LUXEMBOURGIANS, IT'S SOMETHING I'VE NEVER EXPERIENCED ANYWHERE ELSE.

- HI, DAD.

SEE, THERE'S GRANDPA.

- SHOW ME YOUR MEDAL.

- RIGHT THERE.

- THANK YOU.

- IT REMINDS HIM OF THE DAYS WHEN THE FRENCH GIRLS OFFERED HIM A LITTLE WINE WHEN HE WAS HERE.

- DO YOU RECALL ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING EXPERIENCES THAT... - 2ND CAV DIVISION IN FORT RILEY.

AND I HAVE HIS BOOKS IN THE CAR.

- OH, YEAH.

- I WAS BORN IN '46, SO I KNOW FROM STORIES BY MY FATHER, MY GRANDFATHER, AND HIS FAMILY HOW THIS HAPPENED.

LOOKING AT THE FACES OF THOSE PEOPLE HERE, THE VETERANS, OF COURSE THIS IS THE BEST MEDAL I COULD EVER HAVE.

- I LEARNED MORE FROM THESE HEROES THAN I'VE READ IN ALL-- I'VE READ SO MANY BOOKS, BUT-- THIS WON'T HAPPEN IN AMERICA, AND IT SHOULD.

- WE ARE HEADING TO THE MONUMENT, THE MARDASSON.

- HERE WE ARE.

- [man speaking in French] DEAR AMERICAN VETERANS, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENCE TODAY.

THE CITY OF BASTOGNE WISH EXPRESS YOU ITS GRATITUDE AND REMEMBERS ALL THE AMERICAN SOLDIERS WHO GAVE THEIR LIFE FOR OUR LIBERTY.

WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU ARE HERE AT HOME.

THANK YOU.

[applause] all: ♪ OH, SAY DOES THAT STAR-SPANGLED BANNER YET WAVE ♪ ♪ O'ER THE LAND OF THE FREE ♪ ♪ AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE?

♪ - THANK YOU VERY MUCH, SIR.

- SIR, HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY, 60 YEARS LATER?

- JUST LIKE COMING HOME.

I FEEL GREAT.

YOUR HOSPITALITY HAS BEEN OUT OF THIS WORLD.

I'M HONORED TO BE HERE TO PAY MY RESPECTS TO THE REAL HEROES, THE ONES THAT DIDN'T COME HOME.

- 60 YEARS AGO TODAY, MY DIVISION WAS ENGAGED IN THE SAAR VALLEY.

- MY BEST BUDDY, MALCOLM PURDEN, WAS KILLED OUT NEAR FOY ON THE 23RD.

- WE DROVE DOWN FOR THE DAY TO SEE YOU GUYS, GET A CHANCE TO MEET SOME SUPERSTARS.

THANK YOU.

- MERRY CHRISTMAS.

- MERRY CHRISTMAS.

narrator: 60 YEARS AGO, THEY WERE YOUNG, THEIR WHOLE LIVES AHEAD OF THEM.

THROWN INTO WAR OVERSEAS, THEY DID THEIR DUTY AND TRIED TO MOVE ON.

BUT MOST COULDN'T FORGET.

THE EVENTS OF WHAT BECAME KNOWN AS THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE OF A WAR THAT CHANGED HISTORY CHANGED THEM AS WELL.

- NONE OF THE GUYS COULD TALK ABOUT IT WHEN THEY COME HOME.

TOO FRESH IN THEIR MINDS.

I COULDN'T TALK ABOUT IT UNTIL I STARTED GOING TO REUNIONS WITH THE OTHER GUYS.

AND THEN, LITTLE BY LITTLE, WE'D SIT DOWN AND WE'D-- IT'D START COMING OUT THEN.

- ALL THESE YEARS, I WOKE UP CRYING AND SAYING, "DON'T SHOOT.

DON'T SHOOT."

AND MY WIFE WOULD HAVE TO CLOSE THE WINDOWS, BECAUSE THE NEIGHBORS COULD HEAR ME.

- WHEN YOU SAW THOSE GUYS DIE AND YOU KEEP THINKING, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THEM, AND EVERYTHING ELSE, JUST-- YOU HAVE TO FEEL FORTUNATE, YOU KNOW.

AND I REALLY DO.

I HAVE--I DON'T KNOW WHY I ONLY SLEEP A FEW HOURS A NIGHT, BUT I'VE BEEN THAT WAY ALL MY LIFE, AND I JUST FEEL THAT LIFE IS SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY, YOU KNOW.

HEY, DO SOMETHING.

I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU DO, BUT FOR GOD'S SAKE, DON'T SPEND IT SLEEPING, YOU KNOW?

- I GUESS IT CAUSED ME NOT TO COMPLAIN A WHOLE LOT.

I'VE CERTAINLY BEEN IN BAD POSITIONS OVER HERE, AND NOTHING IN THE U.S.A. COULD EVER BE THIS BAD.

- I REALIZED THAT SOLDIERS WERE THE SAME ON BOTH SIDES.

- SIR, I JUST WANTED TO SHAKE YOUR HAND.

MY FATHER WAS AN ENGINEER WITH THE 51ST.

- OH, REALLY?

- WHERE'D YOU GET THE LETTER?

- I FOUND IT IN HIS THINGS AFTER HE DIED.

- TRES BON.

- THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

- THEY GAVE THEIR LIFE TO LIBERATE EUROPE, AND THAT'S--YEAH, AN APPLAUSE FROM ME.

- I JUMPED IN BASTOGNE HERE AS A PATHFINDER.

JUMPED AT PRUEM, GERMANY, RIGHT UP HERE ON THE SIEGFRIED LINE FOR MY LAST JUMP, AND THAT WAS ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY THE 13TH.

[laughs] SO IT'S KIND OF HUMBLING TO HAVE A YOUNG MAN COME UP AND THANK YOU FOR IT.

narrator: OVER A MILLION MEN ON BOTH SIDES FOUGHT IN THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE.

- MARCH!

[drum cadence playing] narrator: 60 YEARS LATER, ON A STREET IN BASTOGNE, SURVIVORS GOT A FINAL SALUTE AS THEY WENT MARCHING ONCE MORE.

[soft piano music] ♪ ♪ [applause] - YAY!

WHOO!

- WE'RE IMPRESSED BY THE COURAGE YOU SHOWED US 60 YEARS AGO.

WE ARE AMAZED TODAY BY YOUR FANTASTIC SPIRIT FOR ALL THOSE 60 YEARS.

WE PROMISE YOU OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN WILL REMEMBER WHAT YOU HAVE DONE THAT WINTER.

- I FEEL I'VE DONE A GOOD DEED.

YES.

AND I'VE HELPED HUMANITY.

- I THINK WE DID SOMETHING GOOD.

IT PROBABLY WAS, IN RETROSPECT, VERY, VERY, VERY IMPORTANT.

IF HITLER AND THE GERMANS HAD WON, I GUESS WE COULD BE-- THE WORLD COULD BE A DIFFERENT PLACE NOW.

- I WAS GLAD I WAS IN IT.

A LOT OF PEOPLE CALL US HEROES, BUT WE'RE NOT HEROES.

WE HAD A JOB TO DO; WE JUST DID IT.

THE HEROES ARE STILL OVER THERE.

Captioning by Kirsten at CaptionMax www.captionmax.com ♪ MAJOR FUNDING FOR MARCHING ONCE MORE PROVIDED BY: male announcer: SINCE 1872, BB&T HAS BEEN SHARING KNOWLEDGE AND HELPING CLIENTS BE MORE INFORMED IN ALL AREAS OF THEIR FINANCIAL LIVES.

WE'RE PROUD OF OUR HERITAGE AND PROUD TO PROVIDE FUNDING FOR MARCHING ONCE MORE.

female announcer: WITH ADDITIONAL FUNDING FROM WASTE INDUSTRIES.

OUR BUSINESS IS SERVING OTHERS.