The Friends of the National World War II Memorial organization holds a commemoration and wreath-laying ceremony in Washington to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, December 16, 2019.
Transcript
“The Star-Spangled Banner”
Army Chaplain Lieutenant Colonel Tammy Cruz will now give the invocation.
Let us pray. Gracious God, you have ordered our lives in the compassion of your will. Here in our nation’s capital, we are reminded of Washington and Lincoln, one the 18th-century father and the other the 19th-century preserver of our nation. And between them we honor those who took up the struggle for liberty and justice, freedom and peace in Europe in the Battle of the Bulge. Of this great series of battles, General Eisenhower commented, “The present “situation is to be regarded as one “of opportunity for us,” and so it was. Today we remember the struggle, the bravery, and the tenacity, the acts of heroism of those who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Those who survived and those who gave all of their tomorrows that we might have all of our todays. President Truman rightly recognized our debt to the heroic men and women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifice. And so today, we thank you, especially to those who are here who was part of this great series of the battles in World War II, and to their families. We remember those voices, now silent, who rest from their labors in sacred fields of honor throughout this land and on foreign soil. Especially we hold sacred the memories of those who gave their lives in the struggle of peace symbolized by the 4,048 gold stars on the Freedom Wall. They shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. They fought together as brothers in arms, they died together, and now they sleep side by side. To them we have a solemn obligation. We pause in a moment of silence to remember the fallen at the Battle of the Bulge. They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. We would be amiss if we failed to forget the families of our fallen comrades who have equally sacrificed by giving up their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and children. We pause to think of those who are deployed in harm’s way today, protect them, and be there with their families. Be thou our vision, O ruler over all, that we might be faithful to the task of being instruments of peace in our day. Let freedom ring. Amen.
On December the 16th, 1944, today, 75 years ago, German forces launched an amphibious counterattack, sorry, an ambitious counterattack against Allied positions in the Ardennes Forest. Their goal was to thwart the Allied advance into Germany. Instead, in this decisive, six-week campaign that became known as the Battle of the Bulge, American forces resisted and overcame the German assault, delivering a huge, fatal blow to German military capabilities, and paving the way for the final push into Germany. Before we continue, I’d like to acknowledge some very special guests with us today. First, Dr. Roberta Nolan, daughter of First Lieutenant James O’Boyle Lyons who was taken prisoner of war during the Battle of the Bulge on December the 21st, 1944, and who died on May the 15th, 1945, less than a month following his release, as a result of conditions during his imprisonment. Dr. Nolan, thank you for being here. We are proud to join you in honoring your father’s service and sacrifice. Next, I am pleased to introduce representatives of the Allied nations that took part in the Battle of the Bulge 75 years ago. We should remember that it was not just an American victory, not just, as Churchill said, the greatest American victory of World War II. From the embassy of Belgium, Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d’Affaires, Mr. Christophe Payot, and Defense Attaché Brigadier General Georges Franchomme.
From the embassy of Canada, Canadian Forces Military Attache Colonel Patrick Robichaud.
From the embassy of France, representing the French defense mission is Major Adrian Poiret.
From the embassy of Luxembourg, Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d’Affaires, Mrs. Veronique Luckendorf.
And from the British embassy, Assistant Naval Attache, Commander Jim Morley.
Finally, I am tremendously privileged, very honored to introduce to you our World War II veteran. Do we have a World War II veteran here? Thank you, thank you, sir, for being here. We arranged earlier on for the majority of World War II veterans to be warm and safely ensconced inside on this beautiful day. They will be with us later. Thank for for being with us here today, sir.
George Arnstein served with the U.S. Army 76th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop, was mechanized in the European theater, including the Ardennes campaign, or the Battle of the Bulge. Thank you, sir.
Our final speaker today is Army Lieutenant General Andrew Poppas. General Poppas is the Director for Operations J3 for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He serves as the Principal Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for Global Integration Initiatives. General Poppas previously served as the commanding general of the 101st Airborn Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. 101st Airborn, as you know, sir, played a wonderful role today in World War II. And Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations for Operation Resolute Support in Afghanistan. Please welcome us, I’d like to give you a great welcome, General Poppas. Thank you. – Thank you very much.
Thank you for that introduction, and thank you very much, everybody, for coming out on this day, and chaplain, I want to thank you personally for providing the weather for such a wonderful backdrop as we reflect back 75 years ago and pay tribute to those that had served, fought, and sacrificed in this exact weather. And we were able to introduce a number of very important people, and I thank you all for coming, but I really wanna focus on our World War II vets, and Dr. Nolan whose father was there and was captured in the Battle of the Bulge. Because those that have served that sit before us, and they’re the shoulder, that tremendous sacrifice, the burden of the fight, and that have provided and gave us our freedoms today. Thank you very much for what you’ve done, and you’ve been an inspiration as the years have gone forward. Thank you.
I also wanna thank, for the Friends of the National World War II Memorial Team, for ensuring that their legacy continues and lives on today and into the future. And for me, personally, it’s an honor to stand before you. As I, as he identified, I commanded the 101st, and as part of that formation of the years that have gone through, I’ve got to meet and engage with those from the 101st that have fought in this fight. I’ve been forward and saw them, and understand those sacrifices they made, the personal stories of heroism that they did every single day. So to stand before you today, I’m humbled and honored. It is 75 years ago today that Hitler launched 30 divisions, 30 divisions of combat power in a surprise counteroffensive to recapture the port of Antwerp. And it’s in the Netherlands, and it was an effort at the time to turn the tide of World War II. He knew that he was losing, he knew time wasn’t on his side, and that he had to have one last bold effect to try and drive into a negotiations. And the one thing that he, that his whole plan depended on was the weather. Because he had to deny the American capability and the Allied capability where we had air supremacy. And as you can see, the weather did cooperate with his operation, and it deprived us of that single strategic capability that we had. So it’s under the cover of a bitter, a bitter winter storm, snow covering the ground, freezing temperatures, that he launched forward. And it was three separate armies, two Panzer armies and a line infantry army, that’s over 400,000 German soldiers committed to the fight, over 500 tanks, and all the aircraft that they could muster for the entire front committed against an element of the Allies. And this was an Allied army that was preparing for their own offensive. Had taken ’em by surprise as we were blind, as we didn’t have our own air capability for our reconnaissance. And it was over the next six days that this German army pushed back the Allied troops further into Belgium, deeper back into Luxembourg, creating what, the salient which became the bulge, which it was known as, the fight. It was 50 miles wide and over 70 miles deep, penetrating the American and Allied lines. But this is where it shows that the Allies are the most adaptable and the most tenacious. Because the leaders and the commanders at the time knew that they had to make a bold action, and they committed over 60,000 troops, movin’ over 100 miles in a single day in order to thwart this offensive movin’ forward. Key to that commitment at the time, the 10th Armored Division, and pushing the 101st Airborn Division right into that salient, seizing the Bastogne crossroads, which were critical for the Panzers to move forward to get into the Antwerp, and by holding them, here’s where the mettle of the Allied and these American troops was tested. Under continuous artillery pounding, two Panzer divisions committed against them, fighting day and night without respite, forcing them to survive from hand to hand combat, holding the line, never wavering, and they did withstand. And when the Nazis couldn’t push them out of position, they surrounded them. The intent was to starve them out, to bleed them out, hemorrhage them, force them to capitulate. And under this pounding, supplies running low, unable to take care of their own wounded, the Germans came forward and demanded the surrender of the force that was there. And you heard, it was the 101st commander at the time, or actually the deputy commander, McAuliffe, it always shows, be prepared to step up. He sent back a one-word response. Nuts. And it’s because of that, it boldened the resolve of the forces that were fighting, continuing to push forward. And they held on in this environment for four additional days, denying them the success necessary to push forward, holding ’em, making ’em vulnerable. And they got an early Christmas present on the night of the 23rd when the weather broke, and it opened up the onslaught of Allied capability, and the air came in. They brought the Allied bombers to attack and destroy the logistical lines, it pounded the front lines of the Nazis that were forward, it broke the back of their attack. And by Christmas Day and the day after, the Third Army, led by General Patton, broke through the lines, ending the overall assault by the Nazis, and linked up with the 101st in Bastogne, ending the German attack. Now again, as I told you, as the commander of the 101st I got to know many of those soldiers that fought there, and those brother of mine will tell you that they didn’t need to be saved, that they had the fight well in hand. If they had a bayonet and a round, the 101st would never get pushed off. That is the attitude of the soldiers that fought, and that was that resolve. It is the battle, as identified, that Winston Churchill, he called unquestionably the greatest American battle of them all, of the entire war. It’s not just the story of American victory in battle, it’s also a story of the grit, the resilience, and it’s the tenacity of our greatest generation. It’s their legacy that lives on today in the fighting men and women that are on freedom’s frontier as we speak today. It’s the soldiers who fought in the frigid woods in the Ardennes, they are true patriots. They were children of the Great Depression. They were from the California coast, they were from the farmlands of the south, the midwest, the factory of the northeast, and even the offices out of New York City, galvanizing the nation to go forward and fight. They’re the ones that stood forward, proven in the crucible of combat. And despite those grueling conditions I described, the relentless barrages of the artillery, the continuous attacks of the Germans, and not knowing if that day was gonna be their last, they had an unwavering clarity of purpose. And that was the destruction of fascism. It was a purpose they knew was worthy of their sacrifices. And it was after the war, as they came home, their lives were changed forever of their experiences through this endeavor, but they sought neither recognition nor praise. Instead they committed themselves to bettering this nation. And it was their instilling of these values, and the appreciation for freedom, and it was into their children, that those that fought in Korea, Vietnam, and the wars from 9/11 forward. And it is your actions, today, sir, that I will tell you, it is your example in the war that we emulate and we venerate. It serves an example to inspire us in the most demanding of the combat that we face, and it’s because of you that we continue to fight for the freedoms that make this country great. And as I look at the crowd today, and I stand with the warriors of that greatest generation, some that carry the battle scars of battle, and I remember those that gave all so that we could live prosperous and free. Our nation can never thank you enough, sir. We can only make a solemn promise to continue to stand the watch so that all that you fought for and many of your brothers died for will be passed on to the next generation of Americans. It has truly been my privilege and honor to stand forward in front of you today and address you. Thank you. (applause) – Thank you, General, for those wonderful remarks. 75 years after the Germans launched their surprise and ultimately unsuccessful attack on the Allies in the Ardennes Forest, we are gathered here today to remember and honor all those who served and sacrificed during the Battle of the Bulge. Over 19,000 fatalities, tens of thousands wounded, many more thousands psychologically damaged for the rest of their lives. It is now time to present the wreaths in honor of the more than one million Allied service members who took part in the campaign, and to remember the more than 22,000 Allies and civilians who were killed. They are not forgotten. Presenting the wreath for the United States of America and the Friends of the National World War II Memorial are Army Lieutenant General Andrew Poppas, Army Chaplin Lieutenant Colonel Tammy Cruz, retired Army General Carter Ham, retired Army Major General John Hurling, Dr. Roberta Nolan, daughter of First Lieutenant James O’Boyle Lyons, who was taken prisoner of war during the Battle of the Bulge.
We’re gonna pause now.
OK. And of course, World War II veteran Mr. George Arnstein. Presenting the wreath for Canada are Colonel Patrick Robichaud, Canadian Forces Military Attache, Embassy of Canada. Presenting the wreath for France are Major Adrian Poiret, Defense Mission, Embassy of France. Presenting the wreath for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are Mrs. Veronique Luckendorff, Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d’Affaires, Embassy of Luxembourg. And last, but not least—
Don’t forget Belgium.
Oh, presenting the wreath, did you mention it? OK.
Presenting, thank you Holly, presenting the wreath for the Kingdom of Belgium are Mr. Christophe Payot, Deputy Chief of Mission and the Charge d’Affaires, Embassy of Belgium, and Brigadier General Georges Franchomme, Defense Attache, Embassy of Belgium. And as I was saying earlier, last but not least, presenting the wreath for the United Kingdom are Commander Jim Morley, Assistant Naval Attache, British Embassy. Now, please render appropriate honors for the playing of “Taps” by the U.S. Army Band.
“Taps”
This concludes our ceremony. Thank you again for joining us today. Thank you very much.