Bastogne, Belgium

After Aachen, we drove through Belgium on our way down to the small, hard-to-reach country of Luxembourg. It was a 2 hour car ride through the Ardennes Forest in Belgium. The Ardennes are famous because this is where Hitler launched the famous "Battle of the Bulge," his last gasp offensive in Europe. The forests were beautiful. Pine trees everywhere across the countryside. We were also going through this area the same time of year that the battle occurred in 1944. Justin made a surprise stop in Bastogne. This town is where the "Battle of the Bulge" started and was the site of difficult fighting for the lightly armored Americans. It was not until 3 weeks later that Patton and the 3rd Army were able to bring the soldiers trapped in the town some reinforcements and push the Germans back.
A little side note here. And I will get on a soap box for a minute. I have now had the privilege to visit Normandy and Sainte-Mère-Église in France, and Bastogne in Belgium. All of these areas saw terrible fighting amongst the Americans and Germans which resulted in heavy casualties for both sides and the average citizens of the towns. And all of these areas are so pro-American and so thankful for what those soldiers sacrificed for them. There are monuments to Americans everywhere and American flags fly out of people's windows, on the streets and in the store fronts. I feel like we tend to focus on the negatives of what Europe has to say about America and not on the lesser known fact that there are plenty of areas that love Americans and truly feel that we have sacrificed so much to free them from occupation. I wish we would focus on that instead. Okay, enough of that.
Right after the war, the Belgians erected a monument for the American soldiers and units that fought in the "Battle of the Bulge." Over 19,000 Americans died in that battle alone.
The Mardassion Memorial is in the shape of a pentagram (the star of freedom) with the then 48 states listed on it as well as pictures depicting the battle and a listing of all battalions that fought. There is also a memorial stone in the middle written in Latin but translates into:

"The Belgian people remember their American liberators – 4th July 1946"

We arrived at this monument at about 9am. No one was there except us. It was really cold (as it would have been for the men fighting 65 years ago) and very quiet.
A wonderful place to reflect...


This eagle statue is what you walk past on the way to the monument. It was erected by the people of Bastogne. There is an empty soldier's helmet turned over next to the eagle. The inscription on the stone reads:
"May this eagle always symbolize the sacrifices and heroism of the 101st Airborne Division and all its attached units. December 1944-January 1945. The city and the citizens of Bastogne."


This is the memorial stone in the middle of the pentagram monument. The inscription is translated in the paragraph above the pictures. The fresh flowers had been placed clockwise by: the Belgian government, the city of Bastogne, the province of Luxembourg and the US Embassy.


Th huge memorial. O and I are walking towards it. Inside it on the wall is the inscription, "Seldom has more American blood been spilt in the course of a single battle."


O standing at the memorial stone. Not only were there flowers placed at the stone but someone had erected the sign behind O that spelled out "Freedom" in red roses.


You could climb to the top of the monument. I, of course, opted out and stayed below with O but Justin climbed to the top to get a view of the city of Bastogne from the monument.


The city in the distance. Justin also could not pass up an opportunity to find Illinois and get the picture of it on the memorial.


The museum at the memorial. A Sherman Tank out front. The museum was closed because it was early in the morning.