Page 13 - Leisure Living Magazine Holiday 2017

Christmas At The Battle Of The Bulge
By Justice Paul E. Pfeifer, Ohio Supreme Court
At Christmastime, there’s an almost instinc- tive desire that burns within us to make our way home. That’s why it’s always been so poignant to see scenes of soldiers deployed overseas at this time of year.
That was never more the case than at Christ- mas in 1944, during World War II. After the D-Day invasion in June, the tide of the war had shifted in favor of the Allies, and there was a gen- eral belief that the war in Europe would be over in time to send the troops home for Christmas. Un- fortunately, Hitler had other ideas.
By late autumn, it was clear that the Allied advance across Europe had slowed, and the war wasn’t ending soon. Then, on December 16, the Germans launched a massive offensive near the German-Belgium border. The Allies were caught off guard by the surprise attack—which became known as the Battle of the Bulge, because the Ger- man advance created a deep bulge into the Allied lines. The ensuing fight became the largest, blood- iest battle for U.S. forces in World War II.
The Germans weren’t the only thing the GIs were battling; the weather was atrocious, and the Americans were without adequate winter gear. It was so frigid ammunition clips froze solid and snow caused weapons to jam. The bad weather also prevented Allied planes from providing sup- port to troops on the ground.
Americans suffered almost 90,000 casualties during the Battle of the Bulge. And Christmas Day was especially bad, with some of the bloodi- est, most desperate fighting of the war.
But in the midst of this grisly battle, something rather magical happened in a small cottage in the middle of a dense forest where a German woman named Elisabeth Vincken lived with her twelve- year-old son, Fritz.
When Elisabeth’s husband had been ordered into the civil-defense, he sent his wife and son to live in his hunting cottage, believing they would be safe in the woods. But when the battle began, the cottage was surrounded by the fight.
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There’s an instinctive desire that burns within us to make our way home for Christmas.
As Fritz later told the story, he and his mother had planned on slaughtering their rooster, Her- mann, for Christmas. But when they realized his father wouldn’t be there, they decided to wait, hoping he might be home by New Year’s Day.
On Christmas Eve they heard a knock on the
door. Outside they found two American soldiers
standing in the snow. Neither Elisabeth nor Fritz
spoke English; the Americans couldn’t speak Ger-
man. But they pointed to another man lying in
the snow, a wounded comrade, and asked to come
inside.
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