This is unfortunate:
The barracks is the home of the Belgian 1st Field Artillery Regiment, currently deployed in Afghanistan, and also houses a small museum dedicated to the sacrifice made by US and British troops.
The Battle of the Bulge has special significance for allied war veterans as it is seen as key turning point in WW2.
From 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945, a snow-covered Bastogne was encircled by German troops and appeared set to capitulate. Within the small town set deep in the Ardennes forest close to the border with Luxembourg were thousands of US soldiers, including the 101st Airborne Division, commanded by McAuliffe, whose HQ was in a cellar of the barracks now earmarked for closure.
It was from here on December 22, 1944 that the German Commander Heinrich Freiherr von Luttwitz sent McAuliffe a note demanding the Americans surrender, to which McAuliffe famously sent a terse reply which read, "NUTS!"
...The barrack's museum has been preserved in recent years by two retired Belgian soldiers, Eric Lemoine and Michel Marecaux, and their guided tours of it are popular, particularly among visiting US and British tourists and war veterans who are drawn to the area because of its history.
Read the rest here.
HT to About.com 20th Century History
About Me
- Alexandra
- A homeschooling mother of one teenager and a little. In 2001, I resigned from my 13 year position as a case manager to homeschool my oldest who was a preschooler at the time, and later a daughter who came along in 2005. This is by far the hardest job I've ever loved. My husband of nearly 20 years supports us as a fire fighter and EMT.
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