This date in history

[wader]

Battle of the Bulge: 75 Years Ago Hitler Tried to Make the Ultimate Comeback

The price of victory in the Battle of the Bulge for America was steep. About 19,000 U.S. troops died, 47,500 were wounded, and more than 23,000 were left missing. The British suffered 1,400 casualties with 200 killed, and the Germans had 100,000 soldiers killed, wounded, or captured.

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A parade was scheduled for the morning of Saturday, Dec. 16, 1944, for members of 1st Battalion, 109th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division in Diekirch, a small town in Luxembourg.

The division had been sent to the area for some welcome rest and refit after continuous fighting in the months since the D-Day invasion in June of that year.

First Lt. James Christy remembered the day.

“We did know that there had been rumblings of enemy artillery and that our battalion motor pool had been hit some time in the wee hours of the morning. Nevertheless, Company B fell out for the parade about 0800,” he recalled, adding:

I was in charge, since the company commanding officer had been called to report to battalion headquarters. We soon got the word to forget the parade and get ready for action with full combat gear.

What Christy was hearing were the opening shots of the Battle of the Bulge, Nazi Germany dictator Adolf Hitler’s attempt to make a breakthrough in the Ardennes Forest in the closing months of World War II.

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Following the opening of the attack on Dec. 16, Christy and the 109th Regimental Combat Team, and thousands of other troops, would fight in tough, brutally cold conditions to regain the initiative. By Christmas, it was clear the German attack had failed.

After a hot turkey dinner on Christmas, Christy remembered, “After eating, I remember very well everyone singing ‘Silent Night’ with the Germans joining in with their own version of ‘Stille Nacht.’ We were relieved Christmas night, but I will never forget how I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day of 1944.”

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Even though German deaths also exceeded well over 10,000 in the battle that stretched deep into January, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier took special time to thank the U.S. troops.

“On this day, we Germans would like to thank the United States of America. The American armed forces, together with their allies, liberated Europe and they also liberated Germany. We thank you," Steinmeier said.

“Those who died were victims of hatred, delusion, and a destructive fury that originated from my country," he said.

 

[CELLFISH]

 

[CELLFISH]

if Eisenhower sided with General Patton rather than British Commander Montgomery, possibilities of The Bulge may have never have been started with those heavy American losses... cellie...

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[MOJOE]

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[wader]

Vincent van Gogh chops off his ear
On December 23, 1888, Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, suffering from severe depression, cuts off the lower part of his left ear with a razor while staying in Arles, France. He later documented the event in a painting titled Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear. Today, Van Gogh is regarded as an artistic genius and his masterpieces sell for record-breaking prices; however, during his lifetime, he was a poster boy for tortured starving artists and sold only one painting.

Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, in the Netherlands. He had a difficult, nervous personality and worked unsuccessfully at an art gallery and then as a preacher among poor miners in Belgium. In 1880, he decided to become an artist. His work from this period–the most famous of which is The Potato Eaters (1885)–is dark and somber and reflective of the experiences he had among peasants and impoverished miners.

In 1886, Van Gogh moved to Paris where his younger brother Theo, with whom he was close, lived. Theo, an art dealer, supported his brother financially and introduced him to a number of artists, including Paul Gauguin, Camille Pisarro and Georges Seurat. Influenced by these and other painters, Van Gogh’s own artistic style lightened up and he began using more color.

In 1888, Van Gogh rented a house in Arles in the south of France, where he hoped to found an artists’ colony and be less of a burden to his brother. In Arles, Van Gogh painted vivid scenes from the countryside as well as still-lifes, including his famous sunflower series. Gauguin came to stay with him in Arles and the two men worked together for almost two months. However, tensions developed and on December 23, in a fit of dementia, Van Gogh threatened his friend with a knife before turning it on himself and mutilating his ear lobe.

Afterward, he allegedly wrapped up the ear and gave it to a prostitute at a nearby brothel. Following that incident, Van Gogh was hospitalized in Arles and then checked himself into a mental institution in Saint-Remy for a year. During his stay in Saint-Remy, he fluctuated between periods of madness and intense creativity, in which he produced some of his best and most well-known works, including Starry Night and Irises.
In May 1890, Van Gogh moved to Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris, where he continued to be plagued by despair and loneliness. On July 27, 1890, he shot himself and died two days later at age 37.

 

[MOJOE]

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[MOJOE]

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[MOJOE]

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[JackPrintMD]

Good one, did not know HWJ died of Overdose.

 

[MOJOE]

Good one, did not know HWJ died of Overdose.

JackPrintMD i didnt know that too,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,there were drugs back then?,, ,,,,,,, ><))):>
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[MOJOE]

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[JackPrintMD]

I like the one with the Chello.

This guy sounds like he is making shit up.

 

[MOJOE]

I like the one with the Chello.

This guy sounds like he is making shit up.

ok then JackPrintMD ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ><))):>
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[JackPrintMD]

You da best MoJoe

 

[MOJOE]

You da best MoJoe

thank you jack ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ><))):>
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[MOJOE]

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[MOJOE]

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[MOJOE]

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[JackPrintMD]

Nice, the good one

 

[MOJOE]

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