Patton’s Legacy

We drove the route taken by the US 3rd Army to relieve the 101st Airborne Division in Bastogne, December 22-26, 1944. It begins in Fauviller, five miles north of here.

I found the route map on Wiki.LOC, an app I use to track walks. The route is all on paved roads; there is a short section on a gravel forest road we went around. it’s 20 kilometers total.

This is looking back to the south; up to this point the Americans met no significant resistance from the Germans.

At this tiny village, the advance was stopped by fierce resistance. There was 3 inches of fresh snow on the ground.

Shell holes are visible in this aerial photo . The American commander was Major Irzyk, who proved to be an excellent leader in battle. The Americans lost 11 tanks here, and Irzyk retreated, the tank going backwards as fast as it could go with Irzyk giving the driver (who could not see where he was going) verbal directions. They were hit and Irzyk was wounded. They broke through the following day.

Patton’s headquarters was in Luxembourg. He died in an auto accident in Germany a year later. He was 60 years old. He is buried with 5,070 of his soldiers in the American military cemetery in Luxembourg.

Nearby are the graves of 10,319 German soldiers in the Sandweiler German Cemetery

There is a lot more to this story. Two young American soldiers were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for their heroic efforts during this four day battle.

https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/james-r-hendrix

https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/archer-t-gammon

https://ardennes-breakthrough-association.com/nl/irzyk-albin-f-4th-armored-division/