Eyewitness Accounts and War Stories from the Battle of the Bulge

"We were surrounded on all sides. The Germans had us completely encircled in Bastogne, and supplies were running critically low. The weather was brutal — temperatures well below freezing, snow everywhere, and visibility often reduced to just a few yards. Many of us didn't have proper winter gear.

When the German commander sent a surrender ultimatum, our General McAuliffe famously replied with just one word: 'Nuts!' We all knew what that meant — we weren't giving up. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, morale remained high. We held our positions and fought off repeated German attacks.

The day the skies cleared and we saw those C-47s dropping supplies was one of the most beautiful sights I've ever witnessed. When Patton's Third Army finally broke through to us on December 26th, it felt like a miracle. Those were the longest, coldest days of my life, but I've never been prouder of what we accomplished."

"Our convoy was captured near Malmedy on December 17th. About 130 of us were disarmed and herded into a field. I thought we were just being processed as POWs. Then, without warning, the SS troops opened fire with machine guns. Men dropped all around me. I wasn't hit in the initial volley and played dead among the bodies.

For hours, I lay completely still in the snow as the Germans walked among us, shooting anyone showing signs of life. I could hear the moans of the wounded, then more shots. The cold was unbearable, but I knew movement meant death.

When it got dark, a few of us who had survived made a break for the woods. I ran zigzag through the trees as bullets hit all around me. Somehow, I made it to Allied lines the next day. Of the 130 men captured, only about 40 survived. What happened at Malmedy showed us what we were fighting against."

"St. Vith was a critical road junction, and we knew we had to hold it as long as possible to slow the German advance. My tank crew and I hadn't slept for nearly three days when the main German assault hit our position. The forest was lit up with artillery fire, and German tanks were everywhere.

Communications were chaotic. Units were scattered, and we often didn't know who was where. Sometimes we'd encounter German soldiers wearing captured American uniforms and speaking perfect English. It created a constant state of paranoia.

Our Sherman tanks were outgunned by the German Panthers and Tigers, but we used the terrain to our advantage. We held St. Vith for six crucial days before being ordered to withdraw. Those six days of delay completely disrupted the German timetable and gave the rest of the Allied forces time to regroup and counter. Our division was later awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for what we did there."

"For days, we had been grounded by the worst weather I'd seen in Europe. The fog was so thick you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. We knew our boys on the ground were getting hammered, but there was nothing we could do.

Then on December 23rd, the skies suddenly cleared. Every available aircraft was scrambled. When we flew over the Ardennes, the battlefield below looked like a chessboard, with German armor and equipment clearly visible in the snow.

We attacked everything that moved on the German side. My P-47 was armed with rockets, bombs, and eight .50-caliber machine guns. We hit supply columns, tanks, and troop concentrations. The Germans had no air cover to speak of.

By the end of that first day of clear weather, we knew the tide had turned. The Luftwaffe was virtually nonexistent, and we owned the skies. The German advance had been counting on continued bad weather, and once that advantage disappeared, their offensive was doomed."