In Official Reports, battles are most often described in statistics—this many casualties, this many miles of territory covered, this village won or lost. Less often covered are the personal experiences and spiritual struggles of soldiers and their families as a conflict rages.
The Battle of the Bulge, or The Ardennes Offensive, began on the morning of December 16, 1944, in eastern Belgium and Luxembourg along the border with Germany. It involved about a million participants—Americans, British, Canadians, and Germans. It has been described as Hitler's last major effort to win the Second World War, and the toll in terms of the dead and injured was massive on both sides.
In some respects, as German Panzer tanks swept down on unsuspecting soldiers, the battle had some of the characteristics associated with Armageddon—a massive assault that seemed irresistible in its force and power. Yet, through undaunted courage and sheer perseverance, the balance of the battle shifted in the Allies' direction.
