News
Center For WWII Studies Marks 65th Anniversary Of Battle Of The Bulge
By John Burton
MIDDLETOWN - "A grateful nation remembers," said Lt. Col. Ann Walko, a member of the Ocean Composite Squadron of the New Jersey Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, as she recognized World War II veterans on Saturday at Brookdale Community College, in Lincroft.
The college's Center for World War II Studies and Conflict Resolution marked the 65th anniversary of the "Battle of the Bulge" last Saturday.
On Dec. 16, 1944 Nazi forces began a major offensive against American troops situated in the Ardennes forest, in Belgium, with the "bulge" being the German troops advancing on American lines.
It was a "massive battle," explained Maj. Gen. Randolph P. Strong, commanding general for Fort Monmouth's Communications and Electronic Command (CECOM), who was the program's featured speaker. More than one million soldiers on both sides of the conflict participated, resulting in 81,000 American casualties, with 19,000 of them losing their lives, Strong told the audience.
The German offensive was launched in response to the successful D-Day Normandy invasion, orchestrated by the Allies just six months earlier. Hitler and his generals thought American soldiers, facing the onslaught of Nazi troops, "would turn tail and run," Strong said of the battle.
"But Hitler misunderstood the American soldiers' steadfast commitment," Strong said. "That was his real mistake."
The German offensive coincided with what was one of its most severe winters; frigid temperatures and nearly constant snow, severe enough to prevent Allied aircraft from flying to supply the troops with much needed food, cold weather gear and ever vital ammunition.
"These men sacrificed all, dared all and died," Strong, noted, but eventually they stopped the Nazi juggernaut, which marked the beginning of the end for the Third Reich, as Allied troops moved toward the Rhine river and on into Germany, leading to Germany's surrender in 1945.
"The battle presented a hard earned lesson," Strong said. "When we look at enormous challenges, (we realize that) all things are possible and all odds can be overcome."
The program organizers acknowledged the participation of veterans of that battle, such as Edward Turrell, a Hazlet resident who served with the 81st Field Artillery Battalion, Robert Godfrey and Charles Nelson, who both were soldiers there. But Walko noted, "Women are veterans too." Women, like Ethel Hawryschuk, who was there as a member of the Women's Army Corps. "She joined the same reason everyone did," Walko said of Hawryschuk, "to preserve the freedom for generations to follow."
There were other veterans on hand, in the audience, like Ken Johnson.
Johnson, Brick, said he had initially wanted to be a pilot, even considering joining the Canadian Air Force, with hopes of flying. But when he was rejected because of color blindness, Johnson said he became a paratrooper, serving with the 101st Airborne Division.
Johnson was in the heart of the offensive in the area of Bastogne and Malmedy, two local towns. "It was cold as hell," with men suffering from frostbite. Men had to take ammunition bandoliers from dead soldiers, and suffered with lack of food and clothing. "We were in bad shape," he said. "But we had determination."
Johnson was wounded twice, winning two Purple Hearts. "I got the scars," he said.
Erina Balestracci lived in Malmedy with her family, who ran a little hotel and restaurant, offered her recollection of that winter. "The weather was terrible. It was so cold," she remembered, telling of so many others living there who perished with the bombings.
Balestracci would go on to marry an American soldier she met that winter, returning to Malmedy years later for the wedding.
The program also recognized the work of the U.S. Army's Signal Corps, during the war, and its films that trained troops and informed those at home. The corps was responsible for the "Why We Fight" series of shorts, produced by legendary Hollywood filmmaker Frank Capra, winning the corps an Academy Award for its work.
Another film, Seeds of Destiny, about the plight of children left homeless by the war, won the 1946 Oscar for Best Short Subject. That Academy Award statuette is on display at Fort Monmouth, a center of activity for the Signal Corps during World War II, Walko said.
The Center for World War II Studies and Conflict Resolution presents programs and services intended to educate students and the public concerning the importance of World War II in shaping our world and worldview, with the hope that education may prevent future armed conflicts.
