The northern part of the Bulge has always fascinated me. It was there, in the early hours of December 16, 1944, that the von Rundstedt Offensive erupted and the Battle of the Bulge truly began. This northern shoulder of the German attack—stretching through the Ardennes around Monschau, Germany—became the stage for the opening thunder of the massive assault. The Germans struck hard at the lightly defended sector of the U.S. First Army, hoping to punch quickly toward the Meuse River. Fierce fighting broke out around places like Elsenborn Ridge, where American units—especially the 2nd and 99th Infantry Divisions—dug in and held their ground with remarkable determination. Their resistance on that frozen, battered ridge prevented a complete German breakthrough and helped shape the course of the entire battle.

➤ Losheim Gap At Losheimergraben we cross into Germany to explore remnants of Hitler’s “West Wall”—reinforced concrete emplacements crowned with rows of Dragon’s Teeth, the anti- tank obstacles that formed part of the Siegfried Line in the 1930s. Slightly hidden in the woods, just a few yards from the stone marking the border, we stop at Rollbahn A. It was here, on December 16, 1944, that the Battle of the Bulge began—a place forever known as
Purple Heart Corner.

➤ Lanzerath In Lanzerath, you’ll hear the remarkable story of how just 18 soldiers from an Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon of the 99th Infantry Division held off more than 450 German paratroopers for 14 hours—delaying Kampfgruppe Peiper on its drive toward Antwerp. Many years after the war, these men would be recognized as the most decorated American unit of World War II for a single action. Their extraordinary stand is vividly documented in Alex
Kershaw’s outstanding book The Longest Winter.

➤ Wereth 11
The story of the Wereth 11 tells of eleven African-American soldiers from the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion who were brutally executed by SS troops after they had laid down their arms. It remains one of the most harrowing and lesser-known tragedies of the Battle of the Bulge.

➤ Krinkelt/Rocherath
In the “Twin Villages,” we follow in the footsteps of the 2nd Infantry Division—the Indianhead—and the 99th Infantry Division—the Checkerboard. Here you’ll hear the story of

Jesse Morrow, visit the command post once used by Charles MacDonald, and learn the full accounts of the Medal of Honor recipients who fought in this area: José López, Richard Cowan, Truman Kimbro, Vernon McGarity, and William Soderman. You will stand exactly where they stood and fought. We continue to the Hasselpath, a memorial deep in the woods north of Rocherath, where German and American trenches still scar the landscape. And, if time allows, we make a brief stop at Heartbreak Crossroads at Wahlerscheid—another key point in the fierce struggle for the northern shoulder.