WWII history weekend

(Mardasson Memorial)

 

Along with the walk in the steps of the 82nd Airborne Division we also visited several sites of WWII history that weekend.  One such site was in Bastogne, Belgium.  Bastogne was critical to the success of the American forces in the Battle of the Bulge and it was here that the 101st division (famous in the Band of Brothers series) held off the advances of the German Army until relieved by General Patton.  There is a memorial set up in Bastogne (Mardasson Memorial) in honor the 76,890 American soldiers who were hurt or killed during the Battle of the Bulge. 

 (Sherman Tank "Thunderbolt" at the Mardasson Memorial)

We also found a memorial in honor of the 101st Airborne and more specifically "E" company. 

We then visited the forest on the outskirts of Foy where "E" company was camped and withstood the bombings of the German forces.  Many foxholes that were dug during the war are still present today and we heard if you take a metal detector you can even find some shrapnel left over. . . . we did not have a metal detector however, so Clayton took to digging with his hands . . hehe. . . the only bit of metal we were able to find was a can of Red Bull.

 

 

 

 (trees blow apart at Foy. . . not sure how much was original and how much was created for tourists) 

 (foxhole in the forest outside of Foy)

 

 

(our trek into the forest . . . you can tell we weren't the only ones to visit the site)

 

(another large foxhole we found)