R.N. 1011121309
Date December 15, 2009
Written By Marco G. Staff Sgt. 517° PRCT
Team: Marco, Mancio, Alain,Nicolas, David, Correntin (Vomito'), Fabien, Nicodouille, Glider, David, Regis,Remi, Hermann
Here is the report on our adventure in the Ardennes, attached to the 517th PRCT with our French friends of Forty Four Memories.
Dec, 10
After a trip of about 10 hours we arrive at Manhay, a town North of Bastogne (Battle of the Bulge area). We must find the Municipal building to get the keys of the place where we will be hosted for free. We are late on schedule, however, and the municipal offices are already closed. Through the windows, we can see the employees still at work. Sure they won’t consider us, we try knocking on the glass to get their attention, and contrary to expectations they answer our plea and very kindly call the man in charge with our accommodations who leads us to the place, which is in a nearby town. I wonder if we would have received similar treatment in Italy.
The place we will be staying in, about 4 Km. from the town of Malémpré, is known as the “"the banquet salon". This is a building with restrooms and cooking accommodations used during fairs and events. Since Mancio and I have arrived for first, we take the opportunity for a shower and go looking for a place where to eat. On the way to Malémpré I noticed that even in such a small place there are no less than four beerhouses!
Dec, 11
At about 7 a.m. the first of our French friends arrive. Nicolas and David, with David’s Willys MB at the trail, are the first to get there. Just as we finish putting on our military gear, the others also arrive – altogether, about a dozen.
We get a phone call from the friends who are driving the GMC truck, which will carry us during our stay in Belgium – a long road drive straight from Aix en Provence. They have taken a wrong turn during the night, and are now stuck in the mud. We load on the jeep and depart, direction Bastogne, to try and find them. After a few kilometers, we see the truck emerging from a wood. They are really stuck for good, with the front axle all submerged in mud, the rear train not faring much better. It’s clear our jeep won’t be able to solve the situation. But we are lucky, and on our way we have seen a big tractor intent on moving some logs. We ask the owner for help, and he gladly accepts. It takes very little time to get our GMC back on the road towards Malémpré. We finish setting up our cots, and we all depart, destination La Gleize, to visit the local museum. This has several very good displays inside, and a gigantic 69-ton Royal Tiger stands guard at its entrance. Off we go to another museum, at the Baugnez 44 Historical Center. This museum is even larger than the other at la Gleize, covering several floors. A wealth of material, both American and German, is preserved there, from shaving kits to bazookas. Really impressive! It’s late night already, and we stop drinking a few beers at the museum bar, which has a large choice of brands. Correntin decides to test all available beers (and he soon gets drunk - more on this later). The museum superintendent tells us there will be a ball later on in a domed strut besides the museum, with several veterans attending, and invites us to stay for the ball. We unanimously accept with no hesitation. We get a table in the ballroom, and several veterans and their families soon arrive at the place, where film strips about the 1944 fighting are projected on a wall, while a orchestra plays period music. After a while, Nicolas decides the orchestra is not so good after all. He goes to the trumpet player, and gets the instrument. To our astonishment, he launches in a beautiful solo performance, which gets everybody’s applause – we didn’t know he plays in a folkloristic band back home.
It is late, time to go back to our “sweet home” in the Ardennes. We board the GMC, which by now is completely frozen – the thin rain having turned to ice because of the sub-zero temperature. If that was not enough of a discomfort, we also have to keep an eye on Correntin, who suddenly jumps toward the tail of the truck and start vomiting along the road – the beer has found its mark at last. We cannot but burst into a huge laughter, which gets even deeper since Correntin himself alternates laughing and throwing up. A remarkable show which Nicolas immortalize on camera! Well, at least this makes us forget the cold, at least in part. Also, our GMC is promptly renamed “Vomit Express”
Dec, 12
Reveille today is at 09.00 a.m., since last night we got back by 1:30 a.m. We open the blinds, and surprise - it’s snowing. Today we will go to the woods where the 101st Airborne Division stood their ground in 1944, and then to Bastogne. We arrive near Foy under a snow fall. We notice the traces of the foxholes where the troops stood sixty-five years ago, and the bitter cold makes us conscious of what they had to go through. We have no time to visit the reenacting camp which has been set up nearby, since we have to proceed to Bastogne, where we will join the majority of reenactors and historic military vehicles which have come to the Ardennes and will parade through town. After a short stop at the camp for the usual beer, our little column of a jeep and a truck departs to the town center, where we manage to penetrate the “pass only” area. We take a tour of the city, the harsh cold of the day getting through our OD’s and M1943 jackets. The accuracy level of “reenactors” there run the whole gamut from those who look freshly out of the woods, and set up remarkable displays of all types, to those with jeans and canvas leggings, not to mention the many children dressed as scaled-down parachutists, giving the place a rather clownish atmosphere. At least, we are able to look when the many AFV’s start their engines in the town square to open up the parade: as usual, a spine chilling show. At dinner time, we take refuge in the usual restaurant where fries and beer are the staple diet.
The cold is almost unbearable on our way back to Malémpré, where we arrive at about 00.30 a.m.
Dec, 13
Today the celebrations at Manhay will take place. At 10:00 a.m. a wreath will be deposed near the old railway station, in honor of the 517th PRCT (the unit we represent), and at 10:30 a.m. a new monument will be discovered, named to Cpl R.WIEGAND (a G.I. in the 75th Infantry Division)who on December 25, 1944 stopped the advance of the German armored columns destroying the leading Panther tank in the woods south west of Grandmenil-Manhay. (More at this link). After the ceremony, we are invited to the preview of several period photographs taken on location. In the afternoon, we go to Malmedy for the official commemoration of the massacre of 71 US soldiers.
Here is the story of the massacre:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malmedy_massacre
After the touching ceremony, we proceed to a place where the local administration offers hot wine, beer and hot dogs. We also take the opportunity to visiting the "Paratrooper" shop stand, which seems to have been opened right there for having us spend our remaining money. At night we have dinner at Malmedy, where the Christmas atmosphere begins to be felt, with decorations and the ice-skating arena. Then, our last trip back to Malémpré where we will make up our luggage: early tomorrow, we leave.
I wish to end this report with an exchange Mancio told me about:
"A local old man who at the time was 10-years old was telling what he witnessed then, and I asked him: N’avez vous pas oublié ? (Haven’t you forgotten ? )
He answered: C’est impossible (Impossible )" Monsieur Monfort
In closing, I would like to extend my gratitude to the municipal administrations for their spirit of collaboration and welcoming (Mrs. Daulne e Mrs. Monfort), and mention the strong friendship which, the more so with every event, binds us to the guys of Forty Four Memories. Also, we had the opportunity to visit several places and museums, which we had been unable to see on our previous trip to the Ardennes in 2004.
Marco G. Staff Sgt. normandy2004@normandy.it