A forensic examination of what lay behind the exceptional heroism exhibited by the 28th Infantry Division in the Battle of the Bulge.
This book is not another battle chronicle. It is an examination of how the motivations of individual soldiers to fight and win can make the difference in battle, especially in the face of overwhelming odds. In December 1944, the American 28th Infantry Division occupied an 85-mile front extending along Germany's borders with Belgium and Luxembourg. There they repelled a desperate attempt by Hitler to drive a wedge through the Allied lines to the port of Antwerp, which he believed would buy his scientists the time they needed to complete development of the super weapons forecast to turn the tide of the war. This book explores the first-hand accounts of men of the 28th Infantry Division, who, with extraordinary tenacity, held the line through December 1944 and January 1945, and the chaplains who attended their religious needs. It assesses the efforts of the U.S. government to inspire its soldiers to fight for the American way of life, and how these efforts filtered onto the battlefield, shaping the resolve of the men asked, if necessary, to make the ultimate sacrifice.