After I had been back a couple of days, Field
Marshall Karl Gerd von Rundstedt launched his big counteroffensive,
now known as the Battle of the Bulge. The weather was bad—snow,
freezing cold, and fog. Under this cover, the Germans moved three
field armies and surprised the Allies, overran them, and headed
for Antwerp to cut off our supply port and supply lines. German
infantry and tanks attacked along a ninety-mile front in an effort
to split Allied armies on the Western Front. This caused a "bulge"
in our lines, and the battle to flatten out this bulge by troops
for the next month was to become known as the Battle of the Bulge.
. . .
One morning, after I thawed the water out in my canteen, I poured
it into my canteen cup. I set it to one side away from the fire
while I opened a K-ration to get the coffee out of it. When I
finally got the coffee out, I reached for the canteen cup of water
only to find that it had frozen again, so I had to start the process
all over again. It was mighty cold in the Ardennes.
. . .
