The last day of our tracking the 137th Infantry Regiment’s movements through Europe 70 years ago during the coldest winter anyone could recall. The Battle of the Bulge had just begun to wind down. My great-grandfather Tonice, a combat medic in the 137th had been wounded on the 9th. Since we don’t know when he was evacuated, I looked through two more days, just to see what would happen next. The 137th finally came off the line today, they’d finally get some rest.
So, then, for Jan. 11:
On one of its coldest days the 137th attacked again, suffering heavy casualties, the majority being from the 2nd Battalion in taking the town of Lutremange (on the outskirts of Bastogne).
Replaced by units on both sides, the 137th went into reserve duty for a week before returning to Metz.
Feel free to click around in the other thumbnails to read about other days.
This information is derived from the unit history, found here and here and from this unit overview. He never talked about the war and his quiet choice means that these markers are rough estimates, meant only to be illustrative. Any errors are mine alone.
