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.

Seventy years ago yesterday Tonice, a combat medic in the 137th Infantry Regiment, was wounded in Belgium. Since we don’t know the details of his removal from the combat zone I did a few extra days of reading through the unit history. On this day, Villers-la-Bonne-Eau finally fell. It had been a tough nut to crack. The Americans had poured more than 100,000 shells on the village, destroying all but one of the buildings, before the Germans were wiped out

So, then, for Jan. 10:

Supported by tanks and tank destroyers, the 137th Infantry pushed ahead against the enemy again on January 10, making a slight gain and capturing the much sought and fought for town of Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, a target of the Regiment for the past thirteen days.

At 1400, the road leading from Lustremange (Bastogne) was choked with enemy vehicles, and an air strike and artillery pounded the column.

This information is derived from the unit history, found here and here and from this unit overview. These markers are rough estimates and are meant to be illustrative. Any errors are mine alone.