101st Airborne Division Troops Return to Bastogne to Mark 80th Anniversary of Battle of the Bulge
Military.com | By Richard Sisk
Published December 13, 2024 at 3:25 pm
"The snow turned red," machine gunner Vincent Speranza recalled, as the hastily dug-in troops of the 101st Airborne Division opened up on attacking German infantry and tanks to defend the Belgian crossroads town of Bastogne 80 years ago.
Then-Pvt. 1st Class Speranza, the son of Italian immigrants, said his lieutenant had ordered the first-line defenders to hold fire until the unsuspecting Germans were within 400 yards as they moved at an easy pace across an open field in the bitter cold of first light on Dec. 19, 1944.
"When they got to the 400 yards, the lieutenant said, 'Now! Now!' and we opened up with everything we had. It was a slaughter," Speranza recalled in a 2021 talk at the American Veterans Center.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/12/13/101st-airborne-division-troops-return-bastogne-mark-80th-anniversary-of-battle-of-bulge.html
