That same weariness many here share.

[ironglow]

  This is written by a Marine veteran and 5 time Massachusetts state senator. You can check Snopes if you wish, you will find it correctly attributed. No matter though..if it weren't attributable to this man, millions of others of us would be glad to claim it, as would I dare say..most here. I can only find 1/2 of one sentence which I disagree with.... You may want to pass this to friends
  He says, " I'm 63 and I'm tired" ;

   http://www.redstate.com/gekster/2010/08/16/im-63-and-im-tired-by-robert-a-hall/
     

[powderman]

IRONGLOW. He sounds like a very intelligent man and sees the world  the way it is, not like some who see things completely backwards. POWDERMAN. 

[bilmac]

What's the patch I.G.? I'm guessing 4th infantry.

[ironglow]

What's the patch I.G.? I'm guessing 4th infantry.

  Bilmac;
  That's the 4th Armored division, I was proud to be a "romping, stomping, Army tanker". The 4th armored division broke through the German ring around Bastogne, France (WW2) where Gen Tony McAuliffe and his courageous 101st "Screaming Eagles" wre surrounded.
  I was not there, I served with the 4th Armored in Ft Hood, TX in the mid 50s. The 4th armored is no longer extant, having been absorbed into the 1st armored. We had no "slogan" such as the 1st's "Old Ironsides" or the 2nd's "Hell on Wheels"..but we alone of the armored divisions wore the French Forrageres, a red & green rope affair around our upper left arm & shoulder. Some Marine units also wear the FF.
   The 4th infantry division, see patch below is winning more battle streamers for their flags right  now in Afghanistan..after adding some in Iraq. If you look closely, you will often see that honorable patch in videos coming from the heavy fighting in Afghanistan.

[BBF]

IG; Correction if you don't mind.

"They shall be known by their Deeds alone" 4th Armored Divion . Member of HQ&HQ Co as well as 504th Admin Co.
Goeppingen Germany. 1962 to 1965

[saddlebum]

No wonder he is tired. 5 terms in the Mass. State Senate. With his frame of mind, it must have been miserable to be around that much liberalism and trying to get anything done.

[SwampThing762]

Ironglow,

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought the 101 surrounded the Germans.  At least, that is what one of the "Battered Bastards" told me in an interview I did for a college history paper.

Anywho, thank you for your service.  I salute you!

ST762

[ironglow]

IG; Correction if you don't mind.

"They shall be known by their Deeds alone" 4th Armored Divion . Member of HQ&HQ Co as well as 504th Admin Co.
Goeppingen Germany. 1962 to 1965

 
  
Right SB, I should have been more precise. We had no slogan bar visible with our patch and our sloigan explained the lack of slogan bar quite succinctly; "THEY SHALL BE KNOWN BY THEIR DEEDS ALONE"..
  Below also is the 3rd..or "spearhead" division.
     I was in the 508th tank Bn..see shoulder badge "penetrate and envelop" also below..

[powderman]

SWAMPTHING. Just the opposite. The 101st was surrounded by the germans at bastogne. POWDERMAN. 

[ironglow]

Swampthing;
    Hitler's "last gasp" , the "Battle of the Bulge" came about when in a surprise breakout, Hitler tried to get his troops to reach the sea at Antwerp, cutting between the American & British forces. The full fury hit after the German Army spent weeks preparing in the Vosges mountains. The full force hit American forces in  early December..catching many by surprise, even Eisenhower was caught flat-footed.
  Bastogne was a key spot, since so many highways met there. I visited there when I was stationed in Germany, it is very hilly there , and soil would be greasy in December..an army NEEDED the roads to move, so the 101st held the town and the Wermacht (German Army) flowed around, effectively sealing them off from the rest of the US forces.
  When the demand came from the German commander for the surrender of the 101st, Gen "Tough" Tony MacAuliffe sent back one word.. "NUTS"
  Upon hearing of the 101sts predicament,Patton wheeled his 3rd Army around and drove pell-mell for Bastogne. The 4th Armored reached there first and the 37th tank Bn drove through the German forces encircling the town..then the Germans closed up the gap again.
  When one of the tank commanders was informed that the Germans had reclosed the gap, he was quoted as saying, " Hey, they have us surrounded again, the poor Bast_ _ _s " !

  Below see map showing the US forces surrounded   US=blue   German=  red
        
  Correction; ignore second (same) map..

[ironglow]

IG; Correction if you don't mind.

"They shall be known by their Deeds alone" 4th Armored Divion . Member of HQ&HQ Co as well as 504th Admin Co.
Goeppingen Germany. 1962 to 1965

  Scatterbrain;
  From 1962 to 1965 I was stationed in Pirmasens, Germany..only about 6 klicks from the French border. Do you know where that is?
  The Kaserne is shut down now..
  Pirmasens is about 40 miles past Karlsrhue from Goppengen. I used to get down around Pforzheim and Stuttgart now and then also spent a time at Bad Tolz (Kiwi college) 7th Army NCO school.

[SwampThing762]

I know the history, guys; I used to teach it so that our young ones would know.    I made that statement so that the input from someone from the 101 would have been present.  BTW, that fellow passed away quietly 4 years ago.

ST762

[no guns here]

I drove through Pirmasens last year.  Took the long way home from K-Town to Stuttgart after a medical app't.  Nice little place in a really nice part of Germany.  Must have been a good place to spend time back then.  Like most towns in Germany that had an American Kaserne or Barracks there, you can still see where it was since the buildings are still there.  Just look for the rows of buildings that are all alike with the same roofs.  Ran into another small Kaserne north west of K-town that was shuttered up and fenced off still.  Don't remember the name but I looked it up at one time.  It looked like the Germans were still mowing the grass and doing basic maintenance.  It looked like it was ALMOST ready for use again.  Turned out it had been empty for something like 8-10 years.


NGH

[ironglow]

  When I was there the Kaserne was called D'Isley Kaserne, later to be called Husterhoeh Kaserne.. The countryside is nice..but the rain.., it must have rained at least 200 days a year; almost never a downpour but more like a continual drizzle.
  I really liked Bad Tolz though (30K south of Munich), when I was there for 7th Army NCO Academy. The Kaserne at Bad Tolz was a tiny one, just a beautiful parade ground/park surrounded by a quadrangle of barracks. It was the Kaserne which during ww2, housed the guards for Hitler's "Eagle's Nest" nearby. That was called "Flint Kaserne", and I believe that neither Flint nor Husterhoeh are kasernes any longer, having been reverted back to and now used by the German people.
  Here's a link you may like..  http://armykaserne.com/us/husterhoeh-kaserne-pirmasens/

[bilmac]

If I remember right they say that when the guys from the 101st found out they were surrounded the saying was "good, we have them right where we want them now."

[powderman]

I believe the set of movies BAND OF BROTHERS is all about the 101 st, lot of history there. We watched the entire series, our local library has them. POWDERMAN. 

[SwampThing762]

like i said before, the guys from the 101 surrounded (have them right where we want them) the Gerries.   It is all point of view fellas, and my interviewee said the 101 surrounded the Gerries ( he was a no nonsense kind of guy like all of the Greatest generation).   Just because i was not there does not mean I do not have the straight dope.

ST762