The Bulge: The Northern Shoulder

We continued our travels through the northern sector of the battle driving through the twin villages of Rocherath and Krinkelt which saw house to house fighting as the 99th and 2nd Divisions delayed the 12th SS Panzer Division, allowing American reinforcements to reach the Elsenborn Ridge where they withstood further German attacks over the next week.  Much of the Elsenborn Ridge is today a training area for the Belgian Army and inaccessible to tourists.  A narrow one-lane road goes up the ridge where there is only one small monument marking this critical point in the American defense line.

From there we went about 10 miles southeast to the tiny village of Lanzareth only a couple of miles from the German border.  With the aid of Google maps we were able to find a small gravel road leading up a hill where we found a monument dedicated to the Intelligence & Recon Platoon, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Division.  On the morning of December 16, the 22 man platoon, commanded by 2nd Lt Lyle Bouck Jr, who would turn 21 the following day, found itself confronting a 500 man German battalion.  The German timetable called for the battalion to quickly seize the village and open a path for the Panzers to exploit the breakthrough.  Instead, Bouck's platoon, with the assistance of four forward artillery observers, held off the Germans for eighteen hours before surrendering after running out of ammo, completely disrupting the attack plan and delaying the advance of the panzers by a critical day.  

Because Bouck and his platoon were POWs for the rest of the war, the actions by the platoon were little known and not recognized for decorations until 1981.  Once a full review was made of the I&R Platoon's heroic conduct, it became the most decorated American platoon of the war.  The unit received a Presidential Unit Citation, Bouck and three others received the Distinguished Service Cross, five members received Silver Stars, with nine receiving Bronze Stars with V device for Heroism.  The four soldiers of the 371st Forward Artillery Observation Team (one of whom was killed on Dec. 16) each received the Distinguished Service Cross.

The photos show the position of the memorial.  Lanzareth is at the bottom of the hill.  The hills in the distance are in Germany.  The other photos show the memorial and the information on its panels. Standing on that hillside and imaging what those soldiers went through that day was a powerful moment.