Bastogne, 1992, By Luke Hansen

From MemoryArchive

Who: Luke Hansen 
What: Trip to Bastogne
When: 1992
Where: Bastogne, Europe

My father was in the military and was stationed in Germany from 1987-1992. I spent five years of my childhood growing up in Germany. During this time I was exposed to the history of World War Two. I became very interested in this war and how it had affected Europe where I was living at the time. To help increase my interest in this subject my parents took me on a trip to the town of Bastogne. For those of you who do not know Bastogne is a Belgium town. During the Battle of the Bulge in 1944 the American 101st Airborne division was surrounded in this town and successfully defended it against a strong German attack for several days.

During my trip to this town I remember feeling astonished that a lightly armed division that was surrounded had managed to hold off German tanks for several days. I was also very humbled at how the towns people behaved towards the Americans. They were truly appreciative of the sacrifices made by the paratroopers in defending their town. The final impression that I had was that this should be the role of the United States military, defending those who could not defend themselves from oppressors. This was the same role that my dad was playing nearly fifty years later. He was defending Europe from an aggressor. I was very pleased that the U.S. military was still playing the right role even after so much time.