Subject: On this day in 1944..
From: Ed Rasimus
Date: 12/20/03 7:45 AM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

On 20 Dec 2003 14:43:28 GMT, (ArtKramr) wrote:

On this day in 1944 the Germans began shelling theWirtz-Bastogne crossroad
in
an attempt to push the 101st Airborne out of the defense of Bastogne. They
failed. .Temperature went down to below freezing in the bitter cold of that
Belgian winter and the 101st was down to eating K rations. Those that had
them.

Arthur Kramer

And, on this day in 1972, the Linebacker II operation experienced the
worst losses of the campaign with six B-52s downed over Hanoi. The
Eleven Days of Christmas, however, drove the recalcitrant North
Vietnamese back to the bargaining table and resulted in the release of
our POWs by March of '73.

And, arguably proved once and for all the Douhet principle that
strategic bombing can be decisive politically without ground invasion.
IMNSHO!



Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8


What a relief Ed. We are finally discussing something that counts in this NG.
Y'know, life, death, victory, defeat flying missions and war. For a while there
I thought that this NG would forever be commited to inane trivialites like the
true meaning of " Fly Boy" or similiar crap.

Regards,

Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer