Iowa Public Television

American Experience

The Battle of the Bulge (#705)

The Battle of the Bulge was the single biggest and bloodiest battle American soldiers ever fought. It came as a total surprise to allied troops when, on December 16, 1944, thirty German divisions roared across an 85-mile Allied front. By Christmas, the German offensive had opened a bulge some fifty miles into the Allied lines, forcing the biggest mass surrender of American soldiers since Bataan. Unprepared for the assault, more than 80,000 Americans were killed, maimed or captured. This film looked at the battle through the eyes of the U.S. soldiers and combat officers in the field--the young men charged with holding the line and closing the bulge. The program explored who the soldiers were and how they came to be in the Ardenees; how they lived before the Battle and survived within it; and why their memories, some fifty years later, continued to haunt them. [86 minutes]

This episode has not aired in the past few months on Iowa Public Television.