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On the morning of December 16, 1944, German soldiers broke through the fog and snow of Belgium’s dense Ardennes Forest to attack outnumbered American soldiers in what became known as The Battle of the BulgeHitler’s last attempt to win World War II.
My father served in the battle—which claimed 19,000 American lives and more than 89,000 total American casualties—and I just returned from a bipartisan, official visit to the battlefield to mark his 80th anniversary and personally thank World War II veterans who fought there.
Our visit was a powerful reminder that pandering to tyrants never works and that the United States must continue to fight back strongly tyrants like Vladimir Putin to keep America safe.
Adolf Hitler was the leader of Nazi Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. (Getty Images)
By 1944, Hitler knew that he could not completely win the war. But he believed that after years of war, the Allies had become tired. He took one last gamble that if he drove his troops between the American and British armies, he could break our will to fight and force us to abandon our allies by agreeing to let him keep some of the territory he had won in return for peace.
My dad didn’t talk much about his service, but he would occasionally hint at how difficult the conditions were. The Germans attacked when thick clouds prevented any Allied air cover. In sub-zero temperatures and with insufficient equipment, the soldiers marched through relentless, dense forests and deep snow drifts. Their weapons froze, and a horrible condition called trench foot slowed every step. The American lines buckled and almost broke.
But Hitler underestimated the strength, courage and spirit of the Americans. Our soldiers knew that they had to see the war to the end in order to free the world from Hitler’s tyranny and preserve freedom. The battle, and soon the war, was won.
We can hear the echoes of the Battle of the Bulge as Putin tries to push further into Ukraine, trying to divide and wear down those who love freedom. There are differences, but the harsh conditions Ukrainians face today have parallels to the conditions faced by the heroes of the bulge. And like Hitler, Putin knows that while he can no longer win the war outright, he can still ensure victory if he breaks America’s resolve to oppose him.
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Some suggest it is inside American interest to leave Ukraine. They are wrong. Even when the war is halfway across the globe, it affects us, just as Hitler’s invasion of Europe affected my dad and millions like him.
As Hitler’s power grew on the eve of World War II, he threatened in 1938 to invade Czechoslovakia. Hoping to appease Hitler and curb his aggression, British and French leaders signed the Munich Agreement, ceding Czech territory to Germany. This only emboldened Hitler, leading him to conquer not only Czechoslovakia, but to invade almost all of Europe before America entered the war and finally defeated him.
Tyrants like Hitler and Putin value strength and capitalize on weakness. If we leave Ukraine now, Ukraine will likely be forced into a deal that only emboldens Putin. Tyrants and terrorists in Iran, North Korea, and China will notice and try to exploit what will be seen as an obvious American weakness.
The better choice is to stand with our allies so that Ukraine can be in a strong position to determine its future. Now it’s time to show off Putin and our opponents around the world that American resolve cannot be broken.
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The heroes of the Battle of the Bulge left us with an important lesson: Only strength can bring tyranny back on the march, and freedom belongs to the brave — and the wise. By the time America entered the war, Hitler had been strengthened by those who had refused to oppose him when he first came to power.
At the 80th anniversary ceremony at the Luxembourg American Cemetery, John Foy, a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, reminded us that until that moment, “the freedoms we cherish have come at a terrible price.”
At that cemetery, I had the honor of honoring the heroes of the Bulge by laying the wreath of the Senate as part of the commemoration ceremony. I thought about the ways in which many things had changed since 1944 and how the ranks had changed living veterans of the Second World War they got thinner.
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It has been 80 years since the last shots of the Battle of the Bulge rang out. It’s been decades since my dad asked me over the breakfast table, “What are you doing for freedom today?”
The heroes of the Battle of the Bulge are still calling us. Their example of strength and courage still rings true. We cannot be the first generation of Americans to turn away from them, to retreat before tyrants and ignore their calls.
