"On December, 16, 1944, Hitler launched his last gamble in the snow-covered forests and gorges of the Ardennes. He believed he could split the Allies by driving all the way to Antwerp, then force the Canadians and the British out of the war. Although his generals were doubtful of success, younger officers and NCOs were desperate to believe that their homes and families could be saved from the vengeful Red Army approaching from the east. Many were...

On December 16, 1944, the hard-hit German Army secretly assembled a massive force to slam through Belgium-Luxembourg in the Ardennes Offensive, hitting the Allies' front line and beginning the Battle of the Bulge. General George S. Patton's 10th Armored Division is surrounded in the town of Bastogne until Patton decides to beat back the enemy assault with the best machine in his arsenal: the M-4 Sherman tank.

"In December 1944, when the Germans launched their last-ditch offensive now known as the Battle of the Bulge, they badly needed to capture the Belgian city of Bastogne as a communications center, supply depot, and springboard for their drive to Antwerp. The city's defense by the 101st Airborne is often cited as the battle's most desperate and dramatic episode, but these heroics never could have happened if not for the unsung efforts of a ragtag, battered...