[1 of 7]

December 23rd, 1944. Battle of the Bulge, Day 7.

Early morning, the 82nd Airborne Division digs in along the front lines in the Ardennes' northern sector.

A tank destroyer from the 7th Armored Division moving back passes a lone 82nd trooper digging a foxhole.
[2 of 7]

The vehicle commander, unsure of his location, stops the vehicle and asks the trooper if this is the frontline.

The trooper, Private First Class Thomas Martin, replies, “Are you looking for a safe place?” The tank destroyer commander replies that he is.
[3 of 7]

Martin, a paratrooper armed a mere rifle, talking to a commander in an armored vehicle: “Well, buddy, just pull your vehicle behind me. I am the 82nd Airborne and this is as far as the bastards are going!”

The tank destroyer commander is amazed by Martin's confidence.
[4 of 7]

The story, first documented by a reporter in 1945, is largely overlooked for two decades. In the early 1960s, the quote becomes associated with this picture of a dirty, tough 82nd Airborne Paratrooper named Private First Vernon K. Haught near St. Vith during Bulge.
[5 of 7]

That photo actually has nothing to do with the story. [Remember, this is the no-BS account of the Battle of the Bulge].

Both Haught & Martin were members of the 82nd Airborne; both were near St. Vith on this day, but Martin (not Haught) is the author of this quote.
[6 of 7]

In 1965, this recruiting poster, ("compliments of your unit reenlistment office") is created, giving birth to a legendary story.
[FINAL]

Why did this story resonate so widely? First, it's an inspiring quote from a dismounted Soldier telling a tank to follow him.

Second, the picture of Haught. You simply know from the look that he's tough. He's a bad@$$. He's not going to give a damn inch to any Nazis.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with XVIII Airborne Corps🐉

XVIII Airborne Corps🐉 Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @18airbornecorps

24 Dec
Back to the #BattleOfTheBulge

Christmas Eve in the Ardennes was bleak and cold.

[1 of 21] Image
[2 of 21]

In the northern shoulder, the VII Corps absorbed a major German push. Image
[3 of 21]

In the north, our boys received the first airdrop of supplies in three days (bad weather cancelled every airdrop since December 21) Image
Read 21 tweets
23 Dec
[1 of 9]

Back to the #BattleOfTheBulge.

Maxwell Taylor is just now returning to the fight from DC as his 101st is fully encircled.

Lawton Collins' VII Corps & Matthew Ridgway's XVIII ABN Corps are barely hanging on in the North.

Now another fabled General enters the drama.
[2 of 9]

For the most part, the Allies are holding the line and keeping the Germans from advancing too far.

However, the German main push [see the center of this map] now starts to widen and moves north [6th Panzer Army] and south [5th Panzer Army] of Bastogne. Image
[3 of 9]

Patton's Third Army is called in to try to cut the Panzer Divisions off from the South. Image
Read 9 tweets
22 Dec
[1 of 5]

Katherine Flynn Nolan, an Army nurse w/ the 53rd Field Hospital during the #BattleoftheBulge, was an angel in that frozen hell. Kate's platoon established a hospital in a Belgian school. Throughout the fighting, she treated US and German troops.
[2 of 5]

In the Ardennes, Kate and her platoon suffered through the same conditions as all Soldiers.

In a 2014 interview with @AmericanLegion, she still recalled the brutal cold: “We were in tents with nothing but a pot-belly stove.”
[3 of 5]

Kate's platoon treated the seriously wounded. "Keeping them warm & keeping them alive was our job." The platoon moved around from one infantry unit to another. "We had four hours to get the tents up and be ready for patients. Sometimes they came in b/f we were ready."
Read 5 tweets
22 Dec
1 of 23

DECEMBER 22, 1944: NUTS!

As a practical matter, the fight was over.
2 of 23:

When describing the 101st Airborne Division and the remnants of the 60th and 28th Divisions in Bastogne, many historians will tell you that the Americans were surrounded.
3 of 23:

That is accurate but it is insufficiently descriptive. "Surrounded" does not really come close to representing the odds stacked up against our Paratroopers by mid-day on Friday.
Read 23 tweets
21 Dec
1 of 16: WE ARE ALL JEWS HERE: THE STORY OF RODDIE EDMONDS

One of the most moving and relevant stories of the Battle of the Bulge, or any American Soldier in any war, is that of Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds, a Knoxville, Tennessee native, who served with the 106th Infantry.
2 of 16:

Roddie was captured early on in the Battle of the Bulge, on December 19th, when Panzer forces plowed through his unit.

He, along with almost his entire regiment, was forced to surrender.
3 of 16:

The men were transported to the Stalag IX-A POW camp in Ziegenhain, Germany.

Roddie was the senior enlisted American Soldier at the site. As such, he was the conduit between all American Soldiers and their German captors.
Read 16 tweets
20 Dec
1 of 19:

Hey there! It's us! Thanks for following our Battle of the Bulge series!

Got time for a quick thread on Allied intelligence and German deception? Just give us 19 tweets.

Let's go
2 of 19:

Many of you have pointed out how critical we’ve been of the Allied generals in our Battle of the Bulge series thus far. We’ve mentioned the remarkable failure of Allied intelligence that led to the smashing initial success of the Ardennes Counteroffensive.
3 of 19:

We should mention, however, as some of you have in our DMs, the totality of circumstances weighing on the matter led Eisenhower and Bradly to believe the German forces had nothing left in terms of a counterpunch in the Ardennes.
Read 19 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!