Ii. It is my great honor to serve today as your master of eremonies. Thank you all for joining us on this chilly, beautiful day, as we mark the 75th anniversary of the battle of the bulge, the largest and bloodiest single battle fought by the United States in world war ii. In fact, the largest fought by the u. S. In its entire history. Friends of the National World war ii memorial is a Small Nonprofit OrganizationWhose Mission is to honor and preserve the National Memory of world war ii and to create the next greatest generation of tomorrow. This mornings ceremony is part of the friends of the National World war ii memorials fouryear world war ii 75th anniversary commemoration, which kicked off on pearl harbor day 2016 and will continue to the 75th anniversary of vj day on september 2, 2020. I should stress that friends are the only organization hosting a full four year 75th anniversary commemoration. Marking every single major battle in which american troops participated during world war ii. Now, if you are not already doing so, please stand at attention and render appropriate honors for the presentation of colors and the playing of the national anthem. Halt. United States National anthem] right shoulder. March. Mr. Kershaw Lieutenant Colonel tammie crews will now give the invocation. Lt. Col. Crews let us pray. Gracious god, you have ordered our lives in the compassion of your will. Here in our nations capital, we are reminded of washington and lincoln. One, the 18th century father, and the other the 19th century preserver of our nation. Between them we honor those who took up the struggle for liberty and justice, freedom and peace in europe in the battle of the bulge. In this great series of battles, general eisenhower commented the present situation is to be regarded as one of opportunity for us, and so it was. Today, we remember the struggle, the bravery, and the tenacity, the acts of heroism of those who fought in the battle of the bulge. Those who survived and those who gave all of their tomorrows that we might have all of our todays. President truman rightly recognized our debt to the heroic men and women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifice. And so today we thank you especially to those who are here, who were part of this great series of the battles in world war ii, and to their families. We remember those voices now silent who rest from their labors and sacred fields of honor throughout this land on foreign soil. Especially, we hold sacred the memory of those who gave their lives in the struggle of peace, symbolized by the 4048 gold stars on the freedom wall. They shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. They fought together as brothers in arms. They died together, and now they sleep side by side. To them, we have a solemn obligation. We pause in a moment of silence to remember the fallen at the battle of the bulge. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary we them, nor the years condemned. At the going down in the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. We would be amiss if we failed to forget the families of our fallen comrades who have equally sacrificed by giving up their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and children. We pause to think of those who are deployed in harms way today. Protect them and be with their families. Be that our vision, a ruler over all, that we might be faithful to the task of being instruments of peace in our day. Let freedom ring. Men. Mr. Kershaw on december 16, 1944, today, 75 years ago, German Forces launched an amphibious i am sorry, an ambitious counterattack against allied positions in the ardennes forest. Their goal was to thwart the allied advance into germany. Instead, in this decisive sixweek campaign that became known as the battle of the ulge, American Forces resisted and overcame the german assault. Delivering a huge, fatal blow to German Military capabilities and paving the way for the final push into germany. Before we continue, id like to acknowledge some very special uests with us today. First, dr. Roberta nolan, daughter of First Lieutenant james oboyle lyons, who was taken prisoner of war during the battle of the bulge on december 21, 1944, and who died on may 15, 1945. Less than a month following his release as a result of conditions during his imprisonment. Doctor nolan, thank you for being here. We are proud to join you in honoring your fathers service and sacrifice. Next, i am pleased to introduce representatives of the allied nations that took part in the battle of the bulge 75 years ago. We should remember that it was not just an american victory, not just, as churchill said, the greatest american victory of world war ii. From the embassy of belgium, deputy chief of mission and charge daffair, mr. Kristof pale. And defensive attache, Brigadier General george fonshon. From the embassy of canada, Canadian Forces military attache, colonel patrick robicheaux. From the embassy of france, representing the French Defense mission, the major. From the embassy of luxembourg, the deputy chief of mission and charge darraires, and from the british embassy, assistant naval attache, commander jim morley. Finally, im tremendously privileged, very honored to introduce to you our world war ii veteran. Do we have a world war ii eteran here . Thank you, sir, for being here. We arranged earlier on for the majority of world war ii veterans to be warm and safely ensconced inside on this beautiful day. They will be with us later. Thank you for being with us here oday, sir. George armstein served with the u. S. Army 76th reconnaissance troop. It was mechanized in the european theater, including the ardennes campaign, during the battle of the bulge. Thank you, sir. Our final speaker today, Army Lieutenant general andrew poppas. The general is the director for operations j3 for the joint chiefs of staff. He serves as the Principal Assistant to the chairman of joint chiefs of staff for global integration initiatives. General poppas previously served as the commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division at fort campbell, kentucky. 101st airborne as you know, sir, played a wonderful role today in world war ii. Deputy chief of staff of operations for operation resolute, support in afghanistan. Please welcome. I would like to give you a great welcome, general poppas. Thank you. Gen. Poppas thank you for that introduction. And thank you very much everyone for coming out on this day. Chaplain, i want to thank you personally for providing the weather for such a wonderful backdrop as we reflect back 75 years ago and pay tribute to those who had served, fought, and sacrificed in this exact weather. And we were able to introduce a number of very important people. I thank you all for coming. But i really want to focus on our world war ii veteran and the doctor whose father was there and captured in the battle of the bulge. Those that have served before us, who shouldered a tremendous sacrifice, the burden of the fight, and gave us our freedoms today. Thank you very much for what you have done and you have been an inspiration as the years have gone forward. Thank you. [applause] i also want to thank for the friends of the National World war ii Memorial Team for ensuring their legacy lives on today and into the future. For me, personally, it is an honor to stand before you. As he identified, i commanded the 101st. As part of that formation of the years that have gone through, i have gotten to meet and engage with those from the 101st who have fought in this fight. Understand the sacrifices they made, the personal stories of heroism they did every day. To stand before you today, i am humbled and honored. It is 75 years ago today that hitlers launched 30 divisions of combat power in a surprise counteroffensive to recapture the port of antwerp in the netherlands. It was an effort at the time to turn the tide of world war ii. He knew he was losing and he had to have one last bold attack to try to drive into negotiations. The one thing that his whole plan depended on was the weather. He had to deny the allied capability where we had air supremacy. The weather did cooperate with his operation and deprived us of that single strategic capability we had. It was under the cover of a bitter winter storm, snow covering the ground, freezing temperatures, that he launched forward two separate armies, a panzer army come over 500 tanks and all the aircraft they could muster at the entire front ommitted against an element of he allies. This was an allied army that was preparing for their own offensive, taken by surprise because we didnt have our own air capability for econnaissance. It was over these days the german armies push back the allied troops deeper back into luxembourg, creating the bulge. The fight was 50 miles wide and 70 miles deep, penetrating allied lines, but this is where it shows the allies are the most adaptable and most tenacious because the leaders and commanders at the time knew they had to make a bold action and committed over 60,000 troops over 100 miles in a single day in order to fort the offensive move forward. Key to that commitment at the time, the 10th Armored Division and pushing the 101st Airborne Division right into that alient, seizing the bastogne crossroads, which are critical for the panzers to move forward to get into antwerp and by holding them, here is where the mettle of the allies and these troops were tested. Under continuous artillery pounding, two panzer divisions against them, fighting day and night without respite, forcing them to survive from handtohand combat, never wavering and they did withstand, and when the nazis couldnt push them out of position, they surrounded them. The intent was to bleed them out and hemorrhage them, force them to capitulate. And under this pounding, supplies running low, unable to take care of their own wounded, the germans came forward and demanded the surrender of the force that was there. And you heard the 101st commander at the time, actually Deputy Commander mcauliffe it always shows you have to be prepared to step up he sent back a oneword response. Nuts. It is because of that, it boldened the resolve of the forces fighting and continued to push forward and they held on in this environment for four additional days, denying the success necessary to push forward, holding them, making them vulnerable. They got an early Christmas Present on the night of the 23rd when the weather broke, and it opened up the onslaught of allied capability when the air came in. They brought the allied bombers to attack and destroy the logistical lines, pounded the front lines of the nazis, and broke the back of their attack. By Christmas Day and the day after, the third army led by general patton, broke through lines, ending the overall assault by nazis and linked up with the 101st in bastogne, ending the german attack. As the commander of the 101st, i got to know many of the soldiers who fought there. Those brothers of mine will tell you they did not need to be saved that, they had the fight well in hand, if they had a bayonet around. They would never get pushed off. That is the attitude of the soldiers that fought, and it was hat resolve. It is the that the identified that Winston Churchill called unquestionably the greatest American Battle of the entire war. It is not just the story of american victory in battle. It is also the story of the grit and tenacity of our greatest generation. It is their legacy that lives on today in the fighting men and women on freedoms frontier as we speak today. It is the soldiers fought in the freezing woods of the ardennes, the soldiers who fought are true patriots. They are children of the great depression. They are from the california coast. They are from the farmlands of the south, the midwest, the factories of the northeast, even as far as new york city galvanizing the nation to go forward and fight. They are the ones that stood forward, proven in the crucible of combat. Despite those grueling conditions that i described, the relentless barrages of the artillery, continuous attacks of the germans, and not knowing if that day would be their last, they had an unwavering clarity of purpose, and that was the destruction of fascism. It was a purpose they knew was worthy of their sacrifices. And it was after the war, as they came home, their lives changed forever, their experiences through this endeavor, but they sought neither recognition or praise. Instead, they committed themselves to bettering this nation. And it was their instilling of these values and the appreciation for freedom, and it was their children, those who fought in korea and vietnam and the wars from 9 11 forward, it is your actions today, sir, that i will tell you it is your example in the war, that we emulate, that we venerate. It serves an example to inspire us in the most demanding of combat that we face, and it is because of you that we continue to fight for the freedoms that make this country great. As i look at the crowd today, and i stand with the warriors of that greatest generation, some the carry the battle scars of battle, and remember those that gave all so we could live prosperous and free. Our nation can never thank you enough, sir. We can only make a solemn promise to continue to stand the watch so that all that you fought for and that many of your brothers died for, would be passed on to the next generation of americans. It has truly been my privilege and honor to stand in front of you today and address you. Thank you. [applause] thank you, general, for those wonderful remarks. 75 years after the germans launched their surprise and ultimately unsuccessful attack on the allies in the ardennes forest, we are gathered here today to remember and honor all of those who served and sacrificed during the battle of the bulge. Over 19,000 fatalities, tens of thousands wounded, and many more thousands psychologically damaged for the rest of their lives. It is now time to present the wreaths in honor of the more than one million allied Service Members who took part in the campaign and to remember the more than 22,000 allies and civilians who were killed. Hey are not forgotten. Presenting the wreath for the United States of america and the friends of the National World war ii memorial are army ieutenant general colonel andrew poppas, Lieutenant Colonel tammie crews, retired Army Major General john herling. Dr. Roberto nolan, daughter of First Lieutenant james oboyle lyons, who was taken prisoner of war during the battle of the bulge. Ok. Nd of course, world war ii veteran mr. George arnstein. Presenting the wreath for canada are colonel patrick robichaux, Canadian Forces military attache, embassy of canada. Presenting the wreath of france, major adrian, Defense Mission embassy of france. Presenting the wreath for luxembourg, deputy chief of mission and charity affairs, embassy of luxembourg. Last but not least, presenting the wreath did you mention hat . Ok. Oh, here it is. Ok. Thank you, holly. Presenting the wreath for the kingdom of belgium are mr. Kristof, deputy chief embassy of belgium, and Brigadier General george, defense attache, embassy of belgium. As i was saying earlier, last but not least, presenting the wreath for the United Kingdom are commander jim morley, assistant naval attache british embassy. Now, please bring the appropriate honors for playing of taps by the u. S. Army and. This concludes our ceremony. Thank you again for joining us today. Thank you very much. American history tv products are now available at the new cspan online store. Go to cspanstore. Org to see what is new for American History tv and check out all of the cspan products. This weekend on american artifacts, we visit the u. S. Armys heritage day to learn about the m4 sherman tank, the most commonly used American Tank in world war ii. Heres a preview. Good morning. My name is al coast. Im one of the volunteers here at the Army Heritage and Education Center in carlyle. Were going to talk about the american m4 tank. Probably one of the more prolific tanks of the Second World War. This particular example is one of the earlier versions. This one is armed with a 75 millimeter main gun and if we move to the commanders weapon station here, it has also got machine gun. One a mounted with a main gun and the other is mounted here up in front tank. If you take a look, he can move that up and down and show you the way that works. The sherman series, there were tanks 500 of these manufactured during the world war. This series of tank was used by every one of the allied nations during the Second World War to include england, the soviet union and nationalist chinese received sherman tanks as a result to have lend lease program. It was a vehicle that had a strategic effect on the war just because of the number of those that were out there and the allied nations that used them. This hank tank was reliable. It had a ready rate of 94 . Compared to some of the german tanks which operational readiness hovered around 50 to 60 . For us it is really a labor of love to keep the history of these things alive and to talk to the public about the experiences of soldiers that served on them and to get the opportunity to come out and be on them again is very, very special for us. That is really the motivation. Most importantly convey the story of the soldiers who served on these tanks and keep the warfare live. U. S. Tankers are fighting the war the tanks keep on fighting the war n the victory on to victory learn more about the history of the sherman tank sunday at 6 00 p. M. And 10 00 p. M. Eastern on americanarti facts. Youre watching American History tv. Howard lee was the first africanamerican elected mayor in a majority white southern city. Coming up, we sit down with mr. Lee to talk about serving as the chapel hills mayor and the challenges he faced while in office. Mayor, why did you decide to run for mayor of chapel hill . Well, it was probably more of