The Battle of the Bulge took place further North and before the Colmar Pocket Campaign, in Dezember 1944. There was a plan by the Germans to try and break out of the pocket and head north to link up with their advance in the Bulge.

Russel E. Dunham, José Valdez, Forrest E. Peden are three other Medal of Honor recipients who fought in the Colmar Pocket.

Airpower was of little use during the colmar Pocket due to bad weather. Audie said that it was only on the last day that air power came in.

The Canadians were up in the Netherlands. However, Royal Air Force bases in the area here had Canadian pilots.

General Patton’s 3^rd Army was covering this area of the Western Front until the U.S. 7^th Army arrived. Then the 3^rd Army moved up north and fought north of Strasbourg.

The U.S. 7^th Army landed on the south coast of France on the 15^th August 1944, making a lightning advance up the Rhone valley to the southern end of the Rhine Valley and the Vosges mountains.

The U.S. 28^th Division from Pennsylvania, the U.S. 75^th Infantry Division, The U.S. 12^th Armored Division , 63^rd Division and the 601^st Tank Battalion.

Other Divisions fought prior to the campaign starting in the area, e.g. the 36^th Division from Texas, the 45^th Division from Oklahoma, and the 442nd Japanese American Combat Group (the most highly decorated unit from America in WWII).

The U.S. 3^rd Division, Company B

The U.S. 7^th Army fought along with the 1^st Army of France.

It was one of the worst winters on record, minus 4 °Fahrenheit, blizzards, high winds.

It was 40 miles long and 30 miles deep, from the Rhine river into the Vosges mountains.

From 20^th January – 9^th February 1945