Christmas Combat

The American army faced the desperate German army in the Belgian woods near Bastogne on Christmas 1944. A rapid change in events threw the American forces into confusion and out of the chaos emerged grim determination.
Hitler's last gamble involved throwing forced he'd held in reserve along with his remaining armored units into the thin Allied lines, where inexperienced, young troops had relieved the seasoned veterans. The ultimate goal was to get to Antwerp and disrupt the Allied supply lines. A key city, location of the intersection of seven roads, was Bastogne. The American 101st Airborne staged a defense against overwhelming odds - at least to lesser men.
The following exchange between the German commander and Brigadier General McAuliffe, inspired the men of the 101st, including those in the 506th Parachute Infantry regiment:
On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, the men received General McAuliffe's greetings. "What's merry about all this you ask?" was the opening line. "Just this: We have stopped cold everything thrown at us from the North, South, East, and West. We have identifications from four German Panzer Divisions, two German infantry divisions, and one German parachute division... The Germans surround us, their radios blare our doom. Their commander demanded our surrender in the following impudent arrogance." (There followed a four paragraph message, 'to the U.S.A. commander of the encircled town of Bastogne,' from the German commander,' demanding an 'honorable surrender to save the encircled U.S. troops from total annihilation,' dated 22 December. McAuliffe's message continued, "The German commander received the following reply: '22 December 1944. To the German commander: NUTS. The American commander.' "We are giving our country and our loved ones at home a worthy Christmas present and being privileged to take part in this gallant feat of arms are truly making for ourselves a Merry Christmas. A.C. McAulliffe, Commanding." (Band of Brothers; Stephen E. Ambrose; 2001; Simon and Shuster. p189)
My Dad served as an 18 yr old in the 87th Division, 347th Regiment somewhere in the Belgian woods, where a mortar shell nearly killed him. Do you know anyone who served there?
With a grateful heart for those who have served us and paid the price for our freedom and the freedom of many others, Merry Christmas!