The early morning of the 16th when the shelling began, John Schaffner recalled seeing hundreds of Germans. Drafted straight out of high school at the age of 18, Schaffner was with the 106th Infantry Division on Dec. 16, 1944, when the Battle of the Bulge began. The 106th saw some of the fiercest action of the battle, with two of its three regiments being surrounded during the first three days of fighting.
Just over a year ago, Schaffner sat down with three other World War II Veterans – Douglas Dillard, Alfred Shehab and Mike Levin – to share their stories with VA’s digital media team. The result was a four-part video web series, Living History: Battle of the Bulge.
In part one, we meet the four Army soliders — one each from the infantry, cavalry, airborne and artillery divisions. Surrounded by personal artifacts, uniforms and military memorabilia in the WWII History Room at Ft. Meade, Maryland, they reminisce about their younger days and joining the military.
In part two, our Veterans reflect on military life before the war and what it was like in the days leading up to Dec. 16. Alfred Shehab was sent to Europe as a replacement officer and was assigned to the 38th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, part of the 102nd group. “It was the first American unit into Paris to cross into Germany in the first Army front,” Shehab explained.
