December 26: General George S. Patton's Third Army broke through the German lines to free up the 101st Airborne surrounded at Bastogne. My late uncle, Charlie Warnock, was in Patton's spearhead, as a member of the Seventh Engineer Combat Battalion.
Their job was to lay down pontoon bridges across the rivers for Patton's tanks and troops to cross. They did it under withering firer from the German troops, with all of the U.S. tanks BEHIND them as they built the bridges.
Out of his company of 100 men, only 12 came back alive.
His commanding officer let those remaining 12 keep their .45 auto sidearms.
When he got back to Fort Stockton, he gave my father that .45 with the words, "I never want to see this again."
My late brother got that pistol, and we shot it a lot.
A "friend" of ours broke into my brother's apartment and stole it to fuel his cocaine habit. Never got it back.

Uncle Charlie enlisted in the Army right after graduating high school.
He never spoke a word about his combat experience and never mentioned it when he ran for Pecos County Judge (and won) back in the late 70s.

But on this day, 77 years ago, he and the Third Army entered Bastogne, in one of the last large battles of World War II.