Dec 16, 2019 - Politics & Policy
Battle of the Bulge, 75 years on: U.S. delegates honor soldiers in Belgium
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a bipartisan congressional delegation to the Belgian town of Bastogne to join weekend-long commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of World War II's Battle of the Bulge.
Why it matters: The battle, which began Dec. 16, 1944, and ended Jan. 25, 1945, was the last major German Western front offensive of the war.
- The Americans "suffered some 75,000 casualties" during the fighting and Germany up to 100,000 soldiers, per the U.S. Army Center of Military History, which notes the German strength "had been irredeemably impaired."
The big picture: Hundreds of actors re-enacted the battle, also known as the Ardennes Counteroffensive, over the weekend, per Euronews.