In this town close to the Luxembourg border, thousands of soldiers died in WWII during the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944-1945, when the Germans made an ill-fated push through Allied lines. The town is filled with stark reminders, including a star-shaped American Memorial.
The Mardasson Memorial - Bastogne
This memorial is a tribute from the Belgian population as a whole to the American nation. Its construction came about thanks to an initiative of the Belgian American Association set up in 1945 and consisting of various Belgian dignitaries who wished to perpetuate the memory of those brave American youths who fell on our soil. Given that the American effort was so decisive here, Bastogne was chosen as the site for the memorial's construction.
|
