Hear about the Battle of the Bulge from Montana veterans

Two of Montana’s many veterans, Randy LeCocq and John Driscoll, will be telling the story of the Battle of the Bulge from a Montana perspective at the Miles City Public Library, this Friday, November 16, between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., and Glasgow’s Public Library on Saturday, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The Battle of the Bulge cost the lives of more than 19,000 U.S. soldiers, as they defeated the last German strategic offensive of World War II. The two Montana writers walked and rode the critical sectors of the battlefield, including Elsenborn Ridge, Malmedy, St. Vith and Bastogne. There will be a general discussion of their book, “The Battle of the Bulge: A Montana Perspective,” in which they tried to convey how American soldiers stopped a surprise steamroller attack, while operating in freezing conditions with enormous casualties and outnumbered at the points of attack by five to ten times their own strength.

LeCocq and Driscoll have gathered first impressions while in the deep snow of winter, similar to the conditions during the actual fighting, and have located the specific points of action of Montanans caught up in the fighting.

Relatives of soldiers who fought in the battle are encouraged to join the discussion and gain an understanding of the Montanans’ hardships during the freezing winter of 1944 - 45.