Before the Allies could cross the Rhine River, Bernard Montgomery’s forces first had to pry the German defenders away from its western bank with two simultaneous operations: Veritable and Grenade. 

Torn and warped by Japanese bullets, this piece of protective gear is a rare testament to the ferocious fighting of the oft-forgotten Aleutian Islands Campaign. 

Company E far exceeded the simplistic expectations of “Americanization” that marked its beginning, and its men went on to prove what it meant to be truly American. 

The real crusher to the German offensive plans in the Ardennes occurred 46 miles north east of Bastogne, in a small area consisting of a copse of small villages and a piece of high ground called Elsenborn Ridge.

Despite the lack of proper diet and medical supplies, the proliferation of tropical disease, constant enemy bombardments, and the threat of being overrun by a fanatical enemy, American forces held on to “The Island of Death.”