December 24, Battle of the Bulge, 1944

Kinkeade village under threat of danger

Our Christmas tree has been up since the beginning of November because we wanted to put it up. Our Thomas Kinkade Christmas village is nestled under the tree. 

With our peculiar sense of humor, we placed a polar bear statue in the middle of this idyllic world. The townspeople are unaware of what lies in wait for them.

We can afford to be silly like this. We are in our house, safe and warm. Nothing lies in wait for us or threatens us.

With all the Christmas celebrating we will do or decorations that blink around us, the calendar and history reveal to us more about our time on earth.

December 16, 1944 marked the start of the Battle of the Bulge and its month long battle in the Ardennes region of Belgium.  This battle resulted in the deaths of 75,000 soldiers. Nearly 19,000 were from the 101st. They were surrounded by Germans, helpless. Being vital, being pivotal, 101st Airborne Division held onto their precarious part of history.

Brutally cold, with temperatures dropping to just below zero, 101st were alone, cut off from help, rations, and warm clothing. Dug in the snow, troops struggled to stay alive. They were down to the last few rounds of ammunition.

Christmas eve, December 24, 1944, was the day when Allied troops and air support broke through crippling weather front that had isolated troop 101st Airborne. That day made a difference. The 101st made a difference.

Christmas morning in 1944, seventy-five years ago, shows just how brave men grasped, clutched, and carried history all the way to us.

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While we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ's birth, also celebrate and honor the courage and sacrifice given by the 101st Airborne Army Division. God provided for their needs, kept them alive.

An excellent movie, Battleground, is praised by the military that fought there.

Dominoes

What if...

It is the “What-Ifs” that make me wonder and speculate about different roads created and taken, people born or died or never existed at all—so many “what ifs”.

What if….

…there had been no slavery and Africa was left to develop on its own?

…all treaties made by the federal government to the First Nation had been honored?

…Hitler had never been born? Or, at least, had been born in a remote part of Iceland?

…the Irish Potato Famine had not happened?  Or, if the English government had intervened to help?  Or, if America had intervened?

…Napoleon had fallen off his horse early in his career and suffered a disabling injury?

…you or I had decided a different path in our teen years?

Really, it is a game of dominoes.  Lay the tiles one way or another.  And then stand them up, give a push….then watch all fall.

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