John Schaffner, 106th Infantry Division, 589th Field Artillery Battalion. Shaffner was present at the Battle of the Bulge and the 106th was in the thick of it.
The 106th Infantry Division was put to extreme test during the Battle of the Bulge. Two of the three regiments were forced to surrender after being surrounded and cut-off from the rest of the allied forces.
“When the history of the Ardennes fighting has been written, it will be recorded as one of the great strategic Allied successes of the war in Europe. Tactically, for the 106th, and the other American divisions involved, it was a bitter and costly fight. But it becomes increasingly clear that the Germans expended in that last futile effort those last reserves of men and material which they so badly needed a few months later. The losses and sacrifices of the 106th Infantry Division paid great dividends in eventual victory.”
