_{Just prior to the opening of the WWII Memorial, I worked for a month on a large advertising supplement for the Washington Post Magazine. I had the opportunity to photograph a few of the veterans who testified before Congress and influenced the legislation to finally construct the Memorial.  One of them was Stan Wojtusik (upper left) who visits with me when he comes to Washington.  In my last post, I talked about the tragedy of the S.S. Leopoldville. The Wikipedia article mentioned that ironically, the survivors may have survived once again as they were not sent immediately to the front which at that time was the “Battle of the Bulge.” Stan Wojtusik (above left) was there for the whole battle and it so influenced his life that he has to date been responsible for the placement of over 100 Memorials to the Battle of the Bulge otherwise known as “the Ardennes Offensive.”}

Between December 16, 944 to January 25, 1945), several hundred thousand Allied and German soldiers fought valiantly in the probably the worst weather conditions of the war. “Trucks had to be started every l/2 hour so the oil didn’t freeze and gun barrels just froze over…” It’s a battle that is nicely chronicled on Wikipedia.  It’s worth remembering that every hero of WWII who comes to the Memorial has an amazing story. During its four-week course, more than 1 million soldiers fought the battle: some 500,000 Americans, 600,000 Germans and 55,000 British. Each side lost more than 800 tanks, and the Germans lost 1,000 aircraft. (Defense Link)  “But that victory came at a tremendous cost…. About 19,000 U.S. soldiers died, and 47,500 were wounded and more than 23,000 missing. The British suffered 1,400 casualties with 200 killed. And the Germans had 100,000 soldiers killed, wounded or captured.”

Stanley Wojtusik is featured in Jewel of the Mall: World War II Memorial book.