From the Tocqueville Connection:
http://www.adetocqueville.com/200906051619.n55gj9a16768.htm
One of those American troops was Robert Keck, who spent his 19th birthday on the banks of the Rhine, serving with the 83rd Infantry Division in theBattle of the Bulge and the advance towards Berlin. Arriving in the freezing Ardennes forests on the second day of 1945, Keck was wounded in the leg and face -- he only recently had some shrapnel removed -- and had several near brushes with death. "Once I was on a night patrol and I was trying to get up on the bridge when the Germans blew the bridge on me," said Keck, who told of being left for dead when his platoon was forced into a retreat. "That's a horrible feeling. They thought I was killed. But of course I was lucky. I could tell a lot of stories like that, close calls that we had." One of the 200 US veterans on hand to attend Saturday's ceremony in Colleville, the 83-year-old, who settled after the war in Mountville, Pennsylvania, was returning to France for the first time since 1945. "I'm so overwhelmed," he said, looking out over the sea of white crosses. "There are so many guys that we lost that can't be with us, and I'm here. You wonder why."
http://www.adetocqueville.com/200906051619.n55gj9a16768.htm
One of those American troops was Robert Keck, who spent his 19th birthday on the banks of the Rhine, serving with the 83rd Infantry Division in theBattle of the Bulge and the advance towards Berlin. Arriving in the freezing Ardennes forests on the second day of 1945, Keck was wounded in the leg and face -- he only recently had some shrapnel removed -- and had several near brushes with death. "Once I was on a night patrol and I was trying to get up on the bridge when the Germans blew the bridge on me," said Keck, who told of being left for dead when his platoon was forced into a retreat. "That's a horrible feeling. They thought I was killed. But of course I was lucky. I could tell a lot of stories like that, close calls that we had." One of the 200 US veterans on hand to attend Saturday's ceremony in Colleville, the 83-year-old, who settled after the war in Mountville, Pennsylvania, was returning to France for the first time since 1945. "I'm so overwhelmed," he said, looking out over the sea of white crosses. "There are so many guys that we lost that can't be with us, and I'm here. You wonder why."
Great story by Mr Keck. Glad you are still able to make it over. bless you mate.
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