Marion Progress

ENOUGH TO GO AROUND

The heroic resistance of some 10,000 American soldiers at "bloody Bastogne," where for a week, surrounded by the enemy, they withstood the attack of five German divisions, may have been the decisive action on thwarting the German offensive.

Reports from the battlefield indicate that our leaders have learned much about airborne supply operations from their experience in Normandy and in The Netherlands. On four days, 842 P-47 transport and fifty glider drops were made to aid the garrison.

The air crews worked in the daytime rather than at night because previous experience showed that eighty per cent of supplies dropped at night were lost, while ninety-five per cent of those dropped in daylight were recovered.

But for the delivery of these supplies, the American soldiers in Bastogne might have shared the fate of the British Airborne troops at Arnhem. The 101st Airborne Division got to Bastogne just before the siege began and was joined by elements of the Ninth and Tenth Armored Divisions in holding off the Germans.

While the dramatic resistance of the Bastogne garrison has received considerable publicity, reports from Europe indicate that every American division, involved in the fighting against Von Rundstedt's veterans, fought splendidly against heavy odds.

The determined resistance of men on the ground, coupled with the callous disregard of danger by the men of the Air Corps, prevented a great military disaster. The glory is enough to go around, spread pretty thick.