80 years later, Battle of the Bulge heroes remind us why we must stand up to tyrants

On the morning of Dec. 16, 1944, German soldiers burst through the mists and snows of Belgium’s dense Ardennes Forest to attack outnumbered American soldiers in what became known as the Battle of the Bulge, Hitler’s last bid to win World War II. 

My father served in the battle – which claimed 19,000 American lives and more than 89,000 total American casualties – and I just returned from a bipartisan, official visit to the battlefield to mark its 80th anniversary and personally thank the World War II veterans who fought there. 

Our visit was a powerful reminder that appeasing tyrants never works, and that the United States must continue to stand strong against tyrants like Vladimir Putin to keep America safe.

Adolf Hitler was the leader of Nazi Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. (Getty Images )

By 1944, Hitler knew that he could not win the war outright. But he believed that after years of war, the Allies were growing weary. He made a last-ditch gamble that if he drove his troops between the American and British armies, he could break our will to fight and make us abandon our allies by agreeing to allow him to keep some of the territory that he had conquered in exchange for peace.

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My dad didn’t talk much about his service but would occasionally hint at how hard the conditions were. The Germans attacked when thick clouds prevented any Allied air cover. In sub-freezing temperatures and with insufficient gear, soldiers marched through unforgiving, dense forests and deep snowbanks. Their weapons froze and an awful condition called trench foot slowed every step. The American lines bent and nearly broke. 

But Hitler underestimated Americans’ strength, courage and spirit. Our soldiers knew that they had to see the war through to the finish to rid the world of Hitler’s tyranny and preserve freedom. The battle, and soon the war, was won.

We can hear the echoes of the Battle of the Bulge as Putin tries to push further into Ukraine, attempting to divide and exhaust those who love liberty. There are differences, but the fraught conditions that the Ukrainians face today have parallels to the conditions faced by the heroes of the Bulge. And like Hitler, Putin knows that while he can no longer win the war outright, he can still secure victory if he breaks America’s resolve to stand against him. 

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Some suggest that it’s in America’s interest to abandon Ukraine. They’re wrong. Even when a war is halfway across the globe it affects us, just as Hitler’s invasion of Europe affected my dad and millions like him. 

As Hitler’s strength grew in the run-up to World War II, he threatened, in 1938, to invade Czechoslovakia. Hoping to appease Hitler and contain his aggression, British and French leaders signed the Munich Agreement, surrendering Czech territory to Germany. This only emboldened Hitler though, leading him to conquer not only Czechoslovakia, but then invade nearly all of Europe before America entered the war and finally defeated him.

Tyrants like Hitler and Putin value strength and capitalize on weakness. If we abandon Ukraine now, Ukraine will likely be forced to take a deal that only emboldens Putin. Tyrants and terrorists in Iran, North Korea and China will take notice and try to exploit what will be seen as blatant American weakness. 

The better choice is to stand with our allies so that Ukraine can be in a strong position to determine its own future. Now is the time to show Putin and our adversaries across the globe that America’s resolve cannot be broken.

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The heroes of the Battle of the Bulge left us with an important lesson: Tyranny on the march is only turned back through strength, and freedom belongs to the brave — and to the wise. By the time America entered the war, Hitler had been strengthened by those who declined to confront him when he first rose to power. 

At the 80th anniversary ceremony at the Luxembourg American Cemetery, John Foy, a Battle of the Bulge veteran, reminded us that, by that point, "the freedoms we cherish came at a terrible cost."

At that cemetery, I was honored to recognize the heroes of the Bulge by laying the Senate’s wreath as part of the commemoration ceremony. I reflected on the ways in which much has changed since 1944, and that the ranks of the living WWII veterans have grown thinner. 

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It’s been 80 years since the final shots of the Battle of the Bulge rang out. It’s been decades since my dad asked me at the breakfast table, "What are you doing for freedom today?"

The heroes of the Battle of the Bulge still call to us. Their example of strength and courage still rings true. We cannot be the first generation of Americans to turn from them, retreat in the face of tyrants and fail to heed their calls. 

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