The Battle des Ardennes, or Battle of the Bulge, has its 65th anniversary today.  

To commemorate the date, delegations from the United States joined those of Luxembourg for a ceremony honouring the soldiers who died to free Europe from Nazism.

On behalf of the Department of State U.S. Maureen Cormack was present.  The Luxembourg government was also present with the participation of Octavia Modert, Nicolas Schimt and Jean-Marie Halsdorf. The event was also attended by six invited American veterans who returned to Luxembourg after 65 years.

One was Herman Zeitchik. In 1944 he was 20. Originally from New Jersey and resident in Washington, he returned to Luxembourg for the second time in his life.  The first cannot be described as welcoming. "I was part of the infantry division," he recalls. "From landing to our arrival in Paris, we did not stop fighting.”
 
During the entire conflict Herman Zeitchik was not wounded once. "When we got here, the villages were deserted. The entire population had been evacuated. It was the worst winter I knew: we had only one coat, " he stated.