The Battle of The Bulge: December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945

 December 16, 2024

Tony Vaccaro: Moving up in the  Ardennes, 1944

#onthisday, December 16, in 1944, The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, the last major German offensive campaign of WWII began. With the onset of winter, the German army launched a counteroffensive that was intended to cut through the Allied forces in a manner that would turn the tide of the war in Hitler's favor. 

The "Bulge" was the largest and bloodiest single battle fought by the United States in World War II.

“I never wanted to be a fighter, but I always wanted to be a photographer. I decided to photograph portraits of the people in my unit, because they were the people I lived with. We slept together, we risked together. We did so much together. I never saw soldiers. I saw human beings. I saw red blood, human blood. The battlefield, in a way, helped me, because when the war is on, that’s all that it is, fighting all the time. You know that it can happen to you. What do you do about it? I took pictures.” –Tony Vaccaro

Tony Vaccaro: Battle of Ardennes, Near Ottre, Belgium., January,1945

In the spring of 2025, Monroe Gallery of Photography will present a major exhibition commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Details to be announced soon.

Tony Vaccaro: Firing Line, Battle of Hurtgen Forest, Germany, 1944