Guestbook

Originating from the small village of Rimburg, situated on the Dutch-German borderline where the American offensive took place in October 2-4 1944 whereby the famous Siegfried line was breached, and being an historian, one simply MUST be interested in the huge effort the US troops made. Only recently it came to my knowledge how much effort was put in the preparations because the leadership anticipated very fierce defense from the German troops, and they simply wanted to prevent experiences as the first defense line that they had to breach during D-Day, the Atlantic Wall. The role of each and every US unit that engaged in this operation deserves a lot of respect not only for the preparation but also for the continued effort during these days. I regret to this day, that while being a youngster and already interested in our huge local history, I never took the time to try and get first-hand memories. It is difficult to admit that this now is to late, and digitized archives and efforts like the 17th Armored Engineer Battalion re-enactment group bring us in hindsight this glorious history and the heroes that lived that history. We must be thankful to these young people who make the effort to share this worthwhile history with us !