During the cold, winter morning of December 16, 1944 over 200,000 German troops, supported by close to 1,000 tanks, attacked Allied forces along a 75 mile front in the Ardennes Forest. This proved to be Adolph Hitler’s final attempt to stop the Allied advance into Germany and became known as The Battle of the Bulge.

My Father-in-Law, William A. Kort, a sergeant with the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion, was dropped off somewhere in Belgium on December 18, 1944 and fought, nearly continuously, until he was wounded on January 24, 1945 by mortar fire. Like many others, he was patched up by a medic and refused a trip to a field hospital to return to his unit. While on patrol, he was shot in the neck by a sniper on January 27, 1945 near St. Vith, Belgium. He spent more than 8 months in various hospitals before being discharged in late August, 1945. William “Bill” Kort is now in a rehab facility on Long Island where he and his dearly departed wife Connie raised 5 wonderful children. Bill will soon celebrate his 100th birthday. Thank you, “Poppy”, for your service!

LODD’s:

Dec 16, 2003

Career fire fighter dies of carbon monoxide poisoning after becoming lost while searching for the seat of a fire in warehouse – New York.