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The Last Voices of the Battle of the Bulge

Sorry for the long post but this is important. Authors Michael Collins and Martin King have spent more than twelve years researching and compiling information for this documentary. We have spent tireless hours pouring over documents and interviewing witnesses both military and civilian in an effort to present the most honest and accurate description of the largest land battle in US military history. This isn’t about Generals and armies. It’s about first hand accounts from those who were there, those who saw and experienced a bitter struggle in the most horrendous circumstances.

Michael Collins and I have tracked down and spoken to the last voices that witnessed this titanic struggle, and now we would like to film their testimonies while we still have the time and the opportunity. Time may be irrelevant to those who saw this battle but time is unfortunately not on our side. All you have to do is look into the eyes of a veteran to see that they are pure windows of time that reflect the emotion of their experiences as if they occurred yesterday and we can be honored indeed to see that.

The intention of this documentary is to hear and see those ‘last voices’ recounting and reliving their experiences of 65 years ago. To document and record these voices for future generations to analyze and empathize, to actually hear words emanating from the mouths of living individuals describing events that we can’t even dare to imagine. This is much more than just posterity. This is living history in its purest form.

We found some real bonafide heroes. Medal Of Honor winner Francis Currey who is willing to tell how he earned the highest military honor in the United States. Albert Tarbell of the 82nd parachute regiment whom according to many had the toughest job on the Bulge. John Schaffner will recount the true story of the ‘Alamo’ on the Bulge. He fought with tremendous courage and tenacity at Parkers Crossroads against determined 2nd SS division soldiers and blinding snowstorms. There are many more like them that we’ve found and need to record. Michael Collins conducted incalculable hours of meticulous research in his relentless hunt for the last veterans in the US while Martin King took on the daunting task of tracking down German veterans and Belgian civilians in Europe.

I discovered and spoke to SS men who after decades of silence are finally willing to give their side of the story. Hans Baumann of the 12th division ‘Hitler Jugend’ drove a Jagdpanther into the jaws of hell when he confronted the battling babies of the 99th Division between Krinkelt and Rothrath. He hadn’t wanted to join the SS in fact he initially applied to join the police force but he was surreptitiously press-ganged. 93 year old Knights Cross recipient Erwin Kressman wears his decoration with great pride 66 years after he earned it. His vivacity and direct way of telling a story are captivating. Erwin was the Forest Gump of the German army. Wherever it happened he was there and he saw it, and he has the photographs to prove it. Hans Herbst of the 116th. German Panzer division ‘Windhund’ (Greyhound) loves to tell of the Sherman that blew itself up because of him. There are other German veterans who’d rather not say anything. Martin managed to infiltrate a highly secretive German organization known as ‘Der Stille Hilfe’ that protects the identities of former SS men. The head of this organization is none other than the daughter of the infamous Nazi Heinrich Himmler. We’ve managed to get addresses and phone numbers of some riveting candidates for this documentary.

We have conflicting accounts of the infamous Malmedy massacre and Ted Paluch of the 285th Engineers, the man who survived it. To ensure further accuracy we employed the talents of a friend and former CIA forensic scientist who has very definite opinions about what occurred in that field a couple of miles north of Malmedy on December 17th 1944.

Then there are the heartrending civilian accounts like Madame Arlotte in Stavelot. On the north of the Bulge as the 1st SS Division fitfully edged it’s toward the river Meuse it encountered obstacles and resistance that inevitably slowed its progress. Enraged and frustrated they lashed out mercilessly at the innocent civilian population of Stavelot and surrounding villages and murdered 133 of them. Among the victims were the sisters, mother and father of Madam Arlotte. She herself was shot in the thigh and left for dead. She wants to tell her story and feels the world should not forget the civilian victims of wars. Mike and I agree with her 100%. Hubert Laby spent the best part of his whole life hunting the SS perpetrators of this inhuman crime and confronted them with the facts. He risked his life on many occasions in his relentless pursuit of these men. He’s one of the last people alive who can produce damning evidence against the 1st SS Division. In this documentary you’ll find out why he’s so fervent in his pursuit.

While researching this documentary we discovered that in Arlon at the height of the battle literally hundreds of GI’s were off their heads, drunk beyond redemption after discovering the delights of strong Belgian Beer at a Monastery. Again we have witness testimonies to the greatest military piss up ever. It isn’t just history!

Thanks to the cooperation of veterans organizations and various city archivists we have assembled the all the necessary information needed to present a compelling, comprehensive and honest account of the Battle of the Bulge. We would like to stress the tremendous gravitas of a documentary based on the last voices of the Battle of the Bulge. If we don’t act now we will never hear them and they will be gone for good. They deserve our respect, they deserve our admiration and moreover they deserve to be heard. They’ve earned it. It’s so bloody frustrating that we can’t get a US production house on board to help us interview US veterans on film. The Belgians have been tremendous though. A Belgian company called ‘Latchodrom’ is financing the interviewing of all the German veterans but stateside we can’t find anyone to reciprocate and film the US veterans. These are YOUR heroes, your history and a history that you can be rightfully proud of. This should be a co-production! We even have an Oscar nominated director here called Guy Thys who is wildly enthusiastic about this project and will direct the European section of the documentary.

These really are the last voices of the Battle of the Bulge. We NEED a US production house to record/film the US veterans if you know of one please pass on this information.

We persevere because we owe them everything. While writing this mail we have learned of the passing of our friends James Hanney 168th Combat Engineers Battalion and Albert Tarbell 82nd Airborne. World war two veterans are dying at a rate of approximately 1000 per day. Do you see what we mean now? This is how important it is.

Best regards Martin King & Michael Collins

US ‘Last voices from the Battle of the Bulge’ coordinator Michael Collins
msc884@gmail.com

Europe ‘Last voices from the Battle of the Bulge’ coordinator Martin King
martin.king@skynet.be
0032 3 888 23 19 LAND
00 32 476 63 72 70 CELL

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3242799/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfHlh270XLw
Or type ‘Hitler’s trenches’ on the YouTube search
BATTLE OF THE BULGE URL;
http://users.skynet.be/fa531049/home/index.html

Guy Thys (Oscar nominated director)
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1157495/

Gerda Coppens Producer Latchodrom
http://www.latchodrom.be/indexflash.html