American Infantrymen move up to cut off German counter thrust in Belgium; December 17, 1944

During the Battle of the Bulge

The many rivers and streams in Lorraine, north-eastern France, kept the combat engineer battalions busy building pontoon bridges.

Cross the streams and waterways

An American soldier stands in the crypt in the inner hall of the Battle of the Nations monument in Leipzig, Germany  after the attack on the city on April 18, 1945. 
A large monument, erected in memory of the victory over Napoleon in 1813, was one of the last bastions capitulating to the American troops. 150 soldiers of the SS troops were stocked with weapons and food, entrenched and were going to keep the defense until they ran out of ammunition. Ultimately, the US Army artillery forced the Germans to lay down their arms.