Argumentative Essay: The First American Invasion

In the late months of 1944 Hitler’s army was in defeat. American and Allied forces celebrated as they liberated French towns and communities. The Americans held a Pass and Review under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, where Hitler’s army had marched through four years prior. France was now liberated and Germany was on the run. General Dwight D. Eisenhower speculated that the war would be over by December of that year. The Americans’ arrogance, however, prevented them from realizing that victory was not yet a guarantee. In fact, the bloodiest and most costly battle in American history was about to occur. While Americans were busy with premature celebration, Hitler was regrouping his forces. He planned a massive attack, known amongst the Germans as the Ardennes Offensive, which would be his last ditch effort

Because of the mountainous terrain of the Ardennes, Eisenhower didn’t see that it was necessary to heavily defend the area, especially since Germany was on the run. He decided to spread the American troops thinly through the area, most of which were poorly trained replacement troops. These green troops were told that the Ardennes was a quite front, often referring to it as the “ghost front”. Here, new troops could do patrols and learn the basics of being in the field, without much threat of seeing combat. Hitler sought to take advantage of the Americans’ unprepared state and the poor weather conditions. Reports of German tanks and troops accumulating around the boarder began to stream in from the local Luxembourgians. The Americans disregarded the noises as being phonograph recordings of tanks, played by the Germans in order to scare them. The Germans exploited the heavy snow and fog, which prevented aerial allied coverage. The poor visibility also allowed the Germans to begin their assault into Belgium and Luxembourg, while remaining