Dissertation

The Ardennes Offensive, or Battle of the Bulge, took place from December 16, 1944, to January 25, 1945, and stands as a testament to resolve against a determined enemy. Movies have been made and books written about the stand of the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne, Belgium, and the relief by General Patton’s 4th Armored Division. While the achievements of the 101st Airborne have been championed, the actions of the 109th, 110th and 112th Regiments of the 28th Infantry Division during the first few days of the Offensive get little attention from historians.

My interest in this subject began when I was the Command Historian of the 28th Infantry Division. I travelled to Luxembourg and Belgium researching the actions of the 110th Infantry Regiment in delaying the initial German advance. I published The 110th Holds in the Ardennes: The Blunting of Hitler's Last Gamble and the Invasion of the Reich which detailed the heroic combat actions of 110th Infantry units in eight Luxembourg villages from 16 to 18 December 1944.

It was exceptionally cold, foggy, damp, and snow covered when the Germans attacked on the morning of December 16, 1944. The desperate holding actions by the 28th Division men delayed the Germans and bought time for the Allies to send reinforcements to Bastogne. The story of 28th Division soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge is one of heroism in the face of overwhelming odds. The 109th, 110th and 112th Regiments distinguished themselves by the valor of their fighting men. Without their brave stand at the onset of the German offensive, the 101st Airborne may not have reached Bastogne in time. So, what inspired these men to fight? It is the discovery of the answers to this question that drives the research for this dissertation.

The behavior of soldiers in combat during World War II has been examined by scholars extensively. Both military historians and social scientists have studied how soldiers behave on the battlefield, including how they handle the stress of combat and what motivates them. American soldiers found comfort and motivation through prayer and other factors on the front lines of World War II. However, an examination of the some of the principal writings about the Battle of the Bulge yields significant gaps in the scholarship. The specific details of actions taken by the 28th Division soldiers were not identified, nor were the reasons the soldiers took those actions. There are no references in these writings to soldiers’ religion or how their faith or other reasons that may have affected their performance and motivation. No other regimental history have been found that approaches a regimen in the same manner or at least in a similar manner to what this research intends to accomplish. This research is intended to analyze the factors that contributed to the actions of the 28th Division’s 109th, 110th and 112th  regiments during the first days of the Battle of the Bulge and offer a comprehensive explanation of why they fought so bravely in delaying the German advance.

This research will attempt to answer these questions: 1. What actions did the soldiers take to delay the German advance? The tactics used by each of the elements of the three division regiments, beginning with the unit operational reports, after action reports and eye-witness accounts to determine the specific measures that were taken to delay the German troops will be studied. This will include barricading of road intersections, placement of anti-tank weapons, mining of roads, placement of snipers, etc. 2. What was the spectrum of religious beliefs and practices the soldiers brought with them as they went to war? Army records and chaplain reports to determine the composition of the religious affiliations of the soldiers in the 28th Infantry Division units will be investigated. 3. How did soldiers experience religion in wartime? Chaplain reports, soldier’s diaries and memories, and interviews to discover how soldiers practiced their faith will be analyzed. 4. What were the motivating factors that contributed to the actions by the soldiers in combat. An examination of the after-action reports, unit histories and soldier’s comments to determine how their religious faith and other factors contributed to the decisions they made on the battlefield will be conducted. 

To obtain sufficient material to answer the research questions, the following sources will be examined: 1. Official records of the 109th, 110th and 112th Regiments of the 28th Infantry Division and German military units involved in the Ardennes Offensive. 2. Letters and personal diaries of soldiers. 3. Historical studies. 4. Oral Histories. 5. Biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. 6. Literary writing. 7. Newspapers and other periodicals. 8. Archives. 9. Eye-witness accounts. 10. Official records of the military units involved. 11. JSTOR articles. 12. Unit histories. 13. Interviews of soldiers. 14. Personal accounts and stories. 15. Unit reports.

The dissertation research with incorporate both exploratory and explanatory methods. It will explore this under-researched issue, while explaining the causes and consequences of the soldier’s actions. Using primary and secondary research methods, such as interviews of soldiers are a critical component of the inquiry as well as after-action reviews and unit reports. The explanatory component will add to the historiography by increasing the understanding about motivating factors. Secondary research will be used as a source on information while incorporating information discovered during the exploratory portion of the research.

An example of scholarship that can provide a model for this research is The Impact of Prayer on the Ministries of D.L. Moody, C.H. Spurgeon, and Billy Graham: A Descriptive Study presented to the faculty of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary by Rodney Baker in December 1999. While the dissertation is not directly related to the subject, it provides a research methodology that can be applied for this study.