Colmar Battle January, 1945-February 4, 1945.

Dear Tyler, Ellie and Anna,

Friday 20/21/22 two days late to post.

Our afternoon on Friday was spent at the Colmar Valley, the location of an important battle near the end of WW2.

Germany was facing defeat in Russia on the eastern front, and on the western front the American troops from several divisions were sent to help the French prevent the Nazis from coming back into France again.

The battle field was a large open plain with three villages that bordered the black forest in the Rhine river. This battle found many Americans serving bravely along with their French allies.

We visited the small local museum that the community of Colmar created to honor those who fought to save the citizens of the valley.

On the hill above the battlefield is a monument in memory of the Americans, who fought along with a large cemetery for the French, who lost their lives in this battle.

This battle was also the location of the bravery of American Audie Murphy, who single-handedly stopped the Nazi advance by manning a machine gun on top of a tank. It was on fire, but he held the Germans off for an hour by himself. He was only 19 years old at the time. He ended up being the most decorated American soldier in World War II.