American soldiers of the 289th Infantry Regiment march along the snow-covered road on their way to cut off the Saint Vith-Houffalize road in Belgium on 24 January 1945. by August A. Stellwag Christmas Eve, 1944: For many of the green, young foot-soldiers of the 289th Regimental Combat Team, this would be their first Christmas away from home. Just a short two months ago they had been boarding troopships on the Hudson River at Camp Shanks, New York. Now they found themselves marching along a rutted dirt road leading to the small village of Grandmenil, Belgium. Grandmenil, at this time, had been momentarily raised from obscurity to become a pivotal point on the northern perimeter of what would soon be described in Stateside newspapers as the "Battle of the Bulge." The 289th was one of two regiments of the recently arrived 75th Infantry Division which had been hastily detached and assigned to the 3rd Armored Div. in an attempt to stem the German advance now reaching its zenit...