Spotlight On: The Battle of the Bulge
Spotlight On: Scrapbooks: Preserving History
October 20, 2022Soldiers & Sailors Tabletop Gamers
December 2, 2022Spotlight On:
The Battle of the Bulge
December 8, 2022
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In December 1944 Germany launched their last offensive on the Western Front during World War II. Known as the Battle of the Bulge, it was one of the US Army’s greatest and fiercest battles of the war. Western Pennsylvania, particularly the Pittsburgh area, was represented in the famous engagement by two fighting divisions. The 99th Infantry Division, played a significant role in this engagement, suffering 2000 casualties in the first four days as they earned the nickname “Battle Babies. The other local connection the 110th RCT/ 28th Division, “Bloody Bucket”, slowed down the enemy’s surprise advance by several days gaining valuable time to reinforce the line at the cost of 4,000 casualties.
This program will highlight several artifacts in our collection related to the 99th Division and 28th Division and this historic event and will also feature stories about the role some of our local heroes played.
Michael Kraus Bio:
A well-known Civil War historian, Kraus currently works as Curator/Historian for Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum. His accomplishments include several historical consultant credits for major films, writing and narrating the documentary series Civil War Minutes and Civil War Life as well as authoring articles and books regarding the conflict. Michael also is an accomplished sculptor with an impressive resume of historically themed works in bronze.
Tim Neff Bio:
Tim Neff began working at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum Trust, Inc. in 2002 as the Director of Education. In 2017, Tim took on the role of Vice President and Director of Museum & Education at Soldiers & Sailors. He is a certified Social Studies teacher and holds a bachelor’s degree in History and Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh. During his time at Soldiers & Sailors, Tim has developed a variety of museum programs including: interactive and engaging tours and field trips, a footlocker outreach program, Boy Scout merit badge programs, teacher conferences, summer camps, community history events and much more.