Judy’s father, Gordon Russ, was killed in the Battle of the Bulge on 8 January 1945 when she was just five years old. Gordon, a 30-year-old bartender from Minnesota, was a private in the 87th Infantry Division’s 346th Regiment. Some time ago, a journalist from the Twin Cities Pioneer Press who was researching Gordon’s story asked for an interview. I explained that Gordon died in the ruthless battle for Tillet, a small place west of Bastogne, crucial because of a couple of good roads that made all the difference in the Ardennes forests. Gordon is buried in the American military cemetery in Luxembourg. Judy has a photo and his medals in her apartment in St. Paul. “I wish I could get out and see his grave,” she said at age 75. “If I could just walk up and touch the stone it would be like touching him — which I don’t remember doing.”
