On Christmas Eve 1944, describing the dogged determination of the Americans trapped inside Bastogne, Chester Hansen, General Omar Bradley’s aide noted admiringly: “They have stood off overwhelming enemy strength, clinging stubbornly to their positions like a wagon train in the pioneer days of the west.” Army artist Olin Dows was a witness to the epic battle in late December and early January. This work is how he pictured the story of the siege in vivid colors that we do not often get to see in photographs.
