LEHIGH VALLEY CHAPTER
A section of Route 145 in Lehigh Township is named the "Battle of the Bulge Veterans Memorial Highway
May 20, 2008
Battle of the Bulge veterans and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation workers
unveil a sign that names a section of Route 145 in Lehigh Township
the "Battle of the Bulge Veterans Memorial Highway."
State Reps. Julie Harhart and Richard Grucela sponsored a bill that Gov. Ed Rendell signed into law.
A ceremony was held 11 this morning.
Cold rain pelted 82-year-old Morris Metz
as he stood beside Route 145 in Lehigh Township on Tuesday morning, shoulder
to shoulder with dozens of his brothers-in-arms from the Battle of the Bulge.
Above their heads, a soaked canvas tarp was yanked back to reveal a new sign:
''Battle of the Bulge Veterans Memorial Highway.''
It was a moment Metz said he never could have imagined as a 19-year-old soldier
with a bazooka on his shoulder, fighting for his life in the bitter cold and
snow of Belgium against the last-ditch German offensive of World War II. ''We
did our jobs,'' said Metz, of Forks Township, who's now president of the group
Lehigh Valley Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge. ''At that point, we didn't
realize the impact.''
''To me it was fitting ... [so] everyone would remember
where this group began,'' said Bob Faro of Upper Nazareth, an associate member
of the group and the one who pushed for the highway dedication. ''Every time
I drive by it, it'll just be more poignant.''
Faro, a Vietnam-era veteran, had two relatives at the Battle of the Bulge: His
uncle Thomas Reda of West New York, N.J., was taken as a prisoner of war at
the start of the campaign, while his mother's cousin, Thomas O'Brien of Middleborough,
Mass., was shot and killed by a sniper at the very end of the battle.
However, Faro said, ''this is not about my family.'' His goal is to remind younger
people about the battle and help honor its veterans. ''These guys are disappearing
fast, you know?''
More than a year ago, Faro took his idea to state Reps. Julie Harhart, R-Northampton,
and Richard Grucela, D-Northampton. The pair co-sponsored a bill to rename the
stretch of Route 145, which passed unanimously and was recently signed by the
governor.
''Every person who drives by this marker will be reminded of the price of freedom,''
Harhart said Tuesday, joining Grucela, Metz and others behind a waterlogged
PennDOT podium.
''I know many of you veterans have endured a whole lot worse than a few raindrops,''
Harhart teased the crowd of veterans, who were mostly in their 80s and clutched
canes, walkers and umbrellas.
''You lose a lot of your friends. ... Just like that -- boom, boom, boom,''
recalled 89-year-old Louis H. Vargo of Palmer, who was a 23-year-old mess sergeant
during the Bulge.
The soldiers were dying at a rate of ''450 a day, if you average it out. ...
It must have been so frightening,'' said Judy Greenhalgh of Hilltown Township,
Bucks County. Greenhalgh, whose stepfather fought in the battle, is the veterans
group's vice president, and her father and uncle also served in the war.
After Hitler's defeat, many American soldiers tried to leave the horrors of
combat behind them. ''We came home, we put all our stuff away, we forgot about
the war,'' Metz said.
That started to change on May 19, 1998, when Metz and a handful of other Battle
of the Bulge veterans gathered at The Terrace. They quickly decided they needed
to share their experiences with others.
To date, members of the group have addressed more than
42,000 students at roughly two dozen schools across Lehigh, Northampton and
Carbon counties, said Greenhalgh, who's also the group's educational coordinator.
Greenhalgh said she hopes the new, green highway signs will also stir more interest
in the pivotal battle.
The signs are also a kind of monument to the veterans, who have become family
through their bonds forged on the battlefield, Metz said. And even for veterans
in their 80s or 90s, it would take far worse than Tuesday's rain to dampen that
solidarity.
''You don't let weather interfere with your love for your country,'' Metz said,
''and your love for your fellow veterans.''
michael.duck@mcall.com
610-861-3637
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