Happy 240th Birthday US Army Corps of Engineers!!

George Washington appointed the first engineer officers of the Army on June 16, 1775, during the American Revolution, and engineers have served in combat in all subsequent American wars. The Army established the Corps of Engineers as a separate, permanent branch on March 16, 1802. Since then the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has responded to changing defense requirements and played an integral part in the development of the country. Learn more: http://ow.ly/ObFDc

I have some information to share and am looking to learn more about this unit's operations in and around the Bastogne area.

PFC Bert William Zimmerman died April 20, 2015 just 6 weeks short of his 95th birthday. He was a truck driver in Company B. 1264th Engineer Combat Battalion, He was drafted from Fenton, Michigan in April 1944. In 1956 he moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he worked as a machinist in the aircraft industry. After retiring in 1991, he left the heat of the desert and moved to Coos Bay, Oregon where he lived the remainder of his life. When his son, Air Force Chaplain Donald Zimmerman was stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany he returned to Germany for the first time since the war. He visited Bad Godesberg where he helped build the bridge across the Rhine River after the bridge at Remagen fell.

I ask on this day that you not only remember all the men who made sacrifices on this day in history, but please do not forget all those who were already fighting in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Greece, etc. Many units, such as my dad's regiment, the 540th, had been engaged since 1942. There were many D-Days around the world including numerous campaigns in the Pacific.

Here's to all of them! Thank you!

Heroic German officer killed in a minefield trying to save an American

RE: Hürtgen Forest