The Longest Winter: The Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of World War II's Most Decorated Platoon

by Alex Kershaw • 2005

On a cold morning in December, 1944, deep in the Ardennes forest, a platoon of eight men under the command of 20 year old lieutenant Lyle Bouck were huddled in their foxholes trying desperately to keep warm. Suddenly, the early morning silence was broken by the roar of artillery bombardment - Hitler has launched his bold and risky offensive against the Allies and the small American platoon was facing the main thrust of the entire German assult. ammunition depleted. As POW's Bouck's platoon began an ordeal far worse than combat. hundred of Americans died in German POW camps but, miraculously, all of Bouck's platoon survived. America's little-known heroes, an epic story of courage and survival in World War Two and one of the most inspiring stories in American military history.