Friday, 22 December
Retreating into France wasn't as dramatic as it sounded. Matton was barely across the border, southwest of Florenville. It was raining when we awoke in Matton. Captain Carter gave us an orientation lecture on all available reports on the situation. The enemy was still unchecked, although the flanks of the line still held firm. St. Vith was still held. Bastogne was cut off. Units of the III Corps under General Patton's third army had started a counteroffensive to reache the isolated units still holding Bastogne. It was still hoped that the 101st Airborne Division there could manage to fight its way out. Three fourths of southern Luxembourg was overrun.
The battalion spent the day taking equipment inventory and preparing lists of shortages. All vehicles were checked and repaired. Out outfit moved at dusk in convoy through Florenville east on the main road to Arlon and then turned off on a side road to Selange, nine kilometers south of Arlon. We arrived around 10 pm and were immediately attached to III Corps of the Third Army. We bedded down on the floor of a bowling alley, next door to a tavern.
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