Lost Battalion

It's October 1944 in the Vosges Mountains of eastern France.

A battalion of American soldiers, the lost battalion of the 141st Infantry Regiment made up of Texans, is surrounded by German forces cut off from the rest of the American army.

For days they've held out against repeated German attacks, running low on food, water, ammunition, and medical supplies.

Previous attempts to rescue them have failed.

Casualties are horrific.

But these soldiers keep advancing, refusing to stop, driving forward with a determination that stuns both the enemy and their fellow Americans.

After days of savage fighting, they break through and rescue the lost battalion.

They save 211 trapped Texans.

The Germans had surrounded them.

It was called the Lost Battalion.

Hitler had ordered the, uh, annihilation of that unit, and They were in a very wooded area, uh, surrounded and it was, and so they tried to send units in to rescue that battalion, but nobody could break through.

Uh, the 100th 442nd had just come off an operation and normally when you have a major operation, you're given a, a little rest time to reconstitute and get replacements and things like that.

But the 100th 442nd was ordered, uh, to go save the lost battalion or rescue the lost battalion.

They succeeded, but in doing so, I, I wa- they saved I think 200 soldiers from that battalion, uh, who were remaining, who were still alive.

In so doing, the battalion took 800 casualties in order to get through.