The Greatest Generation Remains Front and Center on Veterans Day

Near the end of World War II, in the Battle of the Bulge, the German Army launched a surprise attack against the American front on Dec. 16, 1944 in the Ardennes area in Normandy to stop the allies’ forward movement in Germany.

According to retired Army Col. Felix J. Uhrinek, the allies had only 3 1⁄2 divisions in the area, a 90-mile front, because no one expected any action. They ultimately ended up having 45; the Germans, he said, had 34 divisions.

Uhrinek of Riverview Park participated in five major campaigns in the war including the Bulge with comrades of the 774th “Black Cat” Tank Battalion.

He is a member of the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge Reading Chapter 64.

“Most of our members started at Normandy and fought through Europe to the end of the war May 9, 1945,” he said. 

Four of its 46 members had been prisoners of war.

The group meets the last Wednesday of each month at the Reading Crowne Hotel, Wyomissing. Most members’ wives, referred to as associates, take their husbands to the meetings, Uhrinek said, because most WWII veterans are in their early 80s to early 90s and are no longer able to drive.

The current staff comprises George R. Moore, president, and his wife, Marlene E., vice president, Birdsboro. Robert Y. Huber, Wyomissing, serves as chaplain and Uhrinek serves as treasurer and sergeant of arms. For more information about the Chapter or to make arrangements for speaking engagements, call 610-582-8690.