The day following the start of the Battle of the Bulge, in the evening of the 17th December, general Eisenhower decides to send the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions (who were until this point in SHAEF reserve in Reims) in the Bulge to reinforce the American troops. Because the 82nd had been in reserve longer, it was better re-equipped, and moved out first, while the 101st left in the afternoon of the 18th. The terrible weather oscillating between drizzle and sleet, prevented any parachute jump, so the men boarded transport trucks to get to where they were assigned. The 82nd was dispatched in the northern face of the Bulge, near Elsenborn Ridge, to block the Joachim Peiper’s dangerous advance towards Werbomont. The 101st was headed towards Bastognes. the entirety of the division was inside the city in the morning of the 20th, a particularly providential timing, in retrospect!
