Bastogne is a Walloon municipality of Belgium located in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes. The municipality of Bastogne includes the old communes of Longvilly, Noville, Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, and Wardin.
Bastogne has a lot to offer and for you to discover! At the heart of the Battle of the Bulge, Bastogne is proud of its museums and monuments. The reposing nature beckons you to amble along country trails and to discover the flora and fauna. Bastogne is the place known for the Battle of the Bulges and called by Americans as the stronger battle of the WW II. Through a new area and new spaces, visit this part of the History.
Facts:
The town is situated on a ridge in the Ardennes at an elevation of 1,670 ft (510 metres). Total Population of 15,580 as 1 January 2016). The municipality of Bastogne comprises five sections (Bastogne proper, Longvilly, Noville, Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, and Wardin) which were separate municipalities before a merger in 1977. Each contains a number of villages.
2024 Visit of Reporters from Bastogne, Belgium
On Friday, November 15, 2024 (Belgium King’s Day), Bryan/College Station Sister Cities International hosted two video journalists and a camera operator from TV-LUX, a Belgian television station broadcasting in Bastogne and the Luxembourg Province of Belgium’s Wallonia Region. This media team visit supports the production of a documentary for the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. The documentary is sponsored by TV-LUX and City of Bastogne with support from Belgium’s Luxembourg Province.
TV-LUX sought to connect with various places and people in the United States for content in the documentary’s observation of legacies from World War II, particularly from the influences and impacts of the Battle of the Bulge that occurred in Bastogne, Belgium. Motivation to visit Bryan/College Station is founded in the community’s Sister Cities partnership with Bastogne. TV-LUX also recognized the generous efforts of all three cities to unite with significant supporters in commissioning the 2014 Texas Aggies Go to War Exhibition to honor the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge and opening of the Bastogne War Museum. TV-LUX is referencing for its work, the award- winning KBTX-TV documentary that was produced to chronicle the opening of the Texas Aggies Go to War Exhibit and the generosity of a Bryan/College Station community delegation that traveled to Bastogne in commemoration of the Battle’s 70th Anniversary.
On November 15, 2024, TV-LUX toured the Museum of American G.I. to interview its Museum Director and the Historian/Author of Texas Aggies Go to War Exhibit. The media team also toured the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library & Museum and met with the Mayors of Bryan and College Station as well as Belgium’s AWEX Trade and Investment Commissioner. Additionally, a tour of the Benjamin Knox Gallery was provided, including an interview with its Professional Artist who commissioned paintings and exhibition art for 70th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. TV-LUX experienced multiple venues that are symbols and a perpetual tribute to the Aggie Spirit on the campus of Texas A&M University, including the Bonfire Memorial, Ring Plaza at The Association of Former Students, Rudder Tower, the Memorial Student Center’s Hall of Honor, the Century Tree, the replica of the U.S. Liberty Bell inside the Academic Building, Cushing Memorial Library’s World War II Map Exhibit, and Corps of Cadets Quad. TV-LUX concluded its community visit at the restored Chapel on The Texas A&M University System RELLIS Campus, which during World War II was site of the Bryan Army Air Field for U.S. Army Air Forces.
**** A special moment during the TV-LUX visit was the discovery of a World War II veteran from Bryan who had an historic role in the Battle of the Bulge. In the interview of Dr. John Adams, Historian/Author of the Texas Aggies Go To War Exhibit, a liberation story in the Battle was shared on “Cobra King” as the American Sherman Jumbo M4A3E2 assault tank that is famous for breaking through German heavy lines surrounding Bastogne, Belgium (with the encryption “First in Bastogne” painted on its side).
Cobra King was the lead of three Shermans that entered Bastogne at ten to five in the afternoon on December 26, 1944. The tank was part of C Company in the 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division. The nickname Cobra King is symbolic of the tank corps tradition of naming vehicles with the first letter of their companies’ designations. The assault tanks were manufactured in mid-1944 at the Detroit Tank Arsenal. Only 254 of the M4A3E2 tanks were built.
The Bryan, TX connection to Cobra King is through its heroic armored team. During the Battle of the Bulge, Cobra King was commanded by First Lt. Charles P. Boggess, Jr. (Greenville, Illinois) and was crewed by driver Pvt. Hubert J.J. Smith (Cartersville, Georgia), assistant driver/bow gunner Pvt. Harold D. Hafner (Arlington, Washington), loader Pvt. James G. Murphy (Bryan, Texas), and gunner Cpl. Milton B. Dickerman (Newark, New Jersey).
Private First Class James Garland Murphy was born July 26, 1923 in Wheelock, TX (a community neighboring Bryan/College Station). He was the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. James “Jimmy” Henry and Oma Bell (Duncan) Murphy. James’ sisters were Fannie Viola Murphy Harlien (buried in Masonic Cemetery, Caldwell, TX), Mattie Pearl Gerke (buried at Kurten Cemetery), Ella Mae Thomas (buried in Bryan City Cemetery), and Billie Marie Walcott. His brother was William Raymond Murphy (buried in Bryan City Cemetery).
James Garland Murphy graduated from Madisonville High School and entered the Army in 1943, training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He served in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) during World War II and awarded the Purple Heart medal. He was killed in action in Germany, reportedly in his tank on 19 March 1945 (20 years 7 months and 23 days old) near the Rhine River near Bad Kruesnech, Germany. The resting place of Private First Class James Garland Murphy is in the Bryan City Cemetery, Block 17 Lot 63/A.
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