Benjamin H. Bridges - Prisoner of War at the Battle of the Bulge

Last night, after arriving at my parents' house, Lindsey and I were talking with my father. My dad proceeded to tell me about my grandfather Benjamin H. Bridges whom I never met due to his early death.

Ben fought in the Battle of the Bulge. It was his first assignment overseas. He literally landed in Europe and immediately joined the other American forces already there.

Thankfully, he was a prisoner of war. The units preceding him were killed. After being captured he spent 4 months in prison before our family received their first correspondence from him in his German prison cell.

Last night my dad showed me his bible where he drew a calendar in the back so that he could X off each day in order to know what day it was. He also listed the multiple prison camps he was forced to "live" in during his time in Germany. By the time he got out, he only weighed 97 pounds and had to be carried out on a stretcher as he was too weak to walk.

I have a couple things to thank my grandfather, Ben H. Bridges, for:

Thanks Ben.
Thanks for your sacrifice for our country and so many others.
Thanks for being my grandad even though I never got to meet you.
Thanks for inspiring me.
Thanks for your example.
Thanks for taking time to underline passages in your bible as you suffered.
Thanks for marrying my grandmother and having kids.
Thanks Ben.

Our Blog | Our Website | Our PodCast & V-Log | Our Partners | Give