The Heroes of Hosingen ― Their Untold Story

The Heroes of Hosingen is the untold story of what happened in the frontline village of Hosingen, Luxembourg, the last garrison of the 110th Infantry Regiment to fall in the early days of the Battle of the Bulge. It was here that 300 men would make a historic stand against an army of up to 5,000 of Hitler’s elite Germans soldiers, supported by as many as twenty superior German tanks at times and artillery. K Company, under the command of Capt. Frederick Feiker, Capt. William Jarrett and 125 men from Company B, 103rd Engineers Battalion, the 2nd and 3rd platoons of M Company (heavy weapons company for the battalion), 2nd platoon of 630th Tank Destroyer Company, twenty men from a “Raider” unit and five tanks from A Company, 707th Tank Battalion, worked together to make it as difficult as possible for the German army to move its men and equipment past the village on their way to Bastogne. These brave men carried out their “Hold at all cost” orders” until they had exhausted all their resources, leaving an estimated 2000 Germans lying dead or wounded in the open fields that surrounded the village. Abandoned by the division’s other units, surrounded and out of ammunition, food and water, Captains Feiker and Jarrett waved the white flag and surrendered their units to the Nazis mid-day on December 18, 1944. Unfortunately, Middleton's “Hold at all cost” order had grave consequences as their lives were now in the hands of their captors. Forced to endure the unimaginable to survive, eight of Hosingen's Heroes tell their stories of forced marches for hundreds of miles during the coldest winter on record, starvation and physical and emotional abuse. It is hard to deny that these brave men of the 110th earned their place in the history books. They had tenaciously fought off Hitler’s massive assault for two and half days, sacrificing themselves for time, and in doing so, some argue helped change the course of the war. Their delaying actions helped stall the advance of Hitler’s army long enough to allow the 101st Airborne to arrive at and defend the critical crossroads city of Bastogne on December 18, before the bulk of Hitler’s forces could arrived.