Blanc Mont Ridge

In the Champagne region of France, the German army held a towering position known as Blanc Mont Ridge.
From its heights, artillery and machine guns dominated the valley below. The ridge had to be taken if the Allied advance was to continue.
The task fell to the U.S. Marines and soldiers of the 2nd Division.
At dawn they began the climb.
Across open slopes.
Through shattered forests.
Into the teeth of entrenched German defenses.
Machine guns swept the hillside.
Artillery tore apart the advance.
Entire units fought their way forward through wire, trenches, and hand-to-hand combat.
The ridge was taken.
Then the counterattacks began.
For days the Americans fought to hold the ground they had seized, repelling repeated assaults in brutal close combat.
When the battle ended, Blanc Mont Ridge belonged to the Allies.
But it had been paid for in blood.