The Forest for the Trees | HistoryNet

The Battle of the Hürtgen Forest is an often overlooked battle of World War II. There is no doubt about the bravery of American soldiers there. Why did the planners send so many into that meat grinder? There were other options. As the article contends:

The operational plan even baffled the enemy. “The German command could not understand the reason for the strong American attacks in the Hürtgen Forest,” recalled Maj. Gen. Rudolph von Gersdorff, chief of staff of the German Seventh Army, who twice plotted to assassinate Adolf Hitler yet, improbably, served out the war in uniform. “The fighting in the wooded area denied the American troops the advantages offered them by their air and armored forces, the superiority of which had been decisive in all the battles waged before.”