European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 11, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The bulge still has a on Matula . Matula came founding up , any other Man would have to leap to match the Pace of his 6-foot lanky  he had the Bottom of his feet blown off in a Taille Belgium while wielding a 30 ton Sherman tank through the ardennes doctors in England told him he would never walk again. Fooled pm said the 70-year-old Wharton Texas Veteran of the Battle of the bulge. After a ceremony last june Kurt Van Der hoi Donck asked Matula for his autograph. The Young belgian is a world War ii history Buff and has a col Lection of Memorabilia in his Home in  spills Over into his garage. Calling it the Edh my scum he opens it on weekends. Museums in the area Are a booming business. They Range from private collections to Bastogne s imposing historical Center at the base of the mar Dasson. I -. A Matula did t see the Bastogne historical Center s collection i asked As a vet if i could get in free he explained. They said no sol  that s when he hoofed it up the Hill and met Van Der hoi Donck. They stood on the Steps of the Bel Gian memorial to the americans who fought that Ter Rible Winter in 1944-45 to liberate their country from Hitler. Names of Arne rican states Are embossed on the imposing Star shaped Structure. People like Matula Van Der hoi Donck said were the heroes. They Are Pur  Matula took a Shine to him right away. The old Soldier liked the Way he called him Liberator. He autographed the Battle map that Likely hangs in Van Der hoi Donck s garage museum by now. Then Matu la reached into his shirt and pulled out a Small Black and White deckle edged photo. It showed him with his tank and a belgian family in front of their Home. Is . Matula shows a War photo to Kurt Van Der hoi Donck at the mar Dasson Hill memorial in Bastogne. This picture is precious to me Matula told his Young admirer who realized he was about the same age As the tank Driver when he battled his Way into the nearby Hills. Matula had landed at Normandy Utah Beach the Best Beach he called it and was at  eglise the Day after a Day and the st.-l6. Breakout into the German lines in july. He turned 20 in sep tember by mid december his 746th tank in pulled Back away from Germany and swung around to Bat the the German s 11 the hour offensive. That s when his tank got the Odd name foots because he had to really use his feet he said. I had to hold the flank had to push Back All night had to come Back and take  in february his tank hit a mine that blew up below his feet. He was Lucky enough to be evacuated to a Hospital in England and Lucky enough to prove the doctors wrong about walking again. Matula passed on a few More tales to the Young belgian he told him about the time they took Cher Bourg in France and liberated two Long warehouses filled with any kind of  every tank left filled to the brim. But two Days later the Captain took it Allaway. Then with a note of admiration in his voice for his former foe he told Van Der hoi Donck that rom Mel if Hitler had listened to him we d still be in England. He fought a hell of a  but he added Ain t they stupid people fighting  ,. Effi Bathen is Effle Bathen first it. Tom Holliday with Ernest lems right. Still close to those gis Rnest lems was All too glad to Welcome americans to her Hometown of Bastogne this summer. Most Likely americans visiting the re Gion where the Battle of the bulge was fought will get a similarly warm Welcome. In mid june lems stood with a group of older belgian women and tapped her foot to the loud music of an american army band. With smiles on their faces but near tears in their eyes the women watched the Young american sol Diers with their clean haircuts and Brash banter. These boys were different from the mud soaked unshaven do faces that they had opened their Homes to 50 years ago. 1 the boys they camouflaged with bed sheets against the Snow. The boys they shared blankets and doughnuts with. The boys their fathers helped Bury at the Edge of town. Lems remembered the 18-year-old trooper her parents brought into her House to get him out of the terrible cold. He was so Beautiful she remembers thinking when she was 14. He was so Beautiful she remembers today. That big band music so irreverent Brave and. Brassy sounded just like the overseas liberators who came 50 years ago. The boys who came to save them and gave them chewing urn. Today americans still Fly gum to Europe s besieged cities. A c. But they dont move into Farmers Homes and throw their bodies in front of bullets for people whole Venthem. Not if they can help it War was different then. Peace was too. A visitor to Bastogne this 50th anniversary Yea does not have to look far to see the Black and White Days of Winter 1944-45. The photos Are pinned to pub Walls or in faded frames in hotels. Many like one in the collard bakery window show the main Street s battered Homes and vehicles. A Battle tank is at the Edge of the town Square like most villages throughout the ardennes Hills a Driver valleys. Bastogne has Battle museums and commemorative  memorial to american gis a giant Star shaped Parthenon dominates mar Dasson Hill. For Many Back in june emotions were a mix of Joy and pain. So were conversations. When a Young i and others in the crowd joined Ems they laughingly threw out such words As Mart death and nuts. Although the veterans and townsfolk could not break the language Barrier everyone went away somehow satisfied that they had communicated something about world wars and world peace. And lems had invited americans Complete strangers to come stay in her Home. / Effi Bathen pages sunday december 11,1994