Next we visited the Bois Jacques, a wood near the village of Foy. Here the foxholes are still visible where “Easy” Company of the U.S. 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division held out under German shelling and attacks from the village of Foy. This small part of the Battle of the Bulge was made famous by the TV miniseries Band of Brothers produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks: Episode 7 “The Breaking Point” focused on the events here.
In the woods we were not only witnessing an american history show for TV being filmed, but were also later approached by two reenactors in U.S. uniforms that turned out to be Germans from near our hometown. We were unexpectedly invited for coffee (prepared on a gasoline cooker) and calvados (from a barrel fixed to the front of their jeep). While we had some nice conversation, more and more reenactors and WWII vehicles arrived at the clearing in the woods where we stood. Finally we headed back towards Bastogne and stopped at the official Easy Company memorial, donated (among others) by Mr. and Mrs. Tom Hanks and the Jeep company.