American infantrymen advance along a snow-covered road during the Ardennes campaign. 1945.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-327687)

Largest land battle on the Western Front during World War II and the largest engagement ever fought by the U.S. Army. In early December 1944, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower planned major offensives in the northern and southern sectors of the Western Front. To ensure sufficient power for . . .

In Belgium, an exposed member of the 82nd Airborne Division scrambles for cover. December 24, 1944.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-197861)

Men had to dig foxholes in the frozen ground at the Battle of the Bulge.

Chow is served to American infantrymen on their way to La Roche, Belgium. January 13, 1945.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-198849)

In a box car at Dachau concentration camp, American Medical Corpsmen examine the dead bodies of prisoners. At other camps, medic Ray Leopold witnesses horrors he had trouble believing.

Source: National Archives (208-AA-129J-57)

Infantrymen grab sleep where they can. Normandy, France, July 1944.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-191444)

An empty road in a forest near Bastogne, Belgium, December 27, 1944

Source: National Archives (111-SC-199296)

This building in Hadamar, Germany was used by the Germans as a prison.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-204778)

Bill Mauldin worked for Stars and Stripes during the war. His cartoons were viewed by GIs serving in Europe.

Source: Copyright 1945 by Bill Mauldin. Displayed courtesy of the William Mauldin Estate.

American medics carry a wounded infantryman of the 414th Infantry Regiment, 104th Infantry Division. Rijsbergen, Holland, October 29, 1944.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-347461)

Waterbury was a wonderful place, especially for an Italian family.

Medic Ray Leopold. The Waterbury, Connecticut native tended to the wounded during the Battle of the Bulge and later witnessed the horror of the concentration camps.

Source: Ray Leopold

Ray Leopold was born in Waterbury, Connecticut on December 13, 1914, the son of a Jewish immigrant from Latvia. He graduated from Wilby High School in 1933 and became a mortgage broker. He was drafted in September 1943, and after basic training was assigned to the 16th Armored Division and . . .

Ray Leopold at LaRouge Miniere, Belgium, a week after the Battle of the Bulge ended. He served as a medic for most of the war.

Source: Ray Leopold

Army portrait of Waterbury's Ray Leopold. November 28, 1943. Leopold served with the 28th Infantry Division during the Battle of the Bulge.

Source: Ray Leopold

There's no place like home

Ray Leopold's military identification card.

Source: Ray Leopold

It's never pleasant to do the work of a medic, but it's necessary.

A soldier crouches near the edge of a firebreak in a forest near Sourbrodt, Belgium. December 19, 1944.

Source: National Archives (111-SC-248231)