20th AIB Aid Station Memorial
Details:
On the outside wall, to the left beside the restaurant entrance door.
The memorial is comprised of 2 plaques, a smaller plaque mounted on top of the larger plaque. The smaller plaque is inscribed in English in raised lettering while the larger plaque beneath it, is the French translation. As denoted by this memorial plaque, on the night of the 24th December 1944 during a German air-raid, the 10th Armored Divisions Aid post was hit by a German bomb that killed 34 of the wounded US servicemen inside. Renee LeMaire managed to save a few, pulling them from the burning building, unfortunately though on her final return trip inside, she never made it back out. The plaque was donated by Dr. Jack Prior of the 10th Armored Division upon his return to Bastogne in 1994 for the 50th anniversary of the battle. Dr. Prior ran the aid station during the battle, along with two heroic volunteer Belgian nurses, Renee LeMaire and Augusta Chiwy. He and Chiwy survived the blast.
Monument Text:
Smaller plaque:
IN MEMORIAM
SITE OF THE AID STATION
OF THE 20TH A.I.B. 10TH
ARMORED DIVISION WHERE
OVER THIRTY U.S. WOUNDED
AND 1 VOLUNTEER BELGIAN
NURSE (RENEE LEMAIRE)
WERE INSTANTLY KILLED
BY A GERMAN BOMB
DECEMBER 24, 1944
Larger plaque:
IN MEMORIAM
EMPLACEMENT DU POSTE SECOURS
DU 20ème BATAILLON D'INFANTERIE BLINDEE
DE LA 10ème DIVISION BLINDEE
OÙ PLUS DE TRENTE BLESSES AMERICANS
ET UNE INFIRMIERE VOLONTAIRE BELGE
(RENEE LEMAIRE)
FURENT TUES PAR UNE BOMBE ALLEMANDE
LE 24 DECEMBRE 1944
Commemorates:
People:
Renée Bernadette Émilie LeMaire
Units:
10th Armored Division
20th Armored Infantry Battalion, 10th Armored Division
Wars:
WWII
Battles:
Battle of the Bulge