For 59 years, a relic M-4 Sherman tank has guarded the entrance to McAuliffe Square, in the center of Bastogne, Belgium. Symbolically, it represents the relief of the besieged City of Bastogne by General Patton’s United States Third Army in December, 1944. The course of history was changed at Bastogne, when the defended city held fast during attacks by overwhelming enemy forces during the Battle of the Ardennes, also known as the “Battle of the Bulge.” Battle scars on the M-4 Sherman bear stark witness to its untimely end. On its left side, a neat cylindrical hole punched by a German 75mm. shell remains, and a jagged panzerfaust inflicted wound is visible in the stern.

This aged warrior is now gone from McAuliffe Square. On November 6, 2006, it was lifted from its pedestal, loaded on a heavy equipment carrier, and transported to the Belgian Army Military Arsenal at Rocourt. There, in a project jointly sponsored and financed by the City of Bastogne and the Belgian Army, and with the cooperation of the Cercle d’Histoire de Bastogne, it will be restored to the condition and appearance it was in when it was saw action in 1944.