A group of US Army officers stood around a small campfire in late hours of Christmas Eve, 1944. It was frigid – temperatures dropped into the single digits.

The men huddled around the small flames, seeking any warmth they get muster as they spent yet another night at their command post just northeast of the Belgian town of Bastogne.

The officers of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment knew they shouldn’t risk this fire. Ahead of them, masses of German infantry, tanks, and artillery threatened from the dark woods.

Among the men at the fire was Lieutenant Harry F. Welsh of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The 26-year-old son of the Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader’s sports editor had joined the paratroopers in 1942 and fought through Normandy and Holland with Company E, 506th PIR.

As the Battle of the Bulge raged and the 101st Airborne Division found itself surrounded at Bastogne, Lt. Welsh served with headquarters of the 506th’s 2nd Battalion.

Captain Richard Winters, Battalion Executive Officer, told the story of what happened that cold Christmas night in his post-war memoir:

Lieutenant Harry Welsh almost received his million-dollar wound while a group of us were standing around a fire at the battalion CP on Christmas Eve. We had decided to take a chance and start a fire in order to stay warm.

Lo and behold, the Germans picked it up and fired a mortar round in our direction. I don’t know if they were lucky or not or whether they were just that good, but the shell exploded in the middle of our group.

As I picked myself up from the ground and looked over to Welsh, I could see that look of terror on Harry’s face as he tore off his pants to see where he had been hit.

He wasn’t castrated, but it was too close for comfort. Sometimes the difference between life and death was a matter of centimeters. Welsh was immediately evacuated…

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Welsh described his wounding in a letter home to his parents in Luzerne County, a letter that was later published in the Times-Leader:

“I am now recovering splendidly from a wound received in action…

I received my Christmas package from the krauts on Christmas Day. Never have passed a Christmas yet that I didn’t get a gift from someone. My record is still intact.

Will have no after effects and expect to be back in line in a couple of weeks.”

Lt. Welsh returned to the front lines in 1945 and fought through the remainder of World War II with the 506th PIR. He returned home to Luzerne County and married his sweetheart “Kitty” Grogan in 1945.

Much of Lt. Welsh’s war-time service and his brush with death on Christmas Eve 1944 was featured in the 2001 HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers.” Welsh was portrayed by actor Rick Warden.

Harry Welsh passed away in 1995 and is buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery on the outskirts of Wilkes-Barre.

(Featured Image: Actor Rick Warden playing Harry Welsh in HBO’s miniseries Band of Brothers; Harry F. Welsh at Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest” in May 1945 – US Army)

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Read more about Harry Welsh and Band of Brothers

Lt. Harry Welsh training for the paratroopers in 1942 | Band of Brothers