Malmedy, Belgium Massacre, December 17, 1944, Battle of the Bulge. Soldier's name is Francis Sherman Currey.Stop falling for the psyops! We yet have the young men we've always had. Future warriors. They've just not been pressed to it yet. Look to what was said about the Greatest Generation in the '30s. These young men are still with us. In great numbers! https://t.co/UMhURUuuSI
— EM Burlingame - 蒲 奕 言 (@EMBurlingame) September 5, 2025
00:55. Why did German SS troops known for their ruthlessness hesitate when they encountered him? Here is why Francis Sherman Curry was the scariest Soldier of World War II.
A WORLD ON FIRE
December 1944. Europe was supposed to be winding down toward the end of the war. Allied Forces have liberated France, pushed into Belgium, and were preparing to cross into Germany. But Hitler had one last move.
They are done Forest usually quiet in winter exploded with gunfire and artillery over 200,000 German troops back by 1,000 tanks and assault guns slammed into unsuspecting American units the weather worked in their favor fog and snow grounded Ally aircraft cutting off the support troops had come to rely on it was chaos at the spearhead of this assault were the first SS Panzer Division these were not ordinary soldiers they were battle-hardened Waffen SS troops Infamous for their brutality. Russia in earlier campaigns in Russia the men earned the nickname blowtorch battalion for their for their scorched Earth tactics burning Villages and leaving nothing alive they carry that same ruthless reputation into the Ardens.
On December 17th 1944, that brutality came into full view at the Malmedy Massacre. A convoy of American soldiers from the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion surrendered to Panzer Division men near Baugnez, Belgium. They expected captivity. Instead, they were herded into an open field and gunned down. 81 Americans were executed in cold blood. Survivors who played dead later crawled away and reported the atrocity. The massacre shocked the Allied Command. For the troops on the ground, it was a chilling message: surrendering wasn't an option.
3:05. As the German Advance pushed deeper into Belgium, American units were scattered, isolated, and low on supplies. Many were cut off entirely, facing tanks with little more than rifles and machine guns. Some abandoned their posts in desperation. Others dug in, knowing there would be no reinforcements coming in time. In this hellish landscape where survival meant holding ground against overwhelming odds, one young soldier from New York prepared to make his stand. He wasn't a commander or a tank ace. He was a private, a replacement, a teenager who'd barely seen combat and in the days following Melody, German soldiers stop in their tracks, something that would turn Francis Sherman Currey into one of the most unforgettable names of the war.
3:56. Who was Francis Sherman Currey? Before the war turned him into a legend, Francis Sherman Currey was nearly invisible. He wasn't from a military family or privileged background. He was born on June 29, 1925 in the quiet town of Loch Sheldrake, New York. His life changed early. At just 12 years old, he was orphaned and placed in a children's home. There was no road map to greatness for him. No early sign of the warrior he would become. When he enlisted in the US Army at 17, it wasn't out of glory seeking. Like many young men of his generation, he wanted to serve. He trained hard, learning the basics of infantry combat, rifle marksmanship, anti-tank weaponry, and small unit tactics. These were standard skills. What wasn't standard was how quickly he absorbed them, retaining technical details that most recruits struggled to master. By September, 1944, Currey was sent to Europe as a replacement in the 30th Infantry Division, nicknamed "Old Hickory." This division had already built a reputation as one of the hardest fighting units in the European theater. They stormed through Normandy and held off counter attacks in the Netherlands. Currey wasn't joining green troops, he was stepping into the ranks of veterans who had seen some of the war's worst. For a 19-year-old who had never fired a shot in combat, this could have been intimidating. But Curry's fellow soldiers quickly noted his composure. He didn't panic. He followed orders. He learned. Still there was nothing about him that screamed hero. He wasn't tall or physically imposing. He wasn't an officer. He didn't make speeches or draw attention to himself. To anyone looking at him in December 1944 he was just another replacement, another name on the roster. But that's what makes his story even more startling. In just a few months, this quiet young man would be thrust into one of the most chaotic moments of the war. He wouldn't just hold his ground, he would change the course of a battle. And he would do it with a level of calm and aggression that no one saw coming. The boy who had grown up with nothing was about to take on the most feared soldiers in Europe. And in Malmedy they would learn his name.
THE MALMEDY ASSIGNMENT
6:24. By December 20, 1944, the German defensive had carved deep into Allied lines. The Ardennes, once thought to be a quiet sector, was now a killing field town after town was falling to the relentless push of German armor and Waffen SS infantry amidst this chaos Malmedy, a small Belgian town near key road junctions became a crucial defensive point. Whoever controlled it would control the flow of reinforcement and supplies. If the Germans captured it, they have a direct path to further disrupt the American defense. The 30th Infantry Division was tasked with holding this ground, and one of his key positions was a bridge on the outskirts of Malmedy. It wasn't just any bridge. It was a vital crossing that, if taken, would give German armor a straight path to roll deeper into Allied territory. That's where private Francis Sherman Currey was posted on the morning of December 21, 1944.
