The next morning, Mr. Blitz and his comrades, while moving by truck to Francorchamps, Belgium, witnessed infantryman digging holes in the frozen earth.
"As the mist was lifting, we saw dozens of American soldiers' bodies in the new frozen snow. American soldiers were digging them out for burial," he recalled.
"These dead soldiers were from the famous Malmedy Massacre, whereby Hitler gave orders to shoot and kill all American prisoners," Mr. Blitz said. "Seeing this had a real effect on us."
Mr. Blitz spent that Christmas with a Belgian family.
"We were there from Christmas Eve until after New Year's Day," he said.
One day, a buzz bomb landed near the house where Mr. Blitz was staying. "I watched it hit the ground, and the explosion knocked me off my feet," he said. The Battle of the Bulge raged from Dec. 16, 1944, to the end of January 1945, when the German stranglehold along the 60-mile front was finally broken.
"The Battle of the Bulge ended around my birthday. I was never happier than to see it end. It was a nice present. General Sherman was right, war is hell," Mr. Blitz recalled. "I was lucky that I was not wounded or killed in the war."
Discharged in 1945 as a technician grade 5, Mr. Blitz' decorations included the Bronze Star for "heroic and meritorious achievement," Combat Infantryman Badge and the Belgian Fourragere.
Mr. Blitz returned to Crown Cork & Seal, where he worked for the next 39 years as a shear operator until retiring in 1976.
His son, Paul M. Blitz, said his father waged two other successful battles during his lifetime.
"Twenty years ago, he successfully battled lung cancer, having half of his lower lung removed, and 15 years ago, he successfully battled prostate cancer," Mr. Blitz said.
Mr. Blitz enjoyed hunting and fishing until he was well into his 80s, and he liked crossword puzzles.
His wife of 20 years, the former Eleanor Lubinski, died in 1959. His second wife of 34 years, the former Pauline H. Polciennik, died in 1995.
Mr. Blitz, a longtime active member of the Essex-Holly Neck Memorial VFW Post 2621, was honored earlier this year as the oldest living Essex World War II veteran at the Essex 100th Anniversary celebration at the Essex Day Festival.
He was a communicant of St. Clare Roman Catholic Church in Essex, where a Mass of Christian burial was offered Oct. 22.
Also surviving is a sister, Velma B. Salmi of Jessup.
