U.S. Government map showing Bastogne and the Ardennes forest in southern Belgium, site of the Battle of the Bulge.

US Government map of Belgium.

Bois Jacques and the Ardennes Forest between Bastogne and Foy

Foy was a small village occupied by the Germans.

The American 101st Airborne Division held the Bois Jacques (Jacques Woods), part of the Ardennes Forest, just outside Foy and up a slight rise toward Bastogne.

A dirt road through the Bois Jacques in the Ardennes Forest between Bastogne and Foy.

Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers and the mini-series based on it describes how Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division spearheaded the assault to capture the town.

Looking out of the Bois Jacques toward Foy, sight of the Battle of the Bulge.

This is the view out of the Bois Jacques, looking across some farmland to the north of Foy.

This is the view looking out of the Bois Jacques toward Foy. The village of Foy is down the hill, past that power line pylon. The pylon is new, the large round hay bales are new, otherwise it's pretty much the same view as in the 1940s.

Foxholes in the Ardennes Forest, near the village of Foy.

Foxholes remain in the forest.

Here Jeff is walking just inside the tree line. The open fields seen in the views above are just beyond that row of trees behind him.

Foxholes in the Ardennes Forest, overlooking the village of Foy.

Someone has laid some downed branches over a foxhole.

Rows of pine trees in the Ardennes Forest.

This is a view further through the Bois Jacques toward the field overlooking Foy.

Straight rows of pine trees in the Ardennes Forest.

Here is another view through the Bois Jacques.

You can see how the trees are in straight lines.

This area of Bois Jacques is regularly cut for timber and has been for many decades.

I must admit that I was a complete skeptic at first. The Bois Jacques is obviously a farmed forest, what you see now is entirely planted trees. These are pine trees, fast growing as trees go, and so the trees you see there today probably weren't yet alive in late 1944.

However, it seems that the Bois Jacques is regularly harvested and re-planted. There are remains of foxholes and other remnants of the battle.

I would now say that while we aren't seeing the same trees, we are seeing the same forest.