An Interview With
Colonel Stuart M. Seaton
LEFT: Col. Seaton (then Major) during WWII
RIGHT: Col. Seaton in May 2012
By Nathaniel Estabrooks
“On the 19th we were completely encircled
by the Germans like a big doughnut.”
Nathaniel: When did you join the
United States Military?
Col. Seaton: I went into active duty
on July 7, 1941, as a 2nd Lieutenant in the
artillery (several weeks after I graduated
from the Virginia Military Institute on
the 11th of June, 1941, and went into the
reserves).
Nathaniel: Which theater in WWII
did you serve in?
Col. Seaton: European-African Middle Eastern Theater.
Nathaniel: In what campaigns did you
participate?
Col. Seaton: Sicily, Anzio, Rome-Arno, Southern France, Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland, and Central Europe.
Nathaniel: Could you explain more
about the Ardennes-Alsace campaign,
including the Battle of the Bulge?
Col. Seaton: The unit I was in had
come in through southern France. At
the completion of the southern France
operation, the unit was attached to the
101st Airborne Division, and at the Battle
of the Bulge, the 101st was called on to
go into combat. Prior to that, the 101st
had just gotten back from the operation
in Holland. They were in France in early
December 1944, when the Bulge broke on
the 16th. As the Germans were advancing,
the 101st was called into ground action.
We left the area in France on the 18th of
December and went into position in Belgium for combat operations supporting
the 101st on the 19th of December.
Nathaniel: Do you have any interesting stories you would like to share about
the combat after this mentioned time?
Col. Seaton: The main story is about
the day we got attacked by German ar-
mor and infantry. We had gone into fi-
ring position on the 19th of December.
From that day until the 23rd, we fired
pretty much in an area of 360 degrees,
in other words, a complete circle. On the
19th we were completely encircled by the
Germans like a big doughnut.
