 The 9th Armored Division made a stand at Bastogne and held off the Germans long enough to enable the 101st Airborne Division to dig in for a defense of the city , resulting in the Battle of Bastogne . After a rest period in January 1945 , the 9th Armored Division made preparations for a drive across the Roer River . The offensive was launched on February 28 , and the 9th smashed across the Roer to <unk> , sending patrols into Remagen . The Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen was found intact , and was seized by elements of the 9th Armored Division minutes before demolition charges were set to explode on March 7 , 1945 . The division exploited the bridgehead , moving south and east across the Lahn River toward Limburg , where thousands of Allied prisoners were liberated . The Division drove on to Frankfurt and then turned to assist in the closing of the Ruhr Pocket . In April it continued east , encircled Leipzig and secured a line along the <unk> River . The division was shifting south to Czechoslovakia when the war in Europe ended on V @-@ E Day in May 1945 . 
