December 22, 1944: General McAuliffe Says, "Nuts!"

December 22, 1944: Seven days after beginning their last stand on the Western Front, and sensing victory, Nazi Germany sends a surrender demand to the American commander. They got a response they did not expect.

With the Allies having liberated France, and marching toward Germany itself from the West, and the Soviet Union's Red Army marching from the East, the Nazis needed a win, somewhere. On December 15, they attacked in the Ardennes Forest, which stretches over France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and even part of Germany.

They pushed forward, and formed a "bulge" in the American line, leading to the conflict being known as "The Battle of the Bulge." By the 22nd, they had the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, then stationed in Bastogne, Belgium, virtually surrounded.

One of the reasons the attack was launched when it was is that the 101st's commanding officer, Major General Maxwell D. Taylor, was away, attending a staff conference. In temporary command was Brigadier General Anthony C. McAuliffe.

(In the Army, the Marine Corps, and, since its separation from the Army in 1947, the Air Force, A Brigadier General wears one star, a Major General two, a Lieutenant General three, a full General four, and a General of the Army five. In the Navy, the equivalent ranks are, respectively: Commodore, Rear Admiral, Vice Admiral, Admiral, and Admiral of the Fleet. However, the Navy discontinued the rank of Commodore in 1985.)

On December 22, the Nazi commander, General der Panzertruppe Heinrich Diepold Georg Freiherr von Lüttwitz, sent a major under a flag of truce, and delivered this message to McAuliffe:

To the U.S.A. Commander of the encircled town of Bastogne.

The fortune of war is changing. This time the U.S.A. forces in and near Bastogne have been encircled by strong German armored units. More German armored units have crossed the river Ourthe near Ortheuville, have taken Marche and reached St. Hubert by passing through Hompre-Sibret-Tillet. Libramont is in German hands.

There is only one possibility to save the encircled U.S.A. troops from total annihilation: that is the honorable surrender of the encircled town. In order to think it over a term of two hours will be granted beginning with the presentation of this note.

If this proposal should be rejected one German Artillery Corps and six heavy A. A. Battalions are ready to annihilate the U.S.A. troops in and near Bastogne. The order for firing will be given immediately after this two hours term.

All the serious civilian losses caused by this artillery fire would not correspond with the well-known American humanity.

The German Commander. 

According to those present when McAuliffe received the German message, he read it, crumpled it into a ball, threw it in a wastepaper basket, and muttered, "Aw, nuts." The officers in McAuliffe's command post were trying to find suitable language for an official reply when Lieutenant Colonel Harry Kinnard suggested that McAuliffe's first response summed up the situation pretty well, and the others agreed. The official reply was typed and delivered by Colonel Joseph Harper. It read as follows:

To the German Commander.
NUTS!
The American Commander.

The German major appeared confused, and asked Harper what the message meant. Harper said, "In plain English? 'Go to Hell.'"

The choice of "Nuts!" rather than something earthier was typical for McAuliffe. Captain Vincent Vicari, his personal aide at the time, recalled that "General Mac was the only general I ever knew who did not use profane language. 'Nuts' was part of his normal vocabulary."

The artillery fire did not materialize, although several infantry and tank assaults were directed at the positions of the 327th Glider Infantry. In addition, the German Luftwaffe attacked the town, bombing it nightly. The 101st held off the Germans until the 4th Armored Division arrived on December 26 to provide reinforcement.

The Battle of the Bulge was the largest battle ever to involve American troops, with 705,000 men eventually taking on a peak of 449,000 Germans. Losses: 75,000 Americans, 104,000 Germans. Among the Americans serving, and earning a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, was Warren Spahn, who would survive the war and pitch his way into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Once the American reinforcements arrived, the Nazis were doomed, both on the Western Front and overall. By January 28, 1945, they were in retreat.

A 1919 West Point graduate, McAuliffe would be awarded a Distinguished Service Cross, a Silver Star and 2 Bronze Stars over the course of his career. After General Taylor returned, McAuliffe was given command of the 103rd Infantry Division, which liberated the Kaufering concentration camp and the Austrian city of Innsbruck. He was named Commander of the Seventh Army in 1953. In 1955, he was promoted to a full General, and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Army Europe. He retired in 1956, and lived until 1975.

Harry Kinnard, who recommended the response of "Nuts!", had already received the Distinguished Service Cross for his service in Operation Market Garden earlier in the year. He remained in the Army. During the Vietnam War, he came up with the "airmobile" concept: Using helicopters to send troops into battle and then get them out. He retired as a Lieutenant General, and lived until 2009.

Freiherr von Lüttwitz was captured in the Battle of the Ruhr Pocket on April 16, 1945, and was held as a prisoner of war until July 1, 1947. He was not charges with war crimes, was permitted to retire in peace, and lived until 1969.

*

December 22, 1944 was a Friday. Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Steve Carlton was born on this day.

Baseball was in the off-season. The NFL Championship Game was played 5 days earlier, with the Green Bay Packers beating the New York Giants, 14-7 at the Polo Grounds in New York. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And, while the NHL was in-season, no games were scheduled for that day. So there are no scores on this historic day.