Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe and his men — many from the 101st Airborne Division, along with some stragglers from Pennsylvania’s 28th Infantry Division (known as “The Bloody Bucket”) and the 9th Armored “Phantom” Division — spent Christmas of 1944 in the Belgian city of Bastogne, surrounded by an ever-encroaching enemy and greatly outnumbered.
On December 22, the German commander sent word to McAuliffe, informing him that he and his troops were surrounded and demanding that they surrender. He warned the American general that if he did not surrender, the attack would be swift and merciless — and he promised that the inevitable civilian casualties would be blamed on the Americans.
McAuliffe responded to the German threat with just one word: “Nuts!” And, as promised, the German army began to tighten its grip on Bastogne. Machine-gun fire and approaching tanks…
