細節
McAULIFFE, ANTHONY C., General. Autograph letter signed ("A C McAuliffe") to the journalist David Wayne in Brussels; Washington, D.C., 10 October 1969. 2 pages, 4to, 267 x 185 mm. (10 1/2 x 7 1/4 in.), on McAuliffe's personal stationery with imprinted address, autograph envelope present.
"NUTS"
A retelling of one of the most famous incidents of the European Theater in World War II. McAuliffe writes the journalist Donald Wayne, who had just attended the 25th reunion of veterans of the 101st U.S. Airborne Division, which held off a far superior German army in the siege of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. On 16 December 1944 the German commander, von Rundstedt, launched a powerful, unexpected counter-attack against thin Allied lines in the Ardennes. The allies fell back some fifty miles as the German panzer columns drove for the Channel coast. Only the vital crossroads town of Bastogne, Belgium, headquarters of the American VIII Corps, frustrated the German advance. The American commander there, General Troy Middleton, hastily evacuated the command staff and called in the paratroopers of the 101st, commanded by McAuliffe, to hold the town, which was rapidly encircled by the Germans. After two days of round-the-clock artillery and air bombardment, the Germans, as McAuliffe narrates, felt the Americans would be ready to surrender. The Bastogne seige became one of the epic engagements in American military history and General McAuliffe's terse and quintessentially American reply to the surrender demand became one of the most famous stories of World War II. Here, at Wayne's request, McAuliffe gives his own version of the incident:
"The 'Nuts' story follows: At 11:30 on Dec. 22d, four Germans came up the road to Bastogne from Remoifosse carrying a large white flag. My troopers concluded that the Germans were surrendering, the envoys were blindfolded. They had a message addressed to the American commander in Bastogne. It demanded the immediate surrender of the Bastogne garrison and threatened its complete destruction otherwise. When told what the paper contained, I laughed and said 'Nuts.' I then visited some troops. When I returned to the C.P. [Command Post], I was told that the Germans, still blindfolded, were saying that they had brought an official communication and were entitled to an official reply. 'What shall I tell them?' I asked the staff. Co. Kinnard, our brilliant G-3 [chief intelligence officer] suggested: 'That first crack of yours, that Nuts would be good answer.' The staff agreed with enthusiasm, so they typed it out in official fashion: To the German Commander: Nuts. (signed) The American Commander. Col. Harper placed the reply in the German officer's hands. The Germans asked if the reply was affirmative or negative, if affirmative he had authority to negotiate further. He did not understand the one-word reply. Harper said 'It means the same as "Go to Hell," you understand that, don't you.' The Germans said 'Yes, and we'll kill many Americans.'"
The Germans carried out their threat, inflicting heavy casualties in five days of attacks. A day after McAuliffe's famous reply supplies were dropped by air to the beleagured division, and finally on 26 December General Patton's 3rd Army, in a slashing counterattack broke through the German pincers to relieve the Bastogne garrison. The town of Bastogne still celebrates the American general and his famous laconic reply with a McAuliffe Square and a "Nuts" museum. Provenance: Anonymous owner (sale, Sotheby's, 31 October 1985, lot 153).
"NUTS"
A retelling of one of the most famous incidents of the European Theater in World War II. McAuliffe writes the journalist Donald Wayne, who had just attended the 25th reunion of veterans of the 101st U.S. Airborne Division, which held off a far superior German army in the siege of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. On 16 December 1944 the German commander, von Rundstedt, launched a powerful, unexpected counter-attack against thin Allied lines in the Ardennes. The allies fell back some fifty miles as the German panzer columns drove for the Channel coast. Only the vital crossroads town of Bastogne, Belgium, headquarters of the American VIII Corps, frustrated the German advance. The American commander there, General Troy Middleton, hastily evacuated the command staff and called in the paratroopers of the 101st, commanded by McAuliffe, to hold the town, which was rapidly encircled by the Germans. After two days of round-the-clock artillery and air bombardment, the Germans, as McAuliffe narrates, felt the Americans would be ready to surrender. The Bastogne seige became one of the epic engagements in American military history and General McAuliffe's terse and quintessentially American reply to the surrender demand became one of the most famous stories of World War II. Here, at Wayne's request, McAuliffe gives his own version of the incident:
"The 'Nuts' story follows: At 11:30 on Dec. 22d, four Germans came up the road to Bastogne from Remoifosse carrying a large white flag. My troopers concluded that the Germans were surrendering, the envoys were blindfolded. They had a message addressed to the American commander in Bastogne. It demanded the immediate surrender of the Bastogne garrison and threatened its complete destruction otherwise. When told what the paper contained, I laughed and said 'Nuts.' I then visited some troops. When I returned to the C.P. [Command Post], I was told that the Germans, still blindfolded, were saying that they had brought an official communication and were entitled to an official reply. 'What shall I tell them?' I asked the staff. Co. Kinnard, our brilliant G-3 [chief intelligence officer] suggested: 'That first crack of yours, that Nuts would be good answer.' The staff agreed with enthusiasm, so they typed it out in official fashion: To the German Commander: Nuts. (signed) The American Commander. Col. Harper placed the reply in the German officer's hands. The Germans asked if the reply was affirmative or negative, if affirmative he had authority to negotiate further. He did not understand the one-word reply. Harper said 'It means the same as "Go to Hell," you understand that, don't you.' The Germans said 'Yes, and we'll kill many Americans.'"
The Germans carried out their threat, inflicting heavy casualties in five days of attacks. A day after McAuliffe's famous reply supplies were dropped by air to the beleagured division, and finally on 26 December General Patton's 3rd Army, in a slashing counterattack broke through the German pincers to relieve the Bastogne garrison. The town of Bastogne still celebrates the American general and his famous laconic reply with a McAuliffe Square and a "Nuts" museum. Provenance: Anonymous owner (sale, Sotheby's, 31 October 1985, lot 153).