Posted 1/11/2009 04:10:00 PM by Douglas

RIP Harry Kinnard, a true American Badass:

Lt. Gen. Harry W. O. Kinnard, who inspired the storied retort “nuts” to a German surrender ultimatum during the Battle of the Bulge, died Monday in Arlington, Va. He was 93.

But he was perhaps best remembered for what happened in December 1944 at the Belgian town of Bastogne, where the 101st Airborne Division, short on clothing and boots in a snowstorm and bitter cold, was surrounded by German troops.

Bastogne, at the intersection of important roads, was a crucial objective for the Germans in their surprise attack in the Ardennes region of Belgium, an offensive that had created a “bulge” in Allied lines.

On Dec. 22, two German officers approached the American lines in Bastogne carrying a demand that the American commander surrender his troops within two hours or face annihilation from an artillery barrage.

The message was passed on to Brig. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe, acting as division commander while Maj. Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor was in Washington.

General Kinnard, a lieutenant colonel at the time and the division’s operations officer, would recall that General McAuliffe “laughed and said: ‘Us surrender? Aw, nuts.’ ”

That's gotta be a hard story to live down. Ever.

General McAuliffe became famed for the “nuts” reply, but sometimes grew weary of hearing the story retold. On one occasion, he thought he had a respite.

“One evening a dear old Southern lady invited me to dinner,” he recalled. “I had a delightful time talking to her and her charming guests. I was pleased because no mention was made the entire evening of the ‘nuts’ incident. As I prepared to depart and thanked my hostess for an enjoyable evening, she replied, ‘Thank you and good night, General McNut.’ ”