United States Army Lieutenant General. A career Army officer, he is most noted for his defiant response of "Nuts!" to the German demand for surrender of the town of Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge on December 22, 1944. At the time, Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe was Acting Division Commander and was handed the German demand. Lieutenant Colonel Kinnard, then serving as the division's operations officer, recounted that McAuliffe laughed and said "Us surrender? Aw, nuts." After considering the German demand, McAuliffe said he didn't know what to say in response, to which Kinnard replied, "That first remark of yours would be hard to beat." Thus, "Nuts" became the official response to the German surrender demand. He entered military service after graduating from West Point in 1939, parachuted into Normandy on D-Day with the newly organized 101st Airborne Division and was decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism in actions against German forces in the Netherlands. In addition to being a World War II veteran, he was the principal architect of the Army's First Cavalry Division concept of using helicopters in infantry warfare during the Vietnam War. He retired from active service as a Lieutenant General in 1969 and was one of the first inductees into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame in 1974. He died of Parkinson's disease.
United States Army Lieutenant General. A career Army officer, he is most noted for his defiant response of "Nuts!" to the German demand for surrender of the town of Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge on December 22, 1944. At the time, Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe was Acting Division Commander and was handed the German demand. Lieutenant Colonel Kinnard, then serving as the division's operations officer, recounted that McAuliffe laughed and said "Us surrender? Aw, nuts." After considering the German demand, McAuliffe said he didn't know what to say in response, to which Kinnard replied, "That first remark of yours would be hard to beat." Thus, "Nuts" became the official response to the German surrender demand. He entered military service after graduating from West Point in 1939, parachuted into Normandy on D-Day with the newly organized 101st Airborne Division and was decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism in actions against German forces in the Netherlands. In addition to being a World War II veteran, he was the principal architect of the Army's First Cavalry Division concept of using helicopters in infantry warfare during the Vietnam War. He retired from active service as a Lieutenant General in 1969 and was one of the first inductees into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame in 1974. He died of Parkinson's disease.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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