{"id":1154046,"date":"2021-12-25T12:34:39","date_gmt":"2021-12-25T17:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1154046"},"modified":"2021-12-25T12:34:41","modified_gmt":"2021-12-25T17:34:41","slug":"whats-merry-about-all-this-read-the-letter-general-anthony-mcauliffe-sent-his-exhausted-surrounded-men-at-the-battle-of-the-bulge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/whats-merry-about-all-this-read-the-letter-general-anthony-mcauliffe-sent-his-exhausted-surrounded-men-at-the-battle-of-the-bulge\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018What\u2019s Merry About All This?\u2019: Read The Letter General Anthony McAuliffe Sent His Exhausted, Surrounded Men At The Battle Of The Bulge"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">44<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhats-merry-about-all-this-read-the-letter-general-anthony-mcauliffe-sent-his-exhausted-surrounded-men-at-the-battle-of-the-bulge%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1154046&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe and his men \u2014 many from the 101st Airborne Division, along with some stragglers from Pennsylvania\u2019s 28th Infantry Division (known as \u201cThe Bloody Bucket\u201d) and the 9th Armored \u201cPhantom\u201d Division \u2014 spent Christmas of 1944 in the Belgian city of Bastogne, surrounded by an ever-encroaching enemy and greatly outnumbered.<\/p>\n<p>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 \u2014 and he promised that the inevitable civilian casualties would be blamed on the Americans.<\/p>\n<p>McAuliffe responded to the German threat with just one word: \u201cNuts!\u201d And, as promised, the German army began to tighten its grip on <a href=\"https:\/\/dailywire.com\/news\/watch-world-war-ii-veteran-breaks-into-song-during-ceremony-honoring-his-service-in-belgium\/\">Bastogne<\/a>. Machine-gun fire and approaching tanks met any American soldier who approached the perimeter, and Junkers Ju 88 bombers flew over the city as visibility allowed. The Germans also blanketed the area with pamphlets promising relief from the hunger and frigid conditions to anyone who surrendered.<\/p>\n<p>And so it was that on Christmas Eve, McAuliffe sent a letter to rally his troops:<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">75 years ago this Christmas Eve, Gen. Anthony McAuliffe wrote this letter to his troops during the Battle of the Bulge. Today we remember the service members who served during the holidays both then and now and wish you a Merry Christmas! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NoVeteranEverDies?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NoVeteranEverDies<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VuYyhYqqVj\">pic.twitter.com\/VuYyhYqqVj<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 National Cemeteries (@VANatCemeteries) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VANatCemeteries\/status\/1209458808587784192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 24, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>McAuliffe\u2019s letter began with the heading \u201cMerry Christmas\u201d:<\/p>\n<p><em>What\u2019s Merry about all this, you ask? We\u2019re fighting \u2014 it\u2019s cold, we aren\u2019t home. All true but what has the proud Eagle Division accomplished with its worthy comrades the 10th Armored Division, the 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion and all the rest? Just this: We have stopped cold everything that has been thrown at us from the North, East, South and West. We have identifications from four German Panzer Divisions, two German Infantry Divisions and one German Parachute Division. These units, spearheading the last desperate German lunge, were headed straight west for key points when the Eagle Division was hurriedly ordered to stem the advance. How effectively this was done will be written in history; not alone in our Division\u2019s glorious history but in World history. The Germans actually did surround us, their radios blared our doom. Their Commander demanded our surrender in the following impudent arrogance:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>To the U. S. A. Commander of the encircled town of Bastogne.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>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&nbsp;and reached St. Hubert by passing through Hompres-Sibret-Tillet. Libramont is in German hands.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>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.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>If this proposal should be rejected the 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 hour\u2019s term.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>All the serious civilian losses caused by this Artillery fire would not correspond with the well known American humanity.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The German Commander<\/p>\n<p><em>The German Commander received the following reply:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>22 December 1944<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cTo the German Commander:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>N U T S !<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The American Commander\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Allied Troops are counterattacking in force. We continue to hold Bastogne. By holding Bastogne we assure the success of the Allied Armies. We know that our Division Commander, General Taylor, will say: \u201cWell Done!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>We are giving our country and our loved ones at home a worthy Christmas present and being privileged to take part in this gallant feat of arms are truly making for ourselves a Merry Christmas.<\/em><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">73 years ago, the US <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/101stAASLTDIV?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@101stAASLTDIV<\/a> was surrounded at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Bastogne?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Bastogne<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Belgium?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Belgium<\/a> over the Christmas time during the December 1944 Battle of the Bulge. Here is Gen. McAuliffe\u2019s historic Christmas letter <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BHR6MsHjMj\">https:\/\/t.co\/BHR6MsHjMj<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WW2Nation?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WW2Nation<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IEpjyM3fmv\">pic.twitter.com\/IEpjyM3fmv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pascal Heyman (@PascalHeyman) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PascalHeyman\/status\/945012709669703680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 24, 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<p>That night, the Junkers dropped one-ton bombs on the city of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/history\/2019\/12\/23\/christmas-eve-snow-turned-red-with-blood\/\">Bastogne<\/a>. They destroyed a makeshift hospital, killing dozens of wounded soldiers, nurses, and medics. But McAuliffe\u2019s men held the city, earning for the 101st Airborne Division the nickname \u201cThe Battered Bastards of Bastogne.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>General George S. Patton arrived the day after Christmas, bringing with him the necessary strength to break the siege and relieve McAuliffe\u2019s men.<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\">member<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe and his men \u2014 many from the 101st Airborne Division, along with some stragglers from Pennsylvania\u2019s 28th Infantry Division (known as \u201cThe Bloody Bucket\u201d) and the 9th Armored \u201cPhantom\u201d Division \u2014 spent Christmas of 1944 in the Belgian city of Bastogne, surrounded by an ever-encroaching enemy and greatly outnumbered. On December &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1154046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1154046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1154046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1154046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1154046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1154046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1154046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}