Trousers, Combat, Winter, G-3, 101st Airborne Division, Bastogne

"In 1944, Lt. Colonel Kinnard was a 29-year-old assistant chief of staff to General Anthony C. McAuliffe, commander of the 101st Airborne Division. When the German army launched a last-ditch attack in the Ardennes Forest on December 16, the 101st was rushed into the Belgian town of Bastogne to defend the intersection of five strategic roads. On December 22, the Germans sent two officers and two noncommissioned officers into Bastogne with a white flag and Lieutenant General Heinrich von Luttwitz's typewritten demand that U.S. forces surrender, the "one possibility" of saving American troops from "total annihilation." McAuliffe's instinctive response was to laugh and exclaim, "Us surrender? Aw, nuts!" He told his staff that he wasn't sure how to respond officially and asked for suggestions.

"That first remark of yours would be hard to beat," Lt. Colonel Kinnard told him, and other staff members enthusiastically agreed. McAuliffe then called in a typist and dictated: "To the German Commander: Nuts!" and signed it, "The American Commander."

The American soldiers who escorted the German emissaries back to their lines had to explain that "Nuts!" was the equivalent of "Go to hell." In the early morning of Christmas Day, the 101st Division repulsed a German assault. The siege of Bastogne ended when U.S. forces attacking from the south joined the 101st. Ltc. Col. Harry W. O. Kinnard, Jr. (1-501) earned the Distinguished Service Cross during Operation Market-Garden in World War II. Full citation: The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Harry W. O. Kinnard, Jr., Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Commanding Officer, 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, in action against enemy forces in September 1944. Lieutenant Colonel Kinnard's intrepid actions, personal bravery and zealous devotion to duty exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, the 101st Airborne Division, and the United States Army."