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Article: Bastogne's Salute to The Battle of the Bulge; A Belgian City Pays Tribute to America's WWII Sacrifice
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- November 6, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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"Nuts!" By now, even those of us old enough to remember World
War II have probably forgotten where this famous retort was uttered,
and by whom. Yet American Gen. Anthony McAuliffe's response to
German Lt. Gen. Heinrich F. von Luttwitz, who had demanded that
McAuliffe's besieged 101st Airborne Division surrender the Belgian
town of Bastogne, is permanently embedded in the lexicon of rousing
epithets from the war.
But ours is not an age of heroes. The days of the good fight
are long behind us, and our memories have gone dim.
Although McAuliffe's one-word rejoinder might have made a great
sound bite if the Battle of the Bulge were to be fought today, the
networks would probably cut back ...