“Nuts!”

Don’t let the bastards grind you down.

Upon returning to the division headquarters, McAulliffe was informed that Jones had phoned to say that the two German officers were still waiting at the F Company Command Post. Since they brought a formal demand they felt they were entitled to a formal reply and they were to return to the German lines two hours after delivering their message.

McAulliffe asked that Col. Harper be summoned to the Division Headquarters. Harper, who was still inspecting his units’ positions, was contacted by radio.

When Harper arrived at the Headquarters, he was asked to wait outside of the closed door to McAulliffe’s quarters. Inside, in the presence of his staff, McAulliffe wondered aloud, “Well, I don’t know what to tell them.” At that point, Kinnard said, “What you said initially would be hard to beat.” McAulliffe asked “What do you mean?” Kinnard, said, “Sir, you said nuts.” All members of the staff enthusiastically agreed, so McAulliffe wrote it down on a message pad and said, “Have it typed up.”

The reply was typed up, centered on a full sheet of paper. It read:

“December 22, 1944

To the German Commander,

N U T S !

The American Commander”

Merry Christmas to everyone except for the Nazis.