Who said nuts to the germans in wwii

Written or verbal, they asked. The American Commander. But they were still confused. Harper discussed how to explain the American slang with Pfc. Ernest Premetz, a medic who spoke German. Instead, Premetz turned and faced the Germans. Despite the German threat, artillery fire never materialized. Then the German air force began a four-day bombing campaign that failed to dislodge the American defenders. But McAuliffe inspired his soldiers even further with a Christmas Eve message to his troops that explained the situation.

All true, but what has the proud Eagle Division accomplished with its worthy comrades the 10th Armored Division, the th Tank Destroyer Battalion and all the rest? The siege was finally broken on Dec. By Jan. But months before the Germans surrendered in May , an American intelligence report summarized what had happened on that cold day in Belgium, when the tables were turned and the Germans had the upper hand. The catastrophic carnage of human lives resulting from the artillery barrage of astronomic proportions which was to be the fate of the defending troops failed to materialize.

Reach out via email or find him on Twitter at paulszoldra. Contact the author here. The photo shows then-Staff Sgt. On that September morning in , Japanese officials signed a Over her year career, Joyner trained thousands of students and helped write the first cosmetology laws in Russian soldiers discovered thousands of sick, dying, and dead prisoners when they entered the complex of concentration camps, forced labor camps, and a killing center abandoned by the Read more 50th Anniversary of Apollo Hitler's offensive would be his last gamble of the war.

One of those Americans who remembered those cold, snowy days, and who also received a copy of the famous offer of surrender of Bastogne, was my father, Thomas R. O'Brian, who was a member of the th Field Artillery Battalion.

As I was growing up he would tell me, my four sisters, and two brothers about his WWII experiences, and especially about the Battle of the Bulge. Thomas O'Brian. The battalion was split with one group in Bastogne itself, and my father's group near the village of Villeroux. The village was southwest within a short distance from Bastogne. They were stationed there primarily because they had mm howitzer guns which could fire three times longer than the airborne artillery could fire.

The mm howitzer guns were very effective in destroying German tanks when they were on target. Fighting was constant, and the troops began to be cut off as the Germans pushed forward.

My mother received letters regularly from my father throughout the war until his battalion was sent to Villeroux. Temperatures began to plummet as winter neared. My father tried to stay warm by stuffing newspapers inside his summer uniform, which consisted of a meager light jacket.

He always said when it became cold and snow was on the ground, that it reminded him of Bastogne. On Dec. The Americans responded with force.

If they could not destroy German tanks with their mm guns there was another method of destroying them: by firing bazookas on the treads of their tanks. Then some brave soldier would volunteer to go behind the tank, open the top hatch, and drop grenades inside to knock it out.

My father told me they had to do this more than once. Villeroux was cut off from Bastogne for four days starting the next day, Dec. As the Germans entered into Villeroux my father and fellow soldiers hid in a basement of a house while German soldiers were just outside.

In addition to battling the cold and German forces, they had to fight off the rats crawling on the floor as they sought refuge in that basement.

My father had a carbine rifle as his only weapon to fight the Germans.