Posted on 01/12/2009 7:59:57 AM PST by Borges
His death was announced by his family.
Kinnard parachuted into Normandy in the first hours of D-Day. He received the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism during Operation Market Garden, the airborne attack in the German-occupied Netherlands. And he helped pioneer the airmobile concept, sending troops into combat aboard helicopters during the Vietnam War.
But he was perhaps best remembered for what happened in December 1944 at the Belgian town of Bastogne, where the 101st Airborne Division, short on clothing and boots in a snowstorm and bitter cold, was surrounded by German troops.
Bastogne, at the intersection of important roads, was a crucial objective for the Germans in their surprise attack in the Ardennes region of Belgium, an offensive that had created a "bulge" in Allied lines.
On Dec. 22, two German officers approached the American lines in Bastogne carrying a demand that the American commander surrender his troops within two hours or face annihilation from an artillery barrage.
The message was passed on to Brig. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe, acting as division commander while Maj. Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor was in Washington.
Kinnard, a lieutenant colonel at the time and the division's operations officer, would recall that McAuliffe "laughed and said: ‘Us surrender? Aw, nuts.'"
(Excerpt) Read more at 2.journalnow.com ...
Papa Meyer, my dad, served in the US Army in World War II. Never talked about it much, and we were always kind enough to not ask about his experiences in the war.
The other great line was, “We’re paratroopers, we’re supposed to be surrounded.”
prosperity renders them useless and carries the inept, the corrupted wealthy and the wicked to the top.
May they bear in mind that virtue often contains the seeds of tyranny.
May they bear in mind that it is neither gold nor even a multitude of arms that sustains a state, but its morals.
May each of them keep in his house, in a corner of this field, next to his workbench, next to his plow, his gun, his sword, and his bayonet.
May they all be soldiers.
May they bear in mind that in circumstances where deliberation is possible, the advice of old men is good, but that in moments of crisis youth is generally better informed that its elders.
Denis Diderot
Apostrophe to the Insurgents, 1782
I went to grade school with one of Gen. Kinnard’s sons. The first time I went over to Gen, Kinnard’s home when I was still a pre-teen, Gen. & Mrs. Kinnard where sitting on their couch in front of a glass-topped coffee table. Inside of that coffee table (actually a display case), there were all of Gen. Kinnard’s medals laid out. I started to name them off one by one and Gen. Kinnard just looked at me and said “Son, where did you learn about all of those military medals?” I replied, sir, I want to be a soldier when I grow up so I’ve read a lot of books about the Army. He said, “You’ll make a great soldier.”
I did grow up and become a soldier...but I know for sure I was never a great one like Gen. Kinnard.
God rest his soul and comfort his family.
For a modern equivalent, perhaps one of our guys will tell the terrorists “Bite Me!” when the terrorists ask for a surrender. That might also confuse a jihadi.
My dad was Air Corps. He made the Atlantic crossing to North Africa in 1943 on one of those ships. The convoy was attacked twice, scared him as much as anything that happened once he got into the theater.
RIP.
Family War Story.
Dad returned to the Broklyn Navy Yard and at 7:00AM and was given orders to sail that night at 11:00PM. He made his way to Newark where Mom and I lived. Mom worked in the Tungsol factory across the street from our apartment. Dad arrived at 1:00PM and had to leave by five to make his boarding time. Mom was working 12 hour shifts 8AM-8PM. When Dad showed up Mom's supervisor would not give her the time off to visit with Dad. Mom quit on the spot and Dad left after seeing Mom and Me.
When he arrived in Tunisia he had shore leave while the ship was unloaded. He stole some sheets and towels from stores and wrapped them around his middle under his uniform. He made several trips to the town market where he sold the sheets and towels to the "Rag Heads"(his words) 'cause they would pay top dollar for the fabric. I still have the Telegraph moneygrams where he sent Mom $350, (quite a sum for WWII era), cause he wanted to make sure we had money for food and apartment rent.
Mom went to the National Labor Relations Board and filed a complaint. She was back to work within days. She was assigned to the control tower at Newark Airport where she served out the days until Dad came marchin' Home!
According to the displays at the Bastogne Historical Center, General McAuliffe rarely if ever used profanity, and certainly never would have sworn in front of enlisted men. His response was truly “Nuts.”
Either way, it took guts to hold their ground when they didn’t even have winter supplies in the middle of a blizzard while the Germans outnumbered you three-to-one.
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