Sunday, January 11, 2009

LT. GENERAL HARRY KINNARD--A MAN OF FEW WORDS

With each day's passing, we lose more and more of our great warriors from WWII. Today is no exception.

Today it was announced that Lt. General Harry W. O. Kinnard has died. He was 93.

General Kinnard is best known for his advice to BG McAuliffe on how to reply to the Germans after they asked for his unit's surrender, the 101st Airborne, at the Battle of the Bulge.

Kinnard's advice was simple: one word would do. And from that moment on, the one word reply would go down in history.

"Nuts!"

According to Kinnard's obit, he tired of the "Nuts!" incident being brought up all the time. He recalls one occasion, a small dinner gathering, where it looked as if it wouldn't be mentioned. But, in a quite humorous way, it finally popped up, again.

The Battle of the Bulge wasn't the only time one of his units found itself surrounded, either. Lt. General Kinnard also saw action in Viet Nam, and has a direct connection to the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley. His involvement is recounted in the book, "We Were Soldiers Once...And Young," written by Lt. Gen. Harold Moore and Joe Galloway.

A couple years back, Andrea interviewed one of the heroes from that battle just after he was presented with the Medal of Honor by President George W. Bush--"By The Orders Of Their Own Heart"

Under the command of Lt. General Harry Kinnard, Huey pilot LTC Bruce Crandall:



Rest in peace, General Kinnard. Thanks for your service.

Twitter

Related: Ed Freeman's obit

|
Weblog Commenting and Trackback by HaloScan.com