RHINE-MAIN — When Maj Gen Anthony C. McAuliffe (then a brigadier general and acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division) made his famous "nuts" reply in answering a German ultimatum to surrender the city of Bastogne during the first days of the Battle of the Bulge, he probably never realized what far-reaching effects that single word would have.
Today, four years after the heroic defense of the Belgian town, the town burghers now call their city the "Nut City" and will be busy cracking nuts — 660 pounds of them — when they celebrate the anniversary of the battle.
The nuts were shipped as a gift from the nut growers of the U.S. and were flown into Rhine-Main Airport tonight before being taken to Bastogne Wednesday.
The presentation of the nuts will be made by Maj Charles L. Hustead, of EUCOM Headquarters. Hustead, from Falls City, Neb., was with the 20th Armd Inf Bn during the Battle of the Bulge and participated in the siege of Bastogne with the 101st Airborne.
(Editor's note: A United Press story in the December 20 edition of Stars and Stripes noted that the Air Force was unable to spare the planes or personnel for a parachute drop of the nuts into Bastogne, so the 22 cases were to be sent by truck from Frankfurt.)
