The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Gen. Anthony McAuliffe at Bastonge - Dec. 22nd, 2002

http://www.thedropzone.org/europe/Bulge/kinnard.html ^ | Patrick O'Donnell

[SAMWolf]

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

Our Mission:

The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.

We hope to provide an ongoing source of information about issues and problems that are specific to Veterans and resources that are available to Veterans and their families.

In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.

Resource Links For Veterans

Click on the pix

"NUTS!" Revisited

An Interview with Lt. General Harry W. O. Kinnard

On December 16, 1944, the Germans launched their largest offensive of the war on the Western Front. The primary goals of the offensive were to capture the Belgian port of Antwerp and to drive a wedge between the British and American armies. This offensive is often referred to as the "Battle of the Bulge." It's failure was due largely to American resistance around St. Vith, on the northern shoulder of the Bulge, and by American forces holding Bastogne on the southern shoulder of the Bulge.

The town of Bastogne is strategically located at the center of the road network of the Ardennes. The Germans referred to it as a "road octopus" since the majority of roads in that region of the Ardennes pass through the town. The town's strategic location made it vitally important to the outcome of the offensive. The Allies realized its importance and General Eisenhower dispatched the 101st Airborne Division to hold the town at all costs. This victory resulted in the first full Army Division Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation.

This interview focuses on the story surrounding the German's request for the American forces at Bastogne to surrender and the American General's response as witnessed by Lt. General Harry Kinnard, at the time of the siege of Bastogne, a Lt. Col. and Division G-3. These are some of his personal recollections.



We got into Bastogne late on the night of 18 December, 1944. We were not well equipped, having just gotten out of combat in Holland. We were particularly short of winter clothing and footwear. On the 21st of December we became completely surrounded by Germans and our field hospital was overrun by a German attack. We had put the hospital in what would normally have been a safe place, but no place is safe when you are completely surrounded. At this time, we were not able to receive air resupply because the weather was absolutely frightful. It was very, very cold and snowy. Visibility was often measured in yards. Our lack of winter gear was partially offset by the citizens of Bastogne who gave us blankets and white linens that we used for camouflage.

While we were still surrounded, on the morning of December 22, a German surrender party, consisting of two officers and two NCOs, and carrying a white flag, approached our perimeter in the area of our Glider Regiment, the 327th. The party was taken to a nearby platoon command post. While the enlisted men were detained the officers were blind folded and taken to the command post of the 327th where they presented their surrender ultimatum. The ultimatum in essence said the 101st's position was hopeless and that if we elected not to surrender a lot of bad things would happen.



The message was brought in to the Division Headquarters by Major Alvin Jones, the S-3, and Colonel Harper, the Regimental Commander. They brought the message to me, the G-3 and Paul Danahy, the G-2. My first reaction was that this was a German ruse, designed to get our men out of their fox holes. But be that as it might, we agreed that we needed to take the message up the line. We took it first to the acting Chief of Staff of the Division, Lt. Col. Ned Moore. With him, we took the message to the acting Division Commander General Tony McAuliffe. Moore told General McAuliffe that we had a German surrender ultimatum. The General's first reaction was that the Germans wanted to surrender to us. Col. Moore quickly disabused him of that notion and explained that the German's demanded our surrender. When McAuliffe heard that he laughed and said: "Us surrender? Aw, nuts!" the date was December 22nd, 1944

To the U.S.A. Commander of the encircled town of Bastogne.

The fortune of war is changing. This time the U.S.A. forces in and near Bastogne have been encircled by strong German armored units. More German armored units have crossed the river Our near Ortheuville, have taken Marche and reached St. Hubert by passing through Hompre-Sibret-Tillet. Libramont is in German hands.

There is only one possibility to save the encircled U.S.A. troops from total annihilation: that is the honorable surrender of the encircled town. In order to think it over a term of two hours will be granted beginning with the presentation of this note.

If this proposal should be rejected one German Artillery Corps and six heavy A. A. Battalions are ready to annihilate the U.S.A. troops in and near Bastogne. The order for firing will be given immediately after this two hours' term.

All the serious civilian losses caused by this artillery fire would not correspond with the well known American humanity.

The German Commander.

But then McAuliffe realized that some sort of reply was in order. He pondered for a few minutes and then told the staff, "Well I don't know what to tell them." He then asked the staff what they thought, and I spoke up, saying, "That first remark of yours would be hard to beat." McAuliffe said, "What do you mean?" I answered, "Sir, you said 'Nuts'." All members of the staff enthusiastically agreed, and McAuliffe decided to send that one word, "Nuts!" back to the Germans. McAuliffe then wrote down:

"To the German Commander,

"Nuts!"

The American Commander."

McAuliffe then asked Col. Harper to deliver the message to the Germans. Harper took the typed message back to the company command post where the two German officers were detained. Harper then told the Germans that he had the American commanders reply. The German captain then asked, "Is it written or verbal?" Harper responded that it was written and added, "I will place it in your hand."

The German major then asked, "Is the reply negative or affirmative? If it is the latter I will negotiate further."



At this time the Germans were acting in an arrogant and patronizing manner and Harper, who was starting to lose his temper, responded, "The reply is decidedly not affirmative." He then added that, "If you continue your foolish attack your losses will be tremendous."

Harper then put the German officers in a jeep and took them back to where the German enlisted men were detained. He then said to the German captain, "If you don't know what 'Nuts' means, in plain English it is the same as 'Go to Hell'. And I'll tell you something else, if you continue to attack we will kill every goddam German that tries to break into this city."

The German major and captain saluted very stiffly. The captain said, "We will kill many Americans. This is war." Harper then responded, "On your way Bud," he then said, "and good luck to you." Harper later told me he always regretted wishing them good luck.

[SAMWolf]

Anthony Clement McAuliffe was Born in Washington, DC on July 2, 1898. He graduated from West Point in November, 1918. He was Commander of Division Artillery of the 101st Airborne Division when he parachuted into Normandy on D-Day and when he entered Holland by glider, 1944. In December, 1944, due to the absence of General Maxwell D. Taylor, he was acting Commander of the 101st Airborne Division and other attached troops during the siege of Bastogne, Belgium. It was when they became surrounded and the Germans demanded their surrender that he sent back his now-famous one-word reply "NUTS." For his actions at Bastogne he received the Distinguished Service Medal.

Anthony McAuliffe became Commander in Chief of the U.S. Army in Europe in 1955, when he was promoted to General. He retired from the Army in 1956 and died on August 11, 1975

In honour of Anthony McAuliffe, the main square in Bastogne is named the McAuliffe Square and the monument at right stands there.

[SAMWolf]

The first steps to save Bastogne were taken on 18 December, when Middleton dispatched the recently arrived Combat Command B to the northeast, east, and southeast of the town with orders to hold their positions at all cost. Such action indicated to the Germans that Bastogne would not be surrendered. In the week that followed, the Germans squeezed the perimeter around Bastogne tighter and tighter, but it did not break.

Throughout the defensive sector, McAuliffe organized the 101st and its attachments into regimental task forces. Each had its proportional share of artillery, tanks, antitank, and antiair forces. Thus, light infantry received supplemental firepower in their defense. With the exception of artillery, the Germans were similarly organized. Their artillery was kept primarily in general support.

On 19 December, small German infantry-armor forces, both with and without artillery support, infiltrated under cover of bad weather. German action also included night fighting with tanks. The Americans resisted strongly in all sectors, defending outlying villages and road intersections. By nightfall, XLVII Corps had been contained along the line Noville-Bizory-Neffe. The inadequate road network; old, brokendown and overloaded German vehicles; and the American artillery around Bastogne were slowing the German advance. With pressure from Heeresgruppe to push beyond Bastogne, Fifth Panzer Army and XLVII Corps decided that the Panzer Lehr Division should take Bastogne on the twentieth while the other forces continued their westward advance.



On 20 and 21 December, the same pattern of small-unit infiltration continued, with some gains accruing to the Germans. The villages of Noville and Bizory were finally taken, but an attack against Marvie was repulsed. Bastogne continued to be a matter of concern to XLVII Corps. But it was believed on the twentieth that, with advances continuing north and south of the town, Bastogne would soon be encircled and that the 26th Volksgrenadier Division following the panzer divisions could capture it. Indeed, the town was surrounded on the twenty-first, but the 26th Volksgrenadier Division was not strong enough to take it. Though surrounded, the 101st was not cut off. The division still maintained communication with VIII Corps and knew an American relief column was pushing toward them as German advances along the entire Western Front were diminishing. The Fifth Panzer Army refused to authorize sufficient additional forces to take Bastogne and to keep the faltering offensive alive. But the 26th Volksgrenadier Division still had the mission, with some help from the Panzer Lehr Division. On the evening of 21 December, Manteuffel and Luettwitz composed the now famous surrender note that, after being delivered to the 101st on 22 December, received McAuliffe's more famous reply: "Nuts."

In addition to the note on 22 December, there were continuous probes along the entire perimeter. Only two German attacks of any significance occurred, however, and both were no larger than company size. On 23 December, probes continued to the west and southeast, but the weather had cleared and American airpower was beginning to take its toll of German forces and equipment. Aerial resupply also began that day, bringing the 101st badly needed supplies and sending American morale soaring.

The Germans were becoming desperate. The XLVII Corps was informed that the 9th Panzer Division and 15th Panzergrenadier Division would come under corps control on 24 December, and the 3d Panzergrenadier Division would arrive later. Heeresgruppe still insisted on Bastogne being taken in conjunction with the advance to the Meuse, but with Fifth Panzer Army now on the defensive almost everywhere and the possibility of advancing to the Meuse River becoming slimmer each day, Army Chief of Staff General Wagener felt "the initiative seemed to have passed to the enemy."



The situation on 24 and 25 December revived Luettwitz' hope that his corps could take Bastogne. Reinforcements now promised by Fifth Panzer Army were essential for this success. During the night of 24 December, German combined arms and infantry attacks by pessimistic commanders and uninspired soldiers were uncoordinated and failed. On the twenty-fifth, the ring around Bastogne was tightened as a result of regimental-size attacks, but again, they were uncoordinated. The American advantage of interior lines clearly served to complicate German attempts to coordinate their efforts. That evening, XLVII Corps, apprehensive about the American relief column pushing through, requested reinforcements and wanted to call off the attacks. The German Fifth Army, appreciating the situation but powerless to act, could only offer sympathy and a promise to look for more reinforcements.

On 26 December, German forces again attacked with battalion-size infantry and armor teams. Striking American combined arms teams arrayed in depth, the Germans were again unsuccessful. Other units, forming for attack in assembly areas, were attacked by American artillery and dispersed. At 1600 that afternoon, American tanks broke through the 2d Panzer and 26th Volksgrenadier Divisions and linked up with the 101st. All hope for German success had died. The XLVII Corps had no forces available to eliminate this penetration, and the Fifth Panzer Army's offer of the Führer Begleit Brigade was too little and too late. Light German probing attacks continued on the 27th and 28th, but the XLVII Panzer Corps' defensive inclinations were more predominant. The 101st had held Bastogne and seriously retarded the German Ardennes offensive. In action from 18 through 27 December, the 101st and its attachments had suffered 115 officer and 1,933 enlisted casualties. They had killed 7,000 Germans, captured 697 prisoners, and destroyed approximately 200 armored vehicles.

[SAMWolf]

'Men who had come from far away,
foreigners who spoke another language
lost their lives to liberate us...
They did so to save the basic values of humanity:
Freedom and Peace'

--Inscription on a plaque in Bizory, Belgium

[Soaring Feather]

bump for a later read SAM

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning, Bentfeather.

[Soaring Feather]

Good Morning SAM

[SAMWolf]

What are you doing up so late/early?

[Soaring Feather]

Next door flying again!!!

POP-IN

LOL
What are you doing up????

[Light Speed]

M-24 Chaffee light tank
Chaffee's were quick..having 2 cadillac gas engines.. 8 forward and 4 reverse gears with a syncro transmission.
armed with a 75 mm...they had some punch.
Chaffee's were lite...about half the weight of a Sherman.
Delivered to the US Army Europe in early fall 1944...the Battle of the Bulge was Chaffee's first baptism under fire.

[SAMWolf]

Can't sleep.

[Soaring Feather]

Can't sleep.

Ooooh I see, I guess that's my problem too!

[SAMWolf]

The surname "Chaffee" was of British origin and was later adpoted in the US Army. Planned as a replacement for the Stuart, it combined a ultra-light 75 mm gun, initially developped for aircraft, with the running gear of the Hellcat M-18, the fastest tank of World War II.

Put in production too late to play a major role in Word War II, it had time enough to prove its qualities as to mobility and firepower (for its category). It was issued to the British and the French used it among others in Indochina. Chaffees stopped the rush of the T-34/85's in Korea in 1950.

Its only big drawback was the insufficient armor.

[SAMWolf]

Two King Tiger tanks of the 501st Waffen SS Heavy Tank Abteilung advance toward Antwerp during Hitler's last desperate offensive, the Battle of the Bulge. By Christmas day tank 003 would be the last German armored vehicle still in action north of the Ambleve River.

[SAMWolf]

Late on the night of December 23rd, Sergeant John Banister of the 14th Cavalry Group found himself meandering through the village of Provedroux, southwest of Vielsalm. He'd been separated from his unit during the wild retreat of the first days and joined up with Task Force Jones, defending the southern side of the Fortified Goose Egg. Now they were in retreat again. The Germans were closing in on the village from three sides. American vehicles were pulling out, and Banister was once again separated from his new unit, with no ride out.

A tank destroyer rolled by; somebody waved him aboard and Banister eagerly climbed on. They roared out of the burning town. Somebody told Banister that he was riding with Lieutenant Bill Rogers. "Who's he?" Banister wanted to know. "Will Rogers' son," came the answer. It was a hell of a way to meet a celebrity.

An hour later they reached the main highway running west from Vielsalm. There they found a lone soldier digging a foxhole. Armed with bazooka and rifle, unshaven and filthy, he went about his business with a stoic nonchalance. They pulled up to him and stopped. He didn't seem to care about the refugees. "If yer lookin for a safe place," he said, "just pull that vehicle behind me. I'm the 82nd Airborne. This is as far as the bastards are going." The men on the tank destroyer hesitated. After the constant retreats of the last week, they didn't have much fight left in them. But the paratrooper's determination was infectious. "You heard the man," declared Rogers. "Let's set up for business!" Twenty minutes later, two truckloads of GIs joined their little roadblock. All through the night, men trickled in, and their defenses grew stronger. Around that single paratrooper was formed the nucleus of a major strongpoint.

[Valin]

On this Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on December 22:
1400 Luca della Robbia Italy, sculptor (Madonna of Rose Garden)
1428 Richard Neville Warwick 2nd earl of Salisbury
1452 Jakob Obrecht Brabant, composer
1459 Djem Sultan son of Turks sultan Mehmed II
1515 Mary of Lorraine France, pro-French Regent of Scotland
1523 Charles "Cardinal" of Bourbon archbishop Rouen
1573 Ernst Casimir count of Nassau-Dietz/mayor of Frisia/Groningen
1624 Tomas Micieres composer
1639 Jean-Baptiste Racine French dramatist (Andromaque) (baptized)
1643 Rene-Robert Cavelier La Salle France, French explorer (Louisiana)
1684 Johann J Dillenius [Dillen] German botanist (Historia Muscorum)
1696 James Oglethorpe England, general/author/colonizer (Georgia)
1700 Egbert de Vrij Temminck Amsterdam regent
1702 Jean E Liotard [Turk] Swiss painter (Madame d'Epinay)
1710 Wilhelm Friedemann Bach composer, son of J.S. Bach
1723 Carl Friedrich Abel German/British viola-da-gamba-player/composer
1727 William Ellery signer of the Declaration of Independence
1728 Charles Frederick Baden, liberal ruler of Baden
1735 Ulrich Bräker writer
1744 Abigail Adams Weymouth MA, 2nd first lady (1797-1801)
1753 Dugald Stewart Edinburgh Scotland, philosopher (Scottish common sense)
1761 Dorothea Jordan Ireland, French comedic actress
1764 Barbara Juliane Krudener Latvia, mystic visionary renounced nobility
1767 Andreas Hofer South Tirol, military leader (fought Napoleon's France)
1768 John Crome [Old Crome] English landscape painter/etcher
1787 Rasmus Rask Denmark, language scholar
1795 Thomas Ainsworth English/Netherlands industrialist (Twentse textile)
1803 Joseph King Fenno Mansfield Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1862
1808 Thomas Cook England, tour director (Thomas Cook & Son)
1809 Benedict Augustin Morel Vienna, French psychologist (dementia praecox)
1812 Johanne Luise Heiberg Copenhagen Denmark, actress (Romeo & Juliet)
1815 Johann J Bachofen Swiss judicial historian
1815 Lucien Petipa French dancer/choreographer/ballet leader
1819 Franz Wilhelm Abt German composer/choir conductor
1819 George Eliot England, Victorian novelist (Adam Bede)
1821 Giovanni Bottesini composer
1826 James Scott Negley (Union volunteers Major General, died in 1901)
1830 Justin M'Carthy Ireland, Irish politician/novelist (Miss Misanthrope)
1831 Mark Rutherford writer
1831 Robert Ogden Tyler Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1874
1832 Edward Hatch Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1889
1842 Jose Maria de Heredia Cuba, French sonnet poet
1842 Nicola d' Arienzo composer
1844 Izydor Lotto composer
1846 Andreas Hallen composer
1846 Oscar Carré Dutch circus director
1847 Heihatjirô Tôjô Japan, admiral (Russian-Japanese war)
1849 Fritz Mauthner Bohemia, German author/philosopher (skepticism)
1853 Maria Teresa Carreno composer
1856 Frank Kellogg Secretary of State (1925-29), tried to outlaw war (Nobel1929)
1857 George [Robert] Gissing England, novelist
1858 Giacomo Puccini Lucca Italy, opera composer (La Bohème, La Tosca)
1859 Cecil [James] Sharp London England, folk musician
1861 Erich Schaeder German theologist (Theocentric Theology)
1862 Connie Mack Hall of Fame baseball executive/manager (Philadelphia A's 1900-1950)
1863 Ch'i Pai-shih China, traditional Chinese painter
1863 Jean-Baptiste Marchand Thoissey France, soldier/explorer (Sudan)
1866 Mieczyslaw Surzynski composer
1867 [Karl Eduard] Wilhelm Groener Germany, general
1867 Frantisek X Salda Czechoslovakian writer/critic
1867 Joseph [Maria] Olbrich Silesia, German architect (Wiener Sezession)
1868 John Nance Garner Texas, (Vice-President-D-1933-41)
1869 Edwin Arlington Robinson US, poet (Richard Corey)
1869 Andre[-Paul-Guillaume] Gide Paris France, writer (Nobel 1947)
1873 L[eopold] S[tennett] Amery British politician
1873 Matteo Giulio Bartoli Austria-Hungary, linguist
1874 Franz Schmidt composer
1874 Herman Harrell Horne Clayton NC, philosopher (idealism)
1875 Antoine Mariotte composer
1875 John P "Jan" Musch Dutch actor (Dead Water)
1876 Filippo Tommaso Marinetti Italian writer (Futurism e Futurista)
1877 Endre Ady Hungary, lyric poet
1879 Ralph Hawtrey Buckinghamshire England, economist (multiplier)
1879 Stanislas Bizot French world checker champion (1925)
1881 Enver Pasa Istanbul Turkey, Turkish politician
1882 Charles Vildrac Paris France, poet/playwright
1883 Arthur James Cook England, union leader (coal miners)
1883 Edgard Victor Achille C Varèse Paris France, composer (Innisation)
1885 Edgard Varèse Paris France, composer (Innisation)
1885 Joseph Deems Taylor New York NY, composer (Peter Ibbetson)
1887 Srinivasa Ramanujan Indies mathematician ('pi'/Notebooks)
1888 Joseph Arthur Rank English film magnate/baron
1889 Mikha`il Na'imah Lebanon, playwright
1889 Minor Watson Marianna AR, actor (Woman of the Year, Viva Cisco Kid)
1890 Charles de Gaulle Lille France, premier of France
1890 Mark Tobey US abstract painter (Broadway Norm)
1891 Edward L Bernays Vienna Austria, 1st public relations agent
1896 Nikolay Semyonovich Tikhonov St Petersburg Russia, poet
1898 Lionel Charles Robbins Middlesex England, economist
1899 Gustaf Gruendgens Duesseldorf Germany, actor/director (M)
1899 Hoagy Carmichael Bloomington IN, pianist/composer
1899 Wiley Post Texas, aviation pioneer
19-- Elizabeth Hubbard New York NY, actress (Lucinda-As the World Turns)
19-- Franc Luz Cambridge MA, actor (Ben-Hometown)
19-- Lanna Saunders actress (Days of Our Lives)
19-- Raymond Singer New York NY, actor (Operation Petticoat, Mama Malone)
19-- Wolfe Perry New Orleans LA, actor (Teddy-White Shadow)
1900 Alan Dudley Bush composer pianist/teacher
1901 André Kostelanetz St Petersburg Russia, conductor (Lincoln Portrait)
1901 Joaquin Rodrigo Spain, composer
1902 Jacques-Philippe Leclerc France, WWII hero (liberator of Paris)
1902 Joe Adonis Italy, American crime-syndicate boss in New York & New Jersey
1903 Dr Barbara Moore walked across US in 86 days in 1960
1903 H Keffer Hartline US, biophysicist (Nobel 1967)
1903 Marc Lavry composer
1904 Louis-Eugene-Felix Neel Lyon France, physicist (Nobel 1970)
1905 Kenneth Rexroth US, poet/critic/translator (Birds in the Bush)
1905 Pierre Brasseur [Espinasse] French actor (Enfants du Paradis)
1907 Peggy Ashcroft Croydon England, stage actress (Dear Brutus, Happy Days)
1907 Yoshio Hasegawa composer
1908 Giacomo Manzú Italy, sculptor (St Peter, Laurenskerk, Lenin Prize)
1908 Marius F Duintjer Dutch architect
1908 Max Bill Swiss painter/sculptor/politician (Ruban Sans Fin)
1909 Alan Carney [David Boughal] Brooklyn NY, actor (Zombies on Broadway)
1910 Richard Ainley Middlesex England, actor (I Dood It, Above Suspicion)
1911 Grote Reber US, astronomer (1st parabolic radio telescope)
1912 Henry Armstrong held feather/light/welterweight boxing titles (1938)
1912 Claudia A "Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson 1st lady (1963-1969)
1912 Doris Duke New York NY, heiress (American Tobacco Company)
1913 Anthony Barber Doncaster bookseller
1913 Benjamin Britten Suffolk England, opera composer
1917 Andrew Fielding Huxley London England, physiologist (Nobel 1963)
1917 Gene Rayburn Christopher IL, TV game show host (Match Game)
1917 Piet De Somer Belgian rector (University of Leuven)
1918 Frankie Darro Chicago IL, actor (Radio Ranch, Valley of Wanted Men)
1918 William Kennedy baseball player
1921 Hawkshaw Hawkins Huntington WV, country singer (Ozark Jubilee)
1921 Robert Frank Kurka composer
1922 Barbara Billingsley Los Angeles CA, actress (June-Leave it to Beaver)
1922 James C Wright Jr (Representative-D-TX), Speaker of the House (1987-89)
1922 Calder Willingham novelist/scriptwriter
1923 Heinz Bernard Lowenstein actor/director
1924 Frank Corsaro New York harbor, opera director
1924 Geraldine Page Kirksville MO, actress (Interiors, Beguiled)
1925 Gunther Schuller New York NY, jazz composer
1925 Thomas Christian David composer
1926 Peggy Castle Appalachia VA, actress (Lily Merrill-Lawman)
1928 Piero Angelo Italian writer (Control)
1929 Jan Wiegel director/producer (Classroom of Anne Frank, Myrada)
1929 Wazir Mohammad cricketer (eldest of Pakistan's 4 Mohammed brothers)
1930 Peter Hall Suffolk England, director (Royal Shakespeare Company)
1932 Joe Clark Los Angeles CA, WLAF off coordinator coach (Amsterdam Admirals)
1935 John L Finley USAF/astronaut
1935 Oleg Alekseyevich Protopopov Russia, pairs skater (Olympics-gold-1964, 68)
1936 Hector Elizondo New York NY, actor (American Gigolo, Young Doctors in Love)
1937 Marco J de Castro Dutch Antillian politician
1943 Billie Jean King Long Beach CA, tennis pro
1944 Barry Jenkins rocker (Animals-House of the Rising Sun)
1944 Steve Carlton Phillies' pitcher (Cy Young '72, '77, '80, '82)
1945 Diane Sawyer Glasgow KY, newscaster (60 Minutes, ABC Prime Time)
1945 Joris J C Voorhoeve Dutch Defense minister (1994-, VVD)
1945 Marianne van Wijnkoop [Bosscher] Dutch actress (Les Misérables)
1946 Rick Nielsen Rockford IL, rock vocalist/guitarist (Cheap Trick)
1946 Roberta Speer LPGA golfer
1947 Brian C Daley US, sci-fi author (Exploits of Han Solo, Tron)
1947 Dilip Doshi cricketer (India's main slow lefty post-Bedi)
1948 Lynne Thigpen Joliet IL, actress (Nancy-Love Sidney)
1948 Noel Edmonds British TV personality (Foul-ups, Bleeps & Blunders)
1948 Steve Garvey 1st baseman (Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres)
1948 Chris Old cricketer (England medium-pacer of 70's)
1949 Manfred Burgsmüller WLAF kicker (Rhein Fire)
1949 Maurice Gibb Manchester England, rocker/twin of Robin (Bee Gees-Saturday Night Fever)
1949 Michael Osborne rock guitarist/vocalist (Axe)
1949 Robin Gibb Manchester England, rocker/twin of Maurice (Bee Gees-Saturday Night Fever)
1950 Rick Nielsen guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist (Cheap Trick-Surrender)
1951 Jan Stephenson Sydney Australia, golfer (LPGA Rookie of Year-1974)
1951 Charles de Lint Netherlands, sci-fi author (Moonhear, Mulengro, Yarrow)
1951 Gerald Grosvenor English 6th duke of Westminster/billionaire
1953 Bernnadette Stanis Brooklyn NY, actress (Thelma-Good Times)
1953 David Leisner composer
1954 Derick Parry cricketer (West Indies off-spinner early 80's)
1954 Jayaseelan Naidoo South African worker's union leader
1955 Lynne Thigpen actress (Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?)
1956 Cojo Columbus OH, 1st gorilla born in captivity
1956 Marcy Hanson Galveston TX, playmate (October 1978)
1957 Lynne Thigpen Joliet IL, actress (Nancy-Love Sidney)
1957 Ricky Ross British rock vocalist (Deacon Blue-Raintown)
1957 Susan Powter diet guru/author/talk show host (Susan Powter Show)
1958 Lenny Von Dohlen Augusta GA, actor (Love Kills, Electric Dreams)
1960 Jean-Michel Basquiat Haiti/US graffiti artist/painter (Gray, SAMO)
1960 Tyrell Biggs Philadelphia PA, super HW boxer (Olympics-gold-1984)
1961 Catherine Oxenberg New York NY, actress (Amanda-Dynasty)
1961 Yuri Ivanovich Malinchenko Russian Lieutenant-Colonel/cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-19)
1962 Ralph Nathaniel Fiennes Suffolk England, actor (English Patient)
1963 Bryan McMillan cricketer (brilliant South African all-rounder since 1992)
1964 Mike Jackson Houston TX, pitcher (Seattle Mariners)
1967 Mike Sullivan NFL center (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
1967 Roland Holder cricketer (West Indian batsman in ODI's 1993-)
1967 Sean Foster WLAF wide receiver (Rhein Fire)
1968 Lauralee "Bug" Bell Chicago IL, actress (Cricket-Young & Restless)
1969 Andrew Scott Australian baseball infielder (Olympics-1996)
1969 Marcie Aguilar Tucson AZ, female infielder (Colorado Silver Bullets)
1970 Brooks Findlay CFL linebacker (British Columbia Lions)
1972 Andrew Moore WLAF tackle (Frankfurt Galaxy)
1972 Anthony Edwards Australian rower (Olympics-96)
1972 Kirk Maltby Guelph, NHL right wing (Edmonton Oilers)
1972 Mike Thompson NFL defensive tackle (Jacksonville Jaguars)
1972 Vanessa Paradis France, model (Channel)/actress (White Wedding)
1973 Annie Pelletier Montréal Québec, 3 meter diver (Olympics-bronze-96)
1973 Jamel Williams safety (Washington Redskins)
1975 Stanislav Neckar Pisek CZ, NHL defenseman (Ottawa Senators, Olympics-gold-98)
1977 Joanna Hughes Victoria Australia, gymnast (Olympics-96)
1986 Jeffery Wood actor (Austin Warren-In The House)

---

Deaths which occurred on December 22:
1337 Daito Kokushi leader of O-To-Kan Rinzai school in Japan, dies at 54
1419 John XXIII [Baldassare Cossa] Italian Pope (1410-15), dies
1440 Bluebeard pirate, executed
1603 Mehmed III sultan of Turkey (1595-1603), dies at 37
1641 Maximilien de Béthune duke of Sully PM of France, dies at 81
1668 Stephen Day 1st British colonial printer, dies
1721 Nathaniel Hawes tortured & executed in England for robbery
1723 Jacques Basnage French/Dutch historian/vicar, dies at 70
1745 Jan Dismas Zelenka composer, dies at 66
1767 John Newberry English publisher, dies
1797 Giovanni Marco Rutini composer, dies at 74
1815 José Maria Morelos Mexican revolutionary priest executed by Spaniards
1828 Rachel Jackson wife of 7th US President Andrew Jackson, dies
1832 Ishmail Spicer composer, dies at 72
1863 Michael Corcoran Union Brigadier-General, dies at 36
1867 Jean-Victor Poncelet French mathematician (kinematics), dies at 79
1870 Constantine D Uschinsky Russian educator, dies at 46
1874 Johann Peter Pixis composer, dies at 86
1875 Nikolay Alexeyevich Titov composer, dies at 75
1880 George Eliot Victorian novelist (Adam Bede), dies on 61st birthday
1890 Harry Pollitt chairman British communist (1956-60), dies
1893 Benedikt Randhartinger composer, dies at 91
1893 Johann Czerski German chaplain, dies at 80
1899 Dwight L Moody US evangelist (Student Volunteer Movement), dies
1902 Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing psychiatrist, dies at 62
1908 Marie Jungius Dutch teacher/fairy tale writer, dies at 44
1913 Menelik II King of Ethiopia (1896-1913), dies at 69
1917 Francesca Saveria Cabrini US saint/patron of immigrant, dies at 67
1918 Albijn van de Abeele Flemish author/mayor/painter, dies at 83
1923 Arthur H Bird composer, dies at 67
1937 Daito Kokushi Zen founder of Daitokuji, dies in Kyoto at 55
1939 Ma Rainey "Mother of the Blues", US blues singer/composer, dies at 53
1940 Nathanael West [Weinstein] US writer (Cool Million), dies at 37
1941 Leopoldo Mugnone composer, dies at 83
1944 Antoine Mariotte composer, dies on 69th birthday
1944 Harry Langdon US comic/director (Heart Trouble), dies at 60
1945 Otto Neurath Austrian/British philosopher, dies at 63
1950 Julius Weismann composer, dies at 70
1950 Walter Johannes Damrosch composer, dies at 88
1951 Powell Weaver composer, dies at 61
1955 Len Braund cricketer (23 Tests for England 987 runs 47 wickets), dies
1958 Fjodor W Gladkow Russian author (Cement), dies at 75
1958 Lion Feuchtwanger German/US philosopher (Jüdische Krieg), dies at 74
1959 Gilda Gray actress (Piccadilly), dies of heart attack at 60
1964 Bonifacio Gil Garcia composer, dies at 66
1965 Al Ritz actor (Gorilla, Hi Ya Chum), dies at 62
1967 Lee Krieger actor (Clambake, One Way Wahini), dies at 48
1968 Louise Granville entertainer, dies of influenza at 73
1969 Donald Foster actor (Herbert Johnson-Hazel), dies at 80
1969 Ilse Steppat actress (Invisible Terror), dies at 52
1969 Josef von Sternberg Austrian director (Shanghai Express), dies at 75
1971 Godfried Jan Arnold Bomans Dutch writer (Eric), dies at 58
1971 Renee Evans entertainer, dies of heart attack at 63
1973 Domingo Julio Gomez Garcia composer, dies at 87
1973 Irna Phillips creator of 5 TV soap operas, dies at 72
1974 Fosco Giachetti entertainer, dies at 70
1974 Lorraine Gauguin entertainer, dies at 50
1977 Johann Nepomuk David composer, dies at 82
1979 Darryl F Zanuck film producer (20th Century Fox), dies at 77
1980 Dick Kallman actor (Hank Dearborn-Hank), murdered at 47
1986 Celius Dougherty composer, dies at 84
1987 Alice Terry [Taaffe] actress (4 Horsemen of Apocalypse), dies
1987 Leonidas Zoras composer, dies at 82
1988 Tucker Smith singer/dancer (Cool-West Side Story), dies
1989 Samuel Beckett Irish/French writer (Waiting for Godot, Molloy, Nobel 1969), dies at 83
1990 Cecil Effinger composer, dies at 76
1990 Helene Stanley actress (Carnival Story, Roar of the Crowd), dies
1991 Ernst Krenek Austrian/US composer (Orpheus & Eurydike), dies at 91
1992 Frederick W Franz CEO (Watch Tower), dies at 99
1993 Alexander Mackendrick director (Whiskey Galore!), dies at 81
1993 Don DeFore actor (George Baxter-Hazel), dies of cardiac arrest at 76
1995 Butterfly McQueen actress (Gone With the Wind), dies in a fire at 84
1996 Hetta Empson artist, dies at 81
1997 Dawn Steel producer/president (Columbia TriStar), dies of brain tumor at 51
1997 Douglas Ranger surgeon, dies at 81
1997 Hugh Edward Conway Seymour marquis of Hertford, dies at 67
1997 John Pinkerton compuer scientist, dies at 78
1997 Johnny Coles trumpeter, dies at 71
1997 Juzo Itami Japanese director, commits suicide at 64

---

On this day...
0401 St Innocent I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0795 Leo III succeeds pope Adrianus I
1135 Norman nobles recognize Stefanus van Blois as English king
1216 Pope Honorius III delegates degree "Religiosam vitam eligentibus"
1465 Peace of St Truiden: Louis van Bourbon becomes bishop of Luik
1536 English scholar Reginald Pole appointed cardinal
1596 Ferryboat Meuniers crashes in Paris, 150 die
1642 Pope Urbanus VIII publishes degree In eminente
1688 Pro-James II, Earl of Danby occupies York
1689 Heavy earthquake strikes Innsbruck
1715 English pretender to the throne James III lands at Peterhead
1731 Dutch people revolt against meat tax
1772 Moravian missionary constructs 1st schoolhouse west of Allegheny
1775 Continental navy organized with 7 ships
1783 Washington resigns his military commission as US Army's commander-in-chief
1790 Russian troops occupy Ismail on Turks
1807 Congress passes Embargo Act, to force peace between Britain & France
1810 British frigate Minotaur sinks killing 480
1815 Spaniards execute Mexican revolutionary priest José Maria Morelos
1832 HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin reaches Barnevelts Islands
1862 Raid on Morgan's: Bardstown to Elizabethtown KY
1870 Jules Janssen flies in a balloon in order to study a solar eclipse
1877 "American Bicycling Journal" first published (Boston MA)
1882 1st string of Christmas tree lights created by Thomas Edison
1883 August Strindberg's "Lycko-Pers Reja" premieres
1885 Pope Leo XIII proclaims extraordinary jubilee
1886 1st national accountants' society in US formed (New York NY)
1888 Heavyweight Boxing Champion John L Sullivan challenges Jake Kilrain
1894 French officer Alfred Dreyfus court-martialed for treason, triggers worldwide charges of anti-Semitism (Dreyfus later vindicated)
1894 United States Golf Association is formed (New York NY)
1894 Debussy's "Prélude à l'apres-midi d'un faune" premieres
1894 Dutch coast hit by hurricane
1907 Saint-Saëns/Fokines ballet "Le Cygne" premieres in St Petersburg
1910 US postal savings stamps 1st issued
1915 Federal Baseball League is dissolved
1915 Organized baseball & Federal League sign a peace treaty at Cincinnati OH
1917 Flanders declares it's independence, under Pieter Tack
1919 Government of Ireland Act of Power (Home Rule for Ireland)
1919 US deports 250 alien radicals, including anarchist Emma Goldman
1922 Belgian parliament rejects Dutch University in Ghent
1923 Bill Ponsford & Edgar Mayne make 456 opening stand for Victoria
1924 Babe Dye of NHL's Toronto St Patricks scores 5 goals beat Bruins 10-2
1924 Philip Barry's "Youngest" premieres in New York NY
1930 6 West europe lands signs Convention of Oslo
1934 Miss Theo Trowbridge sets female bowling record 702 pins
1934 1st flight from Netherlands to Curaçao (Christmas flight 1934)
1935 Yaeko Iwasaki, student of D S Harada Roshi, 1st awakening in Kamakura
1936 1st common carrier license issued by ICC, Scranton PA
1937 Lincoln Tunnel (New York NY) opens to traffic
1939 125 die in train wreck at Magdeburg Germany; 99 die in 2nd wreck at Friedrichshafen Germany
1939 Bradman scores 138 in South Australia's 7-821 vs Queensland
1939 Finnish counter offensive at Petsamo
1941 Premier Winston Churchill arrives in Washington DC for a wartime conference
1941 Japan's invasion leader lands on Luzon, Philippines
1941 Tito establishes 1st Proletarian Brigade in Yugoslavia
1943 WEB Du Bois elected 1st black member, National Institute of Arts & Letters
1943 Manufacturers get permission to use synthetic rubber for baseball core
1944 Germans demand surrender of American troops at Bastogne, Belgium
1944 Sub Swordfish departs Pearl Harbor for Japan
1945 Utrecht: Catholic People's party (KVP) established
1946 Cleveland Browns beat New York Yankees 14-9 in AAFC championship game
1946 "Bal Negre" closes at Belasco Theater NYC after 54 performances
1947 Italian constituent assembly adopts new constitution
1948 KPIX TV channel 5 in San Francisco CA (CBS) begins broadcasting
1950 2 self-propelled trains of Long Island RR collide, killing 77
1951 Australia cricket all out 82 vs West Indies at Adelaide
1952 French government of Pinay, resigns
1952 WSBA (now WPMT) TV channel 43 in York PA (IND) begins broadcasting
1953 Jack Dunn III, owner of Baltimore Orioles in International League, turns name over to newly relocated St Louis Browns
1956 "New Faces of 1956" closes at Barrymore Theater NYC after 221 performances
1956 Last British/French troops leave Egypt
1957 KWRB (now KFNE) TV channel 10 in Lander-Riverton WY (ABC) begins
1958 "Chipmunk Song" reaches #1
1958 "Whoop-Up" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 56 performances
1958 2nd Dutch Beel government forms
1959 New York Ranger goalie Marcel Paille wears a customized mask
1959 Continental League awards its last franchise to Dallas-Fort Worth
1961 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1962 Kinderman Place in the Bronx named
1962 1,000,000th NBA point scored
1962 Harris County voters approve all-weather stadium for Houston Colt .45s
1962 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1963 Oakland Raider Tom Flores passes for 6 touchdowns vs Houston (52-49)
1963 Official 30-day mourning period for President John F Kennedy ends
1964 Lockheed SR-71 spy aircraft reaches 3,530 kph (record for a jet)
1965 Radio Mil (Dominican Republic) transmitter blown up
1965 Belgian government shuts 6 coal mine
1965 Director David Lean's "Dr Zhivago" premieres
1965 Great-Britain sets maximum speed at 70 MPH
1966 WCVW TV channel 57 in Richmond VA (PBS) begins broadcasting
1968 Julie Nixon weds Dwight David Eisenhower
1969 Pete Marovich sets NCAA record of hitting 30 of 31 foul shots
1970 SS Commander Franz Stangl of Treblinka, sentenced to life imprisonment
1971 UN General Assembly ratifies Kurt Waldheim as Secretary-General
1971 KUAC TV channel 9 in Fairbanks/College, Alaska (PBS) begins broadcasting
1971 USSR performs underground nuclear test
1972 6.25 earthquake strikes Managua Nicaragua, 12,000+ killed
1974 Phil Esposito, Boston, became 6th NHLer to score 500 goals
1974 Referenda in Comoros-3 islands for independence, 1 stays French
1974 2nd cease-fire between IRA & British; lasts until approximately April 1975
1976 35 Unification church couples wed in New York NY
1976 "Your Arm's Too Short to Box with God" opens at Lyceum NYC for 429 performances
1976 German Democratic Republic banishes singer Nina Hagen
1977 36 die as grain elevator at Continental Grain Company plant explodes
1978 Kenny Jones becomes The Who's new drummer
1978 Thailand adopts constitution
1980 President-elect Reagan appoints Jean Kirkpatrick (UN delegate) & James Watt (Interior)
1980 Cardinals release outfielder Bobby Bonds
1981 Argentine General Leopoldo Galtieri sworn in as president
1981 Belgium's 5th government of Martens forms
1982 William Mastrosimone's "Extremities" premieres in New York NY
1983 Islanders score 3 shorthanded goals against Capitals
1983 Egyptian President Mubarak meets with PLO leader Yasser Arafat
1984 Bernhard Goetz shoots 4 black youths (muggers) on a NYC subway train
1984 Madonna's "Like a Virgin" single goes #1 for 6 weeks
1984 Test Cricket debut of Craig McDermott, vs West Indies at the MCG
1985 STS 51-L vehicle moves to Launch Pad 39B
1985 "Wind in the Willows" closes at Nederlander Theater NYC after 4 performances
1985 74th Davis Cup: Sweden beats Germany in Munich (3-2)
1986 India score 7-676 vs Sri Lanka at Kanpur in Cricket
1987 Mötley Crue's Nikki Sixx overdoses from Heroin
1988 2 robbers wearing police uniforms rob armored truck of $3 million in New Jersey
1988 South Africa signs accord granting independence to South-West Africa
1988 Tug hits oil barge, spreads 231,000 gal on 300 miles of Western Australia & British Columbia coast
1989 After 23 years of dictatorial rule, Romania ousts Nicolae Ceausescu
1989 Cold wave: -4ºF in Oklahoma City OK, -6ºF in Tulsa OK, -12ºF in Pittsburgh PA, -18ºF in Denver CO, -23ºF in Kansas City MO, -42ºF in Scottsbluff NE, -47ºF in Hardin MT & -60ºF in Black Hills SD
1989 Chad adopts its Constitution
1990 Iraq announces it will never give up Kuwait
1990 Israeli ferry capsizes killing 21 US servicemen
1990 Lech Walesa sworn in as Poland's 1st popularly elected president
1992 Libyan MIG-23UB attacks Boeing 727 at Souk al-Sabt, 158 die
1994 Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi resigns
1994 "Christmas Carol" opens at Richard Rodgers Theater NYC for 18 performances
1995 David Cone signs $19.5 million 3 year contract with New York Yankees
1996 Steelers' Kordell Stewart runs quarterback record 80 yds for TD
1996 Wendy's Three Tour Golf Challenge
1996 Zimbabwe & England draw Bulawayo Test Cricket with England need 1 to win
1997 Hunter Tylo awarded $4 million in Melrose Place breach of contract
1997 Merck baldness pill for men approved by FDA
1997 Nancy Kerring & Tonya Harding pre-record a show to air on FOX on Feb 5

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Arab : Ashura
México : Day of National Mourning (José Maria Morelos) (1815)
World : International Arbor Day

---

Religious Observances
Wicca : Yule sabbat
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Frances Xavier Cabrini, virgin

---

Religious History
1216 Pope Honorius III officially approved the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), founded in 1216 by St. Dominic. During the Middle Ages, many leaders of European thought were Dominicans; and a good number followed Portuguese and Spanish explorers to the Americas as missionaries.
1770 Birth of Father Demetrius Gallitzin, a Dutch Catholic priest. Arriving in America in 1792, he spent his remaining years as a frontier missionary, building up the Catholic church in parts of PA, MD, VA and WV. Gallitzin became known as the "Apostle to the Alleghenies."
1804 Anglican missionary to Persia Henry Martyn wrote in his journal: 'I look forward to a day of prayer; for my soul hath great need of quickening and restoration, that it may act more in the view of eternity.'
1837 Mercer University was chartered in Penfield, Georgia under Baptist support. In 1871 the college moved its campus to Macon, Georgia.
1921 The first U.S. commercial radio license assigned to a religious broadcaster was awarded to the National Presbyterian Church of Washington, D.C. Within five years, there were over 60 other licensed religious broadcasters, including KJS_Biola (L.A.), KFUO_Concordia Seminary (St. Louis), and WMBI_Moody Bible Institute (Chicago).

---

Thought for the day :
" There`s at least one fool in every married couple. "

[Jen]

Drop on in to the FReeper Foxhole!

The FReeper Foxhole is a new Daily Thread in the VetsCoR Forum.

If you would like to be removed from this daily ping list, it takes only two clicks. Click this link and send a BLANK FReepmail to AntiJen. You will be removed promptly.

If you have comments you would like me to read, use this link. Thanks!

[Jen]

Click the logo for more information.

The Veterans History Project is a unique opportunity for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to play an important role in the preservation of our national collective memory and to learn important lessons from the rich historical resource we have in our military veterans and civilians who served in support of the war effort.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!

[Sparta]

Congratulations on yet another excellent post.

[Sparta]

Nuts ping!!!!!

If you want on or off the Western Civilization Military History ping list, let me know.