Wordsmith Talk |
About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us | |||
Register Log In Wordsmith.org Forums General Topics Miscellany laconic
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
OP On December 15, Eisenhower was promoted to the U.S. Army's highest rank, general of the army. The next day Germany began its last offensive, in the Ardennes region of Belgium. The attack caught the Allies by surprise. Badly outnumbered U.S. troops were forced to retreat. The Allied air force, which had won control of the skies, was grounded by bad weather and could not help. The Allies were close to panic. The deep German penetration created a bulge in the Allied lines, giving the battle its name.
When Eisenhower called a conference of his senior generals on December 19, they showed up glum and discouraged. He took one look at them and gave an order: "The present situation is to be regarded as one of opportunity for us and not of disaster. There will be only cheerful faces at this conference table." He said that the Germans had come out from behind their fortifications and exposed themselves; now was the time to start a counterattack and catch them in the open. He identified Bastogne, a crossroads in the Ardennes, as the key point to hold and ordered the United States 101st Airborne Division to that town. The Germans surrounded it on all sides with superior forces, but the Americans resisted stubbornly. When the Germans delivered an ultimatum to surrender, Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe, in command of the town, sent back the famous one-word reply, "Nuts!"
"Eisenhower, Dwight David," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Entire Thread Subject Posted By Posted laconic wwh 06/06/01 01:57 PM Re: laconic Sparteye 06/06/01 02:36 PM I shall do my best, Dr. Bill, Faldage 06/06/01 03:36 PM Harrumph® AnnaStrophic 06/06/01 03:42 PM Re: Harrumph® wwh 06/06/01 03:51 PM Re: laconic wow 06/06/01 04:06 PM Re: laconic wwh 06/06/01 05:31 PM Re: laconic WhitmanO'Neill 06/07/01 12:30 AM Re: laconic Faldage 06/07/01 02:45 PM Re: laconic wwh 06/07/01 03:54 PM Re: laconic AnnaStrophic 06/07/01 07:24 PM Re: laconic Anonymous 06/08/01 06:09 AM President Calvin Coolidge Alex Williams 06/10/01 07:24 PM Re: President Calvin Coolidge wwh 06/10/01 08:28 PM Re: President Calvin Coolidge Bobyoungbalt 06/12/01 07:18 PM Re: laconic Bingley 06/08/01 02:45 AM
Moderated by Jackie
Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics Forums16Topics13,913Posts229,368Members9,182 Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members Ineffable, ddrinnan, TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV
9,182 Registered Users
Who's Online Now 1 members (A C Bowden), 744 guests, and 0 robots. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days) A C Bowden 22
Top Posters wwh 13,858Faldage 13,803Jackie 11,613wofahulicodoc 10,561tsuwm 10,542LukeJavan8 9,919Buffalo Shrdlu 7,210AnnaStrophic 6,511Wordwind 6,296of troy 5,400
Forum Rules · Mark All Read Contact Us · Forum Help · Wordsmith.org