Word Celebrity Blog

Anthony Clement McAuliffe


Anthony Clement McAuliffe was born on July 2, 1898 in Washington, DC, to a father employed by the government, Anthony McAuliffe seemed destined for a career in the service of his country.

He attended public schools in Washington, DC, and secured admittance to West Virginia University in 1916. Following the U.S. entry into World War I, he transferred to the War Emergency Course offered by the U.S. Military Academy in June 1917. He completed the course in November 1918, just days before the end of the war, and reentered the Academy as an officer cadet. McAuliffe graduated 29th in a class of 284 in June 1919.

Assigned to field artillery, McAuliffe graduated from the Artillery School in 1920 and spent the next 16 years fulfilling the usual peacetime assignments.


Peace Time Career

The years immediately following WW I were a time of downsizing in the United States military. American participation in World War I, the "war to end all wars," was seen as an aberration. It appeared extremely unlikely that American military intervention would be required overseas in the foreseeable future. As such, the size of the American army was drastically decreased, and promotions for military personnel were few and far between. Against this backdrop, McAuliffe managed to advance his career, showing the promise that he was later able to fulfill under the pressure of battle.

Following his graduation from West Point, Anthony McAuliffe entered the Army Field Artillery School in Camp Zachary, Kentucky. He also married his high school sweetheart, Helen Willet Whitman, on August 23, 1920. The couple would eventually have two children. Upon finishing his artillery training, McAuliffe was transferred to the West Coast, serving from 1920 until 1922 at Fort Lewis, Washington, and the Presidios of San Francisco and Monterrey, California. He was promoted to first lieutenant and began a three-year stint at Schofield Barracks on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, in 1923. Upon his return to the mainland, McAuliffe was transferred to Fort Riley, Kansas, before settling at Fort Hoyle, Maryland from 1927 until 1932. McAuliffe
returned to Hawaii from 1932 until 1936. He served as a general's aide until 1935, when he was promoted to captain.

Although his career path had led him to specialize in artillery operations and staff work, McAuliffe was determined to secure a position commanding combat troops. To this end, he enrolled in the Army Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1936, completing the program the following year. He then served as an instructor at the Artillery School at Fort Still, Oklahoma, until 1939.

Anthony McAuliffe's career as a staff officer continued despite his desire for combat command. He was appointed to a study group examining race relations in the Army at the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania in 1940. This study group recommended that the Army become more fully integrated, an objective that McAuliffe remained committed to throughout his military career. He also graduated from the Army War College.McAuliffe was promoted to the rank of major and a transfer to the Army General Staff. Just prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he was promoted to temporary lieutenant colonel with the Supply Division of the War Department General Staff. In this capacity, McAuliffe helped oversee development of such novel technology as the jeep and the bazooka..


Field Command

The United States entered World War II on December 8, 1941, the day following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Officers with thorough training and experience quickly became a prized commodity. Overnight, the military embarked on an unprecedented expansion to meet the requirements of a global war. Given his success as a staff officer and desire to command troops, McAuliffe was promoted to colonel in 1942 and placed in command of the artillery elements of the newly formed 101st Airborne Division, which was slated to participate in the Allied liberation of France.


D-Day

While U.S. forces battled the Axis powers in the Pacific and in North Africa and Italy during 1942 and 1943, the invasion of German-held France was forced to wait. The difficulties present in amphibious operations, and the anticipated strength of the German defense of the French, Belgian, and Dutch coasts, necessitated a large and meticulously planned buildup prior to invasion, which was not completed until spring of 1944.



















Following American entry into World War II, McAuliffe transferred as artillery commander of the newly raised 101st Airborne Division at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. He followed his division overseas to England, where he broke his back during a practice parachute drop in May 1944. Fortunately, McAuliffe recovered sufficiently to make the dramatic midnight assault on Normandy4.

Allied plans for the invasion of France, relied heavily on airborne troops in the initial stages of the operation. Allied airborne forces were to drop behind the invasion beaches of  Normandy in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, and secure vital roads and rail lines that the main body of the invasion force would require. The airborne forces would also delay the transfer of German reserve forces to the invasion area. This was to prove no simple task, given the technological limitations faced by airborne operations at the time. Without accurate navigation and positioning systems, most of the Allied airborne forces were dropped several miles from their planned landing zones. Many men and much equipment were lost during the risky night jump. In Col. McAuliffe's case, his troops and equipment landed three miles from their intended landing zone and his immediate commander, Brigadier General D. F. Pratt, was killed during his parachute drop. Despite this disastrous beginning to the operation, Col. McAuliffe quickly assumed Pratt's position and organized the capture and defense of a vital bridge over the Vire River and the key village of Pouppeville. His forces linked with invading troops, pressing inland on the morning of June 6, 1944.






































In the days following the invasion, Col.McAuliffe led a successful attack on the town of Carentan in support of the expansion of the Allied beachhead. McAuliffe's participation in the D-Day invasion and subsequent operations demonstrated his command abilities, as the 101st Airborne achieved most of its objectives despite encountering difficult and unforeseen obstacles. His confidence in his own abilities and those of his troops was evidenced in his behavior prior to the operation. As his men boarded their planes for the night parachute drop,
Col. McAuliffe had each of them exchange signed 100-franc notes so that they could all treat each other to a celebratory drink following their victory. Despite their bravery and determination, Allied airborne troops suffered heavier than expected casualties during the invasion of Normandy. The effectiveness of airborne operations, in general, came under some doubt. These doubts were to be confirmed by the failure of the next major Allied airborne operation.


Market Garden

The 101st Airborne Division, and the rest of the Allied airborne forces, rested and replaced their losses in the months following the Normandy invasion. Other Allied forces pressed forward from the invasion area to liberate most of France and Belgium, and a portion of the Netherlands by the end of August 1944. Although the pace of the Allied advance had been swift after the invasion, it slowed to a standstill in the face of the natural obstacles presented by the Rhine River and its major tributaries. Many strategies for placing a large force on the eastern bank of the Rhine were debated by the Allied General Staff. A plan proposed by British Field Marshall, Bernard Montgomery, was approved by the overall commander of the Allied forces in the West, General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Montgomery, normally a very conservative general, had come up with a daring and innovative plan for using airborne forces to secure a series of critical bridges crossing the Rhine and Maas rivers, the Wilhelmina Canal, and several other large waterways crossing a 37-mile long area in the central Netherlands. In conjunction with this airborne operation, forces of the British XXXth Corps, comprising one armored and two infantry divisions, would drive along roadways linking the bridges secured by the airborne forces, thus breaking through the German lines on the lower Rhine.





















Montgomery's plan, code-named Operation Market Garden, would employ the U.S. 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions, the British 1st Airborne Division and 52nd (Air-portable) Division, and the Polish 1st Parachute Brigade in its initial phase. McAuliffe, and the rest of the 101st Airborne Division, were scheduled to drop on the city of Eindhoven at the furthest point from the Allied lines, on September 17, 1944.





















The 101st Airborne made its drop successfully and secured the town of Eindhoven. However, they were unable to prevent the Germans from destroying one of its key objectives, a large bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal. Other parts of Market Garden did not go even this smoothly. Allied intelligence failed to detect the presence of a German armored division in the operational area. Also, the Germans captured a complete draft of the plans for the operation. As such, the planned advance of the British XXXth Corps never materialized, leaving the Allied airborne forces trapped behind enemy lines. Under the leadership of General Maxwell Taylor, the 101st Airborne Division succeeded in making its way back to Allied territory, fighting a fierce battle at the town of Veghel at which McAuliffe provided distinguished service. His part in the battles led McAuliffe to be promoted to Brigadier General in the aftermath of Market Garden.

Market Garden ended in complete failure for the Allies, who suffered heavy casualties and wound up precisely where they started when the operation began. The operation also cooled any enthusiasm that might have still existed regarding the use of airborne troops. For the rest of the war, airborne troops were used in the same manner as normal infantry formations. Despite the eventual failure of Market Garden, the operation remains one of the more ambitious uses of airborne troops in military history, and was the subject of the film A Bridge Too Far.


The Battle of the Bulge


























McAuliffe and the 101st Airborne Division, like the rest of the American forces on the Western front in Europe these last six months, had anticipated at least some R&R during the Christmas season. In the wake of their heavy losses in Market Garden, the 101st Airborne Division was transferred to the Ardennes region, straddling southeastern Belgium, Luxembourg, and a portion of northeastern France. This region was believed to be a quiet region due to its geography, which was very hilly and heavily forested, and its road network, which was relatively undeveloped by western European standards. The region was viewed as unsuited to armored actions and was chosen as a good place for the 101st to rest and recuperate.Pressed by troops from the east and west, the Nazis appeared unable to strike any blow.

The Ardennes Forest—located at the thinnest point in the Allies’ broad front in the West, between Britain’s Bernard Montgomery to the north and American George S. Patton to the south — was where Omar Bradley “sent green divisions to get their first taste of war and a kind of rest area where badly mauled divisions took a breather.”



Despite its terrain and poor roads, the Ardennes was not impossible for armored units to cross, as the German army had proven in 1940 by using the region as a springboard for their surprisingly easy conquest of France. In fact, with the Allies now threatening to invade Germany itself, and the Russians preparing to enter East Prussia, the German high command had once again, at Hitler's insistence, identified the Ardennes as an ideal avenue for a surprise attack. The German Ardennes offensive was designed to catch the numerically superior Allied forces off guard, open a large hole in the Allied lines, and enable German armored formations to cross the Meuse River and capture the Allied supply nexus at Antwerp, Belgium. Although its chances for success were slim, the Germans committed the last of their reserves to the offensive, which was viewed as their last realistic chance to throw the Allies back and forestall the imminent invasion of Germany.

A quarter of a million Nazi troops were flung across an 85-mile stretch of the Allied front, from southern Belgium into Luxembourg, creating a 50-mile pocket or “bulge” in the Allied defenses.

Much of the Battle of the Bulge was fought amid clouds and fog—a good meteorological metaphor for the diminished vision held by those who issued the orders in this campaign.

Both the British and Americans underestimated the Third Reich’s remaining fighting capacity had this left them vulnerable. Hitler held his own illusions. He wasn’t entirely wrong about the disagreements between Generals Eisenhower and Montgomery, but he mistakenly thought that they would refuse to fight together after this — and completely erred in believing that the United States would buckle after one heavy blow.


















Hitler achieved the first thing he wanted—surprise—as American G.I.s at Bastogne soon found themselves completely surrounded by young, strong, well-fed opponents.

Since Operation Market Garden, the 101st were not at full strength, low on ammunition, as well as being short of winter clothing and footwear. They could no recieve airborne supplies because of the terrible weather. They were unable to protect their field hospital from German attacks and were facing an enemy that outnumbered them by four to one.

To have any chance of reaching its objectives, the German offensive had to be conducted in poor weather, which would negate the overwhelming aerial superiority of the Allies. As such, the German forces massed opposite the Ardennes waited in early December 1944 for a long-range forecast of several days of bad weather before launching their attack. Conditions were at last judged to be favorable on December 16, and the attack commenced that evening. German surprise was complete, and the Allied forces in the Ardennes were sent reeling for several days. The 101st Airborne Division, stationed just to the south of the German offensive, was ordered into battle in an attempt to patch some of the numerous holes that were developing in the Allied lines. Despite their initial successes, however, the Germans were met with heroic resistance all along their attack routes. Their armored columns were creating gigantic traffic jams on the Ardennes' overworked roads, leading them to fall dangerously behind their proposed timetable from the outset.




















General_McAuliffe & Col. Harry W.O. Kinnard II


On the morning of December 18, 1944, elements of the 101st Airborne Division, the 10th Armored Division, the 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion, and the 755th Field Artillery Battalion, converged on the small town of Bastogne, Belgium, a critical road junction directly in the path of the German advance. Brigadier General McAuliffe assumed command of these forces and established a defense of the town.

What the Americans had in their favor was time. Because of the stiff resistance of the 101st,  the German counteroffensive needed speed to exploit the advantage they had gained by surprise. Instead, the 101st Airborne had forced them to wait for two days for fresh American artillery to arrive. General Patton was moving his troops into position to relieve the beleaguered troops and deliver a ferocious counterpunch,.

























Although Bastogne was held during initial attacks, German forces encircled the town on December 20, leaving McAuliffe's troops isolated from reinforcement and supplies. By this point in the battle, because the Germans had fallen well behind their timetable, the capture of Bastogne had become the key to the battle.

Try as they might, German forces could not dislodge McAuliffe and his scratch force over the next two days.






































"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."

On December 21, General Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz the German commander offered surrender terms to Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, the senior officer of the American units surrounded at Bastogne. 



















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."

Colonel Harper, commanding the 327th, went with Jones to Division Headquarters. The two German officers were left with Captain Adams. Members of the staff were grouped around General McAuliffe when Harper and Jones arrived.

Gen. McAuliffe asked someone what the paper contained and was told that it requested a surrender. He laughed and said, "Aw, nuts!" It really seemed funny to him at the time. He figured he was giving the Germans "one hell of a beating" and that all of his men knew it. The demand was all out of line with the existing situation.

McAuliffe realized that some kind of reply had to be made and he sat down to think it over. Pencil in hand, he sat there pondering for a few minutes and then he remarked, "Well, I don't know what to tell them." He asked the staff what they thought and Colonel Kinnard, his G-3 replied, "That first remark of yours would be hard to beat."

General McAuliffe didn't understand immediately what Kinnard was referring to. Kinnard reminded him, "You said 'Nuts!'" That drew applause all around. All members of the staff agreed with much enthusiasm and because of their approval McAuliffe decided to send that message back to the Germans.

Then he called Colonel Harper in and asked him how he would reply to the message. Harper thought for a minute but before he could compose anything General McAuliffe gave him the paper on which he had written  reply: "To the German Commander: Nuts! -- The American Commander".

McAuliffe asked, "Will you see that it's delivered?" "I will deliver it myself," answered Harper. "It will be a lot of fun." McAuliffe told him not to go into the German lines.

Colonel Harper returned to the command post of Company F. The two Germans were standing in the wood blindfolded and under guard. Harper said, "I have the American commander's reply."
The German captain asked, "Is it written or verbal?"

"It is written," said Harper. And then be said to the German major, "I will stick it in your hand."

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

All of this time the Germans were acting in an upstage and patronizing manner. Colonel Harper was beginning to lose his temper. He said, "The reply is decidedly not affirmative." Then he added, "If you continue this foolish attack your losses will be tremendous." The major nodded his head.

Harper put the two officers in the jeep and took them back to the main road where the German privates were waiting with the white flag.

He then removed the blindfold and said to them, speaking through the German captain, "If you don't understand what 'Nuts' means, in plain English it is the same as 'Go to hell.' And I will 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." It was then 13:50.

"On your way, Bud," said Colonel Harper, "and good luck to you.

Unlike most other generals, General McAuliffe apparently never swore: Men who served with Mac claim that he never used true profanity when speaking, thus any rumors that his initial verbal response to the German ultimatum was in stronger language, are false.

Of course, “Nuts” translated into a lot of damage to Bastogne: Ultimately, we won the Battle of the Bulge, shortening the war.

The following day saw a break in the weather, allowing Allied aircraft to operate over the battlefield and provide airdropped supplies to the hard-pressed defenders of Bastogne. Although the Germans attempted to reach the Meuse River for the next three days, the clear weather ensured that their offensive would fail.





















On December 26, 1944,. what came to be known as the Battle of the Bulge secured McAuliffe's status as an international hero. Bastogne was finally relieved by elements of the Third Army under Gen. George S. Patton, who personally pinned the Distinguished Service Cross on its commander Anthony C. McAuliffe. The 101st subsequently became the first division to be awarded a Presidential Citation.


























The 101st Airborne had performed fabulously during the Normandy Invasion and fighting in Holland. They were in reserve when the attack struck. General Eisenhower dispatched them to Bastogne on a 107 mile forced march at night in freezing rain on December 18. General McAuliffe was the acting commander, as General Maxwell Taylor was elsewhere. All seven highways leading to Bastogne were cut by German forces by noon of December 21, and by nightfall the assortment of airborne and armored infantry forces realized they were surrounded. The American soldiers were outnumbered and lacking in cold weather gear, ammunition, food, medical supplies, and leadership. Due to some of the worst winter weather in years, the surrounded U.S. forces could not be resupplied by air nor was tactical air support available. There were 11,800 American soldiers and they held off four Divisions (including 2 Armored) for one week.

Lesser men would have surrendered. The situation was hopeless but not desperate. Instead, General McAuliffe basically told the German General Luttwitz to go to hell.

The outcome of the Battle of the Bulge -- the German army’s last offensive drive to split the Allies in the Ardennes -- ultimately determined who would be left standing at the end of World War II in Europe.


























The 101st is most famous for their participation in the Battle of the Bulge.

In November the two divisions where final released so they could prepare for their next airborne mission. In late November the 101st moved to Mourmelon-le-Grande, France. There they got a well needed and well deserved rest. They got some new equipment and recruits.

On the 16 December the Germans launched their great offensive in Belgium, the Allies where unprepared. A bulge was drove into the Allied north-south line, so they call it the Battle of the Bulge. The 101st and the 82nd where in reserve because they still in the First Army. Gen Eisenhower released them so they could fight.

A misunderstanding in orders almost cause the 101st to end up in the wrong place. The 82nd was to go to Werbomont. Somehow the orders got switched and the 101st where told to go with the 82nd. The real orders where for the 101st to go to Bastogne. Due to General McAuliffe's sudden impulse to go to Bastogne to find out what was going on. Colonel Sherburne later stopped at the same intersection and asked if any members of the 101st had gone through there and if so where they had gone. When the MP on guard told him yes that they had got to Bastogne he decided to go to Bastogne. He told the MP that there would be a convoy headed his way from Mourmelon-le-Grande to tell all members of the 101st to go to Bastogne.

The 101st went from Bastogne and moved north to meet the Germans at Noville. They met the Germans alright and they met them with plenty of difficulty. The Germans had a great force tanks and artillery, so the 101st was under constant fire. The 101st had to withdraw but they didn't leave without blowing the church and any machinery or artillery that couldn't be carried or driven, but could be useful to the Germans.

The 101st got back to Bastogne where they where surrounded by German forces. The Germans made a huge military error. The 101st had a small force but the Germans only attacked a small section at a time. This gave the division time to maneuver their forces to meet the German forces.

The 101st was running very low on medical supplies, ammunition, and food. When forecast lifted the supplies arrived. Hundreds of brightly colored parachutes let the supplies sail down. Out of the supplies there where medical supplies, ammunition, and food. There was also real Christmas cards and fruit cakes. There was even things like razors, soap, and toilet paper.

In the morning of December 26 German artillery started up again, but instead of artillery fire they Germans where firing fake Christmas cards. On the cards it would say Merry Christmas, or something along those lines, and then it would say to bring the card to the German line and you would be taken prisoner and treated with the best of care. Most men used the cards for toilet paper, they where running short on it.

The 101st had succeeded at Bastogne, making the Germans run all the way back to Germany. The 101st went on into Germany and made their way to Hitler's headquarters, also known as the Eagles Nest. On their way to the Eagles Nest they stopped at a concentration camp. They had the Nazis bury the dead. They arrived at the Eagles Nest where they found out that Hitler was dead. They took the Germans, that had remained in the Eagles Nest, prisoner. The 101st was not done yet though. After Germany they fought in Rhineland, Bavaria, and Austria.


War's End






































McAuliffe was transferred to the 103rd Infantry Division in January 1945. He participated in the crossing of the Rhine River and the subsequent operations of the Allied forces in southern Germany and Austria. Troops under McAuliffe's command liberated the Brenner Pass linking Austria and Italy, and the Austrian city of Innsbruck. At the end of the war in Europe, in April 1945, McAuliffe was placed in command of the 79th Infantry Division for a short while, and then transferred to command the airborne center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina later the same year.


The Atomic Age
























In July 1946, McAuliffe was named the army ground forces advisor for Operation Crossroads, the experimental above-ground detonation of an atomic bomb on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. His position regarding nuclear weapons was quite a conventional one for the time. He believed that the U.S. should stockpile atomic bombs as a deterrent to their use by any other power. His knowledge of artillery and familiarity with nuclear devices led McAuliffe to be appointed Army Secretary of the Joint Research and Development Board, in which capacity he served from August 1946 until December 1947. He then served as deputy director for research and development of the Army logistics division from 1947 until 1949, but yearned for another field command.


Desegregation of the Army

 McAuliffe was restored to field command in March 1949 as head of the 24th Infantry Division, stationed in occupied Japan. He was promoted to Major General in October of the same year and was transferred to become chief of the Army chemical corps. In this post he became an expert on chemical and biological weapons and the means to counter their use. By the outbreak of the Korean War, in the spring of 1951, McAuliffe was named assistant chief of staff for personnel of the Army and was promoted to lieutenant general. In this post, he was responsible for addressing the issue of race relations within the army, drafting recommendations for the inclusion of African-American troops in military formations.




















During World War II, African-Americans had served with distinction, although most of them were placed in service and transportation units. African-American combat formations did exist, but were fully segregated from their white counterparts. This internal segregation of the army persisted into the Korean War, but was scheduled for review. In initial examinations of the racial composition of the Army, undertaken in 1950,

McAuliffe recommended that African - Americans continue to be placed in segregated units, given the racial attitudes of American society as a whole. Existing African-American units were already overstaffed, however, so McAuliffe proposed creation of additional African-American formations. Manpower needs during the Korean War quickly dictated a review of these recommendations. The necessities of war had already led to the integration of several combat units operating in Korea. The performance of these units had been satisfactory and their integration had caused no serious morale problems, leading McAuliffe to revise his position and recommend full integration of the Army in the summer of 1951. By December of that year, he ordered all major commanders in the Far East to prepare and submit integration plans for their forces. These orders were extended to include European commands in 1952.

Although desegregation would not proceed unhindered in the coming years, the Army would become one of the most integrated organizations in American society by the 1970s. Of all his accomplishments, McAuliffe was most proud of his role in eliminating racial segregation in the U.S. Army.


Retirement
























McAuliffe was transferred to Europe and placed in command of the 7th Armored Division in 1953,  following a short stint as deputy chief for Army operations. He received a further promotion to four-star general in 1955, and was named commander in chief of the U.S. Army in Europe later that same year. McAuliffe retired from the Army in 1956.

As a civilian, McAuliffe drew on his military background in chemical warfare, taking a position on the board of directors of the American Cyanamid Company, a major manufacturer of chemicals. He also continued to apply his knowledge and skills to public service, acting as chairman of the New York State Civil Defense Commission from 1959 until 1963, at which time he retired to Chevy Chase, Maryland. McAuliffe spent his last years playing golf and bridge at the Army-Navy club.

He resided in Chevy Chase, Maryland until his death on August 11, 1975. He is buried with his wife, son, and daughter (died April 2001) in Section 3 of Arlington National Cemetery.

























The General's son was named John Hillary McAuliffe.  He was named after the General's younger brother who died suddenly in 1917, just days after the General reported to West Point.

John Hillary was born in 1923.  He never married and lived with the family until 1944. He tried to get into West Point in 1943, but was unable to pass the physical. While attending Georgetown University, he enlisted in 1944 and then went to Armored OCS at Fort Knox, Kentucky, getting his commission in 1945.  He served with the 78th Infantry Division in the occupation of Europe. After leaving the Army in 1949, he graduated from George Washington University in 1952.  He died of cancer in 1979.  As you noticed, he is buried adjacent to his father and mother at Arlington Cemetery.

"Old Crock” McAuliffe is best remembered for his immortal defense of Bastogne during World War II’s Battle of the Bulge. Surrounded and ordered by the German commander to surrender, he defiantly responded, “Nuts!” His stand is legendary in the annals of American airborne forces.