Joseph H. Harper

On 22 December 1944, during the siege of Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge, two German officers and two enlisted men came in the lines of the 327th carrying a white flag. They bore a note from the German commander requesting that the Americans surrender. Harper was contacted and personally took the Germans' request to the division command post. Brigadier General McAuliffe, who was in temporary command of the division, sent Harper back with the now-famous one word response, "Nuts."

Harper returned to the German officers with a medic, Ernie Premetz, as his translator.

I have the commander's reply, Harper said. He handed it to one of the German officers, who unfolded and read it. He looked up, puzzled.
"What does that mean?" he asked. "Is this affirmative or negative?"
"Definitely not affirmative," Harper said.

The Germans were confused by the use of American slang. Ernie Premetz recalled that he and Harper discussed how else to convey the message: "You can tell them to take a flying shit," Harper said to Premetz.

Premetz, knowing he had to convey the intent of the message, translated this as "Du kannst zum Teufel gehen." ("You can go to the Devil.")^[1]

Harper remained in the army, reaching the rank of major general and serving as commandant of the United States Army Infantry School.