In a town called Bastogne

On the 20 December 1944, General Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz, commanding the XLVII Panzer Corps, had encircled a Belgium town named Bastogne, trapping the garrison of 18,000 troops of the American 101st Airborne Division. Under the acting command of Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe, in the place of General Maxwell Taylor, who was in Washington D.C., realized continuing situation was getting worse.

With unfavorable weather conditions and facing a force of 45,000 Germans in three divisions, General McAuliffe knew he was out-manned, outgunned and running out of operational supplies. Holding Bastogne was critical, since it was a very important road junction for both the Allies defense and German push to the port city of Antwerp, splitting the Allied advance to Germany itself.

However, before launching a planned assault against Bastogne on 22 December 1944, General Lüttwitz sent an written ultimatum to the American front lines. Delivered by a major, a lieutenant, and two enlisted men, this German delegation approached the Americans under a flag of truce.

Popular account from those who were present at the time say, when General McAuliffe read the German ultimatum, he crumpled it into a ball and threw it in a wastepaper basket, muttering, "Nuts!" The officers in McAuliffe's command post were desperately trying to come up with an official reply to this ultimatum, but were not able to find the right words. Under the suggestion of  Lt. Col. Harry Kinnard, a response was crafted around the first response General McAuliffe had uttered after reading the ultimatum. The official reply was typed, approved  and delivered by Colonel Joseph Harper, commanding the 327th Glider Infantry, to the German delegation.

The German major was confused after reading the reply, not entirely sure what this short message meant. Harper said, "In plain English? Go to hell."

Starting the next day, 23 December 1944, through a combination of the weather clearing up, Allied air superiority resuming, aerial supply drops. Despite the change in luck for the Americans, the German assaults would go on and Allied casualties would continue to mount. On 26 December 1944, with the quick arrival of General George S. Patton's Third Army, who sped north in 48 hours from their original positions in south-central France, Bastogne received much needed reinforcements.