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United States Army general (1898–1975) who commanded the force defending Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, most famous for his brief reply to a German surrender ultimatum: 'Nuts.' TLS signed “A. C. McAuliffe,” one page, 8 x 10.5, Department of the Army, Office of the Chief, Chemical Corps letterhead, June 22, 1950. Letter to noted New York lawyer Ashley T. Cole, in full: “Your letter of May 3, to me inquiring about Colonel Millener, former Chief of Staff of the 101st Airborne Division, went to Japan and has just reached me here in Washington. Colonel Millener is dead. A brilliant and able chief of staff, he wore himself out in Normandy and Holland. After some rest and recuperation in the hospital, he returned to duty and appeared to be in fine health. Then one morning in early December 1944, he committed suicide in the little house at our rest camp near Reims, where four of us lived together. Millener won the DSC in Normandy and was brilliant and able in every respect. We missed him during the Battle of the Bulge. He was replaced by Colonel Ned Moore, who is now on duty at MacArthur’s headquarters in Tokyo.” In fine condition.
Raymond D. Millener (1908–1944), a 1930 West Point graduate, served as operations officer of the 101st Airborne Division and helped plan its participation in the Normandy invasion. Dropped some 15 miles from his intended landing zone on D-Day, he rallied scattered troops and led them through German resistance toward the division area, actions that earned him the Distinguished Service Cross; after suffering a collapsed lung later that month, he returned to the division and became its chief of staff, making another combat jump during Operation Market Garden. Millener died on December 7, 1944, just days before the Battle of the Bulge. While military records classify his death as non-combat, McAuliffe’s unusually candid letter provides a firsthand account of the circumstances, recalling that the 36-year-old officer committed suicide at the division’s rest camp near Reims after returning from hospitalization apparently in good health.
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