By Desrae Gibby ’91 and Erika Norton, WPAOG staff

At the 2024 Army-Navy football game, focused on their mission to beat Navy, the Black Knights will don uniforms that pay tribute to the 101^st Airborne Division, honoring the Screaming Eagles’ storied legacy during the Battle of the Bulge. Woven throughout the fabric of that history is the Long Gray Line.

The courage, grit, perseverance, and tenacity of the Screaming Eagles during the Siege of Bastogne, one of the bloodiest and most decisive engagements during the Battle of the Bulge of WWII, represents the Army’s fighting spirit. In eight inches of snow, sleet and temperatures close to zero degrees, while outnumbered approximately five to one, U.S. forces stopped the German advance to Antwerp.  West Point graduates in the 101st were an essential part of this winning team, led by Commander of the 101^st then-BG Anthony McAuliffe (1919). He summarized the situation in his Christmas message to his team:

“We have stopped cold everything that has been thrown at us…The Germans actually did surround us, their radios blared our doom. Their Commander demanded our surrender… The German Commander received the following reply: N U T S !”

McAuliffe and his iconic response are now renowned among history buffs, and the Army Black Knights will pay tribute to the typewritten version of his letter through the typography on the backs of their uniforms, among several other details. What may be less well known are the other West Point graduates that also played pivotal roles as part of the 101^st.

A week earlier, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment Commander, 29-year-old LTC Julian Ewell ’39 led the way, arriving at night on December 18, and under heavy fire, he went alone to recon Bastogne. His Distinguished Service Cross citation describes his extraordinary heroism and zealous devotion to duty: “by his heroic and fearless leadership of his troops, contributed materially to the defeat of enemy efforts to prostrate Bastogne.” In Ewell’s TAPS article, GEN McAuliffe said, “Ewell’s was the greatest gamble of all … no man has more courage.”

The gallant actions of Ewell’s classmate, James Laprade ’39, Commander of the 1^st Battalion, 506^th Parachute Infantry Regiment, led to the success of the mission at the cost of his life. He was killed in action on December 19, 1944. Their classmate, Harry Kinnard ’39 of the 101st, wrote in Laprade’s TAPS article, “I well remember his last action at Bastogne when he led his battalion to Noville to bail out a heavily-outnumbered armored force… Jim agreed to counterattack with his battalion…he was forming a defense of Noville when an 88 round landed just outside his command post, killing Jim and wounding Major Desobry, the armor commander.” That commander, Bill Desobry (son of COL Elmer C. Desobry 1908) added: “My force and Jim’s battalion were trying to hold off a very large German armored force that had us badly out-gunned and outnumbered.”

Then-LTC Carl W. Kohls ’31, a former B squad football player at West Point, was the G-4 during the siege. The situation in Bastogne was growing dire, with critical shortages of ammunition, food, and medical supplies due to the German blockade cutting off road access and poor weather preventing aerial resupply. However, the following day brought relief as the weather cleared, enabling much-needed aerial deliveries. More than 322 tons of supplies were dropped to the Bastogne garrison in one day.

The 101^st worked as a team and rallied their soldiers under harsh conditions. G1 and Chief of Staff MG (R) Ned Moore ’30, and Division Artillery Commander MG (R) Thomas L. Sherburne Jr. ’28 were soccer teammates at West Point working hard to beat other teams. In 1944, both men, along with the other staff officers and commanders of the 101^st, worked as a team to beat a more dangerous foe. The 101st Presidential Unit Citation says they “distinguished themselves in combat against powerful and aggressive enemy forces…by extraordinary heroism and gallantry in defense of the key communications center of Bastogne, Belgium.”

LTG (R) Robert F. Sink ’27 commanded the 506^th Parachute Infantry Regiment, played by Elliott Gould in the film “A Bridge Too Far,” knew how to unite a team. He passed up promotions to stay in command of the 506^th, which his soldiers called the “Five-Oh-Sink” to honor the commander they respected so much. His TAPS article quotes one of his soldiers who said, “Colonel Bob was a real man with plenty of guts.”

Other West Point graduates included BG (R) Gerald Joseph Higgins ’34 and COL (R) Curtis D. Renfro (1925). Higgins (future Commandant of Cadets) served consecutively as the Chief of Staff and Assistant Division Commander of the 101^st and was the youngest general officer in the Army Ground Forces at the age of 34. Renfro was the commander of the 401^st GIR attached to the division and led the advanced party to Bastogne.

The legacy continues

West Pointers have continued to fight on the 101^st team. Thirty West Point graduates have commanded the 101^st, including the current commander MG Brett Sylvia ’94. Additionally, four WPAOG Alexander R. Nininger Award recipients served with the 101^st: LTC Nicholas Eslinger ’07, LTC Kevin Mott ’07, MAJ Stephen Tangen ’08, and COL James Enos ’00. 

The Army Black Knights will “Rendezvous with Destiny” on December 14 and follow the example of the Screaming Eagles at Bastogne and modern 101^st leaders as they fight to beat Navy.

Featured image: BG Anthony McAuliffe and his staff gathered inside Bastogne’s Heintz Barracks for Christmas dinner Dec. 25, 1944. This military barracks served as the Division Main Command Post during the siege of Bastogne, Belgium during WWII. The facility is now a museum known as the “Nuts Cave.” (Photo credit: U.S. Army)