Wereld in Oorlog Forum

The Belgian Minister of Defense , Pieter De Crem , decided to close down 32 military camps by 2011. One of the camps is the 'Heinz Barracks ' in Bastogne , home of the 1st Field Artillery Regiment , deployed in Afghanistan .
It was in these barracks where Brig Gen Anthony McAuliffe has set up his HQ for the 101st Airborne Division during the Battle for Bastogne . Here is where McAuliffe wrote his world famous reply 'NUTS' to the German demand to surrender on 22 december 1944. This place , the NUTS-Cellar is a historical marker maintained by good people from the Belgium army , like Eric Lemoine and Michel Marecaux , who spent a countless amount of free hours to preserve this place . The Heintz Barracks has been visited by many WWII veterans over the past years ... Medals from city council were presented here and still many heroes come back to visit the barracks on their pilgrimage ...
The minister thinks of taking the place down and build a State Prison there .
I hope we can start to fight back to preserve this historical marker. I do believe we owe it to the brave men of the greatest generation to preserve their legacy and do whatever we can to "SAVE " the "NUTS "- cellar ....

I need all the help I can get to fight back

Please give me your thoughts .

Reg

all will be posted at http://www.dixie.be/

Latest news:

Dear Friends,

We are all still doing our best to “SAVE the NUTS! CAVE” , to preserve the 101st Div HQ in Bastogne ! So far the road is still open to negotiate . Fingers crossed !!!
A petition is organized to gather as much as signatures as possible . These signatures will go with your letters to the office of the Belgian Minister of Defense .
If you support our cause to save this historical marker from destruction , please sign it ….
Here’s the link to the petition :

http://lapetition.be/en-ligne/petition-5318.html


After you signed it you’ll receive a mail where you have to validate your signature !

You can also follow the updates on : http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=1 ... 241&ref=ts

Please forward this link to your inbox or put it on your websites.

Yours sincerely and thank you so much for your support.

Reg Jans

I've made this public to some of the forums I'm frequently attending, let's hope many people will sign the petition. This place must be preserved.

Michel

Benoît Lutgen, de reservevoorzitter van CDH en Waals minister van Erfgoed, heeft de McAuliffe-kelder in de legerkazerne van Bastenaken ingeschreven op de lijst van beschermde monumenten. De Amerikaanse brigadier Anthony McAuliffe had hier zijn hoofdkwartier tijdens de Slag om de Ardennen, waarvan overigens dit weekend in Bastenaken de 65ste verjaardag herdacht werd.
(source: De Standaard, quality Belgian newspaper)

Note: they write brigadier, which means some sort of rank in the Belgian police instead of the rank of brigadier-general in the army ! It will be preserved for at least one year, according to Metro, another Belgian newspaper.

(translation:)
Benoît Lutgen, reserve chairman of CDH* and Minister of Heritage of Wallonia, entered the McAuliffe cellar in the army barracks of Bastogne on the list of protected monuments.

* CDH stands for Centre Démocrate Humaniste, a Belgian political party which positions itself in the middle of the Belgian political spectrum.

Zaterdag avond aan het Mardasson in Bastogne heeft minister De Crem in zijn toespraak letterlijk gezegd dat de Nuts Cellar zal blijven bestaan... met mijn eigen oren gehoord!

Je staat er soms van versteld hoe drastisch die kerels hun kar kunnen keren. Blijkbaar zal hij toch wel de wind wat tegen hebben gehad, na de talrijke reacties die er waren gekomen uit binnen- en buitenland. Als hij nu nog wat bijdraait in zijn beleid inzake de Mesa en de Ijzervierdaagse, is er misschien toch nog iets van te maken. Laten we hopen dat hij zijn eigen woorden in gedachten houdt, want met politici weet je maar nooit!

Zoals reeds elders op het forum vermeld zal de Nuts Cave dus blijven bestaan!


NEWSFLASH !!!!! BARRACKS WILL BE SAVED !!!!!!



Because of lots of internal and external political pressure and negotiations Belgian Minister of Defense Pieter De Crem made some significant changes in his plan to close down the HEINTZ BARRACKS in BASTOGNE .

The Artillery Unit 1A will no longer exist and 200 people have to go and work in other camps BUT 100 soldiers will remain at the caserne to maintain the ‘new’ Historical Depot of the Belgian Military Museum .

Reasons are : “Deployment “ and “Historical Reasons “ as he referred to the Von Runstedt Offensive and Bastogne being a historical city AND the BARRACKS , the 101ST Div HQ, as a Historical Marker !!!!!!! GREAT JOB EVERYBODY !

YOUR SUPPORT AND LETTERS REALLY HELPED A LOT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU !!!

Best regards

Reg