Harper was the officer who delivered General Anthony McAuliffe's one-word response, "Nuts", to the German request for the surrender of Bastogne.
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.
Brigadier General McAuliffe, who was in temporary command of the division, sent Harper back with the now-famous one word response, "Nuts."
Premetz, knowing he had to convey the intent of the message, translated this as "Du kannst zum Teufel gehen."
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