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 .

We hope we can start to fight back to preserve this historical marker. We 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 ....

We need all the help we can get to fight back.

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