Leopoldville Survivor Needs Video, Please

Hello, all.

A friend's father, a survivor of the S.S. Leopoldville attack, wrote to me regarding a video that is apparently no longer available for purchase, entitled, "Cover-up! The Sinking of the S.S. Leopoldville." She writes, in part:

"If you find someone who would let Daddy at least borrow this to view - anything - time is important. He just turned 84 on [date] and although in good health, he's not getting any younger. He's always been reluctant to discuss the sinking. He received a purple heart but perhaps seeing this DVD would bring some closure for him."
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I've searched pretty much everywhere online that I could think of, but can't find it.

Any ideas?

Many thanks.

John Walker

 

I did a quick search online as well and the only thing I found was a listing on ebay located here History Ch. - Coverup - Sinking of the SS Leopoldville - eBay (item 350316134951 end time Mar-13-10 14:48:45 PST) keep in mind that I do not know this seller and can not speak for their honestly. This is the only place I saw it for sell that is still a valid link. Best of luck to you in finding it, I wish I could provide more help.

 

Id be glad to give you my taped copy but, I gave it away along with about 500 other VHS tapes-a few years ago.

 

Wow, guys!

SicklyBug, I bought the tape. Of all the hairs I pulled out over this, I obviously left one at e-Bay!

C.Evans, I very much appreciate your thoughts, too.

On behalf of myself, my friend, and her dad, many thanks, and God bless you for your most timely help.

-John

 

Hi John, thanks youself for bringing this to the forefront of our attention as well and I only wish that I still had my copy to actually be able to help. I know so little about the Leopoldville tragedy-which to me is aakin to the Wilhelm Gustloff tragedy.

I don't have any s left to give you for making us remember this tragedy that is not as talked about as it should be. Enjoy the 34 reps ;-))

 

A confession: I had just heard about the Leopoldville incident myself, only as a result of my friend asking for my help. I know nothing of the Wilhelm Gustloff tragedy, either; WWII was before my time (I'm 54). My dad served, however. I'm a post-'Nam era vet, USAF. My oldest son now serves in the same branch in Italy, with 2 years remaining of his initial 6.

But, you've got me curious. What are "the 34 reps?" The answer is probably really obvious, and I'm going to feel like a moron for asking, right?

Finally, what's with the Tennessee Army (Confederate) Flag? Are you in the south? I'm in Gatlinburg, TN. (A Civil War battle was fought very near to here, at Fair Garden. It's now a non-existent town, although I visited the old cemetery last weekend.)

 

Hi John, I had only heard about the Leopoldville tragedy when it was originally aired on te history channel about 12 years ago. At that time, the worst sea tragedies I had heard about were ones like, the Titanic, Lusitania, and the Wilhelm Gustloff.


The Wilhelm Gustloff tragedy happened in the closing days of WWII. The Gustloff was a cruise ship turned into a hospital ship. It had by some counts=over 15,000 people on it when it was sunk by a Russian Sub. These people included-wounded, Female Nursing and Admin personnel, evacuated civilians and such. Most of the people on board died that day-unfortunately. The Russian high command "fired" the Sub Captain for sinking that ship when he thought that he was only doing his duty.

I have a piece of memorbilia from the Wilhelm Gustloff-in the name of a ship crewmans Cap Tally.

As for my "Confederate" Otto-this sites owner-was nice enough to borrow with permission from a Civil War site-and placed this one and another one here. He was nice enough to let me use this character as part of my signature stuff here.

I am from the glorious South--in Texas for that matter, and this gif character was perfect for me to use. I think that other one is still here and I think he has a large battleflag?

Anyway, my family has a lot of Civil War history. The highest ranking member of our family who fought under Southern Arms-was a Colonel Sam Cooper-CSA Cavalry and he lost an arm at Shiloh (thats-Pittsburg Landing to Yankees ;-)) The highest ranking member of our family-and the only one for that matter-who fought under Union Arms-was Ulysses S. Grant-whom our side of the family doesn't claim.

Some relatives on my Mothers side of the family-own part of the Lookout Mountain battlefield. I've never been there and never met those relatives but, thats on my to do list in the future ;-))

Its not a stupid question to ask and, rep points are given by members to members whose postings they like. Salutes are also given. I have 34 rep points I can give and I can give any amount from 1 to 34 points. I usually give 34 except for one time recently.

Glad to meet snother Southerner, and hope you will like this place enough to stay here for a long time ;-)) There are other SOutherners here as well-like Jeff (Slipdigit) Ike (PzJgr) 36thVA and others. These are some of the nicest Gents on the internet. Some of us have strong feelings for the Old South-nothing to do with slavery and such but because of our heritage.

Take care John, and best regards--Carl.

 

John.
My father, who passed away many years ago, was also on the ship when it was sunk. In fact it was on his 21th birthday, Dec 24. He was in Company G of the 264th. I have a copy of the tape but no longer have a VCR and want to get it transferred to CD. I can get a 2nd disk made at that time and send one out to you.

My father only spoke of the sinking a few times and I was much younger when he did so I now trying to confirm some of his story against my memories. Can you or anyone else confirm or steer me to the info that says Company G of the 264th was really on the ship when it was sunk?

Phil

 

Hello..my name is Elizabeth Cahill. My great uncle, William Richard DuHasek was killed on the Leopoldville. He was 21 years old. My grandfather never liked to discuss the death of his brother, which is understandable; but now I am wondering if it was on account of the lack of information the families of the fallen received. My grandpa passed 12 years ago and my grandmother is moving out of of their home at the age of 90. I have always been interested in the circumstance of Bill's death, and recently found a medal of his while going through their belongings. I cannot seem to identify it. It does not bear his name, rank, or anything at all. It is a small anchor and heart with a cross in the center of it. If anyone can help me out, I'd very much appreciate it. Thank you.

Lost are only those, who abandon themselves) Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

 

Ecahill13,

I believe what you have is not a military medal as most military medals will have some sort of identifying markings on it as far as what the award itself is. What I think you are describing is in fact a Christian symbol. The symbolism is as follows:

Anchor This was used as a disguised cross and a symbol to represent secret meeting places.

Heart This represented love and courage.

Cross The cross stood for faith

This sort of pendant/charm/medal (it has many forms) represents Love, Faith and Hope.

Here's an example of one


Hope this helps.

 

I made this post in a related thread:
James E. Hutchens (Pfc 262nd Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division) perished on the SS Leopoldville on December 24, 1944. He had been married to my mother for a brief four months.
We do not believe that his body was ever recovered, but are still searching for information.
My mother passed this last March (in 2014) and on the 70th anniversary of this tragedy, we will be dispersing some of her remains at the site near Cherbourg.


We are also looking for a copy of the documentary "Cover-up! The Sinking of the S.S. Leopoldville". If anybody else has any information on that, it would certainly be appreaciated.

 

I actually have some groupings from the Leopoldville survivors. I also have two books. There is a third book, which I cannot afford, over $100. I don't think many bodies were recovered. everything I have ever seen doesn't say much about burials. There were like 700 dead depending on who you read. It was covered up too. I believe only the survivors really knew anything. Nothing is written in any of the the unit histories about the sinking. One Sgt. in a letter to his parents at the end of the war said virtually nothing. He talked of it at some point, he wrote an account of his survival in 1946, which was later published. Of course in the third book, which I do not own. You can contact the American Monuments Assoc. for any info on 66th casualties buried in the ETO. The SS Leopoldville was found by Clive Cussler. I'm surprised that You Tube doesn't have a video on it. I don't know if a Turner book was ever written about the 66th. Turner Publishing is located in Paducah, Ky.

 

In the thread which rvisdew mentioned (SS Leopoldville), I posted some of the documents I had found on the website Fold3.com. If you haven't already seen the thread, you may want to take a look.

 

Thanks Tommy, I did a lot looking last night and found some info, but not a huge amount. Some books to find. One of my groups the Sgt. wrote his account of how he survived. Another group had a copy of the book, The Night Before Christmas. The videos are out there to buy, but little on YouTube. Part 3 of the HC video.