Soldiers whatever uniform they were are still people. Most just do what they have to do to survive. There were fanatical Nazis, that's true. People think that way because of historical distortions brought about by popular forms of mass media.

True, not all Germans were Nazis and not all Nazis were German. Not everybody was fanatic , even among the Nazis, take the example of Oscar Schindler who was a member of the Nazi party and who saved many people.

__________________

Excellent point Skipper!

And a fantastic movie.

__________________
The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness. -Adolf Hitler

I'll add more soon.

__________________

A wounded US soldier being treated by Germans near Maresca, Italy

__________________
"When war does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." -General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
"The conqueror is always a lover of peace; he would prefer to take over our country unopposed."-Karl von Clausewitz

cool addition, it's the first one I see this picture.

__________________

Hi sturmkreuz, I told I'd find more, it took me a while, but it's worth it and I got two! I hope you"ll like them and that you don't already have these in your collection.



Fraternising with a Russian farmer.



this one could not be propaganda and seems sincere.

__________________

Here a canadian medic helping a german in Trun (Falaise gap), august 1944.

I like this thread. For the photo's and also for the thought behind it.

I found another photo: German and polish medics work together at Mont Ormel in the corridor off dead in the Falaise gap. August 1944.
The polish medic is wounded himself!

A superbly original thread. None of us ought to be surprised by these scenes and stories though. Remember always that it is the "leaders" who take us the ordinary citizens into war. I was touched by an incredible story of understanding for an "enemy" only last weekend. I was Duxford enjoying the wonderful annual "flying legends" show. Standing close by to me were a group of young men who were very enthusiastic and evidently German ( ok, could have been Swiss, Austrian,Alsace or Northern Italians....but they weren't) Every time an allied warbird flew along the flight line these guys were in raptures, whooping hollering and applauding. A fellow asked them why? He translated for the rest of us what one of them had said and his colleagues agreed.
"It is simple. The Allies liberated our country from Hitler too".
That gives me huge hope and not a little humility for the future
Spitbloke over and out

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a76...r07/Salute.jpg

This is just a painting by the renowned artist James H. Kitchens, but the situation he depicts is real:

On June 26, 1943, P-47C Thunderbolts from the 56th Fighter Group's 61st, 62nd, and 63rd Fighter Squadrons were launched from AAF Station Boxted to escort an Eighth AF operation against Villacoublay, France. The mission was going smoothly - until the American formation was bounced by Fw 190s from JG 2 and JG 26, which proceeded to shoot down five Thunderbolts and damage seven others, two beyond repair.
One of the damaged P-47s, ("Half Pint") was piloted by Lt. Robert S. Johnson. A Fw 190 caught him in his sights and riddled his airplane with machine gun bullets and 20mm cannon shells. One 20mm round exploded in the cockpit, another passed through the rear part of the sliding hood, jamming it closed. Wounded and half-blind, Johnson could not bail out and had to limp home to survive. Things looked hopeful until another Fw 190 latched onto the crippled American's tail. The German mercilessly hammered the helpless Thunderbolt, exhausting his machine gun ammunition without result. The astonished and no-doubt bewildered German pilot eased alongside, studied his would-be victim, saluted, and turned away, leaving the shaken American to nurse his flying sieve back to Boxted.

__________________

This may not be strictly on-topic, but I believe it is true to the spirit of this thread....

At the battle of Fredricksburg in the American Civil War, the Union Army of the Potomac sent brigade after brigade against Robert E. Lee's Confederates. Lee, who was entrenched behind a stone wall on a hill called Marye's Heights slaughtered the Yankees wholesale. The carnage was horrible, and was the most lopsided victory/loss of the ACW. At the end of the day, there were thousands of wounded Union soldiers in no-mans land crying out for help.

A young South Carolinian named Richard Kirkland was moved by the misery in front of him, and decided to act. Risking Union fire, the Confederate grabbed all the canteens that he could get, and went over the wall. For over an hour he tried to comfort the Union soldiers under fire, giving them water, warm clothing, and perhaps just a kind word or two. For his actions, he became known as the angel of Marye's Heights. Kirkland was subsequently killed at Chickamauga later in the war.

This photo is of the memorial to him at Fredricksburg NMP.

Attached Images

kirklandmemorial.jpg (31.6 KB, 2 views)

__________________
David

"It is history that teaches us to hope"
Robert E. Lee

It does match the spirit, so yes this addition is welcome in my opinion.

__________________

If I'm not mistaken, there was an episode of DOGFIGHTS on the History Channel recently here in the US that told this story or one very much like it. You should check that out if you haven't already.

But you're right, great story indeed...