Hello!

I thought I would share with you mymorning coffee with 3 amazing WWII vets!
I was introduced to Don, Patch and Steve this morning. They were very happy to answer any of my question and seemed genuinely pleased that they could share their stories with someone who listened to every detail!

The first in depth conversation I had was with Don, of the 101st AB 506th PIR, D company. I asked Don if there was one thing that really stands out in his memory, good or bad. He answered very quickly with the following story.

He described how "E" company was in the Eagle's nest drinking Hitler's booze as they ("D" company) were in Berchtesgaden, and were approached by a car with what he thought was a Swiss flag on it. An American officer jumped out of the car and explained that they were to go south to take over a British POW camp. They headed to the camp. When they got near it, they kept coming across the bodies of British soldiers. When they arrived at the camp they were told to keep all the men in the camp, as there were still many SS troops in the area, that were responsilbe for killing the British men in the ditches. Don told me this was one of the hardest things he had to do, these men had been locked up for a very long time. The men were fed and cared for, but they were very angry. That is until about a hundred British soldiers cam back down the road after encountering the SS troops. Every man there now understood why they were being kept.

There was one other reason "D" company was sent there, they were to intercept a full division of German troops returning home. They were afraid that the returning troops would kill all of the POW's. Don remembers watching as a company of riflemen stopped a huge caravan of German troops in tanks and various other vehicles. One soldiers stood out in the middle of the road, he aved to the tanks to stop and told them, in broken German, that they had to go talk with a German officer in the town. Don and a few others walked the Officer into town, while 5 guys stood guard on a full division! They all laughed about that! The raning officer in the town said that only officers can keep their sidearms, all other weapons must be turned in.
Trucks started going up and down the convoy of Germans collecting ammunition and guns. The tanks were parked byt the side of the road, and abandoned.
Don said it was quite a sight to see all these German soldiers walking back to Germany. I asked if it were ten thousand men, and he said there were probably twice that many!

I hope to post here more conversations with the other 2 vets that I met today, Patch, who served on teh USS Tuscaloosa, and Steve a Medic!

Thanks!!

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This is a pair of Dutch resistance crystal radios, built into a small metal can, and a matchbox. The image is from a postcard bought at a Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam. The matchbox is marked in Swedish, but Swedish matches were sold in Holland for many years..
Scott

Great stuff. On what circumstances did you meet them?

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Hey Cerphix!

My father's friend introduced me to them. He know of my interest in WWII. I also am hoping to meet a man who was in the Hitler youth, and went on to become a "brown" shirt! More on that later!!

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This is a pair of Dutch resistance crystal radios, built into a small metal can, and a matchbox. The image is from a postcard bought at a Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam. The matchbox is marked in Swedish, but Swedish matches were sold in Holland for many years..
Scott

Very good show wot! Thanks for sharing part 1 of your morning with three of the greatest men who have walked on this Earth. Looking forward to hearing more. Also, I found it very interesting to hear the story of what men of "D" company did whilst the others "E" company, partied. Too bad that was NOT shown or mentioned in Band of Bros.

Cerephix, great signature piece. Im a fan of David Pentlands art.

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

It's always great to hear the memories. Thanks for sharing. You remind me that I have to go over to the local Legion to do my membership and go to their museum....and maybe sit down for a coffee with some of them the next time I have a day off.

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Regards, Michelle

Oliver Goldsmith, "I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines."

I would love to read of your conversations with them Michelle!

Thanks Carl!
They truly are great great men!

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This is a pair of Dutch resistance crystal radios, built into a small metal can, and a matchbox. The image is from a postcard bought at a Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam. The matchbox is marked in Swedish, but Swedish matches were sold in Holland for many years..
Scott

Thanks for sharing bigfun, I'm looking forward to hearing about Steve the Medic.

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"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance." Socrates

Scott I did not note, but you got there phone numbers correct, you might want to sit them down privately with a tape recorder unless you know short hand and can pen on paper very quickly

congrats and keep at it, the period of time is getting short with the guys sadly .....

Good advice Erich!
I thought about getting a digital recorder today, because after coffee, I ended up sitting in my car trying to remember everything they said! I know that I missed so much! I did not get their phone numbers, they told me that I should join them for coffee, they go there M-Sat every week! I'll work on the phone numbers!

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This is a pair of Dutch resistance crystal radios, built into a small metal can, and a matchbox. The image is from a postcard bought at a Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam. The matchbox is marked in Swedish, but Swedish matches were sold in Holland for many years..
Scott

Scott yes we have about 5 guys that show up every other Saturday or every other 3rd Saturday at a local lunch diner downtown, so yes by all means show up, chat and then get their phone numbers as trust starts to form, you will be glad you did, you may then get to see some pics of their time they may have been able to save from war.

forget the coffee I'll take a piece of pie while they talk.

absorb as much as you can, and although very tedious even writing down some of their stories has some real neat and true value

Excellent stuff...I wish I had the time to do things like this but I never have the time. Maybe I'll get the chance to interview some Vietnam veterans when I visit Washington DC this summer or on Veterans Day I can interview veterans. I am constantly reading up Vet's accounts of war, and I am open to any of the WWII vets on this forum to hear about their stories.

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"Live as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts." - Cicero

As an American, I think it would be interesting to meet a German war vet. and see what he has to say.

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Ceraphix,
A man who lives up the road from my parents was apparently raised in the Hitler Youth and then became a "brown shirt"! I am looking forward to speaking with him as well!!

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This is a pair of Dutch resistance crystal radios, built into a small metal can, and a matchbox. The image is from a postcard bought at a Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam. The matchbox is marked in Swedish, but Swedish matches were sold in Holland for many years..
Scott

bigfun,

Thank you for sharing these stories with us. I am truly jealous of your opportunity and at the same time, grateful for your generosity! Please do post more as you get it and as time permits.

I agree with Ceraphix...what I wouldn't give to be in a room with veterans from both sides sitting together, talking in peace about their experiences.

cd13, that's a good idea! I didn't think about that, but maybe I can ask the former brown shirt, to have coffee with us! I'll keep you posted!

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This is a pair of Dutch resistance crystal radios, built into a small metal can, and a matchbox. The image is from a postcard bought at a Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam. The matchbox is marked in Swedish, but Swedish matches were sold in Holland for many years..
Scott

Hi Scott, quite welcome and yep, they are great men ;-)) Im hoping to persue meeting as many WWII vets as I can, after I move house in late July.

Believe it or not, there is a guy who owns a Barber Shop somewhere here in Corpus that actually served in the same Platoon that Audie Murphy was in. Im hoping to find this man's Barber Shop before I leave and try to interview him. In his shop hanging on the walls, are several photo's of him and Audie-so I have been told. Im in the market for a haircut now sooooo if I find where he's at, maybe I can also get him to make copies of a few pics as well.

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

Hi Cerephix, several of us here have met with, spoken with and become good friends with, WWII German vets. Erich, Paul, Ike and I-for examples all have. In Ike's case, the vet was a relative of his.

Also, you might never know at who you will find living next or near to where you live. In my hometown, just 2 or so blocks from my house, lived a guy who was a tank commander in the 1st SS Panzer Division: LSSAH. This man was a Sergeant. How I got to know this guy was by accident. Also, to the best of my knowledge, this Gent was the first WWII German veteran I ever met and also became friends with.

I met him one day because of a delivery job I had. I was delivering phonebooks and happened to have his addy on my daily route. In my area, we have these large trachcans that the city provides for us-and are usually left near the curb on one's own property.

Anyway, on the street next to his, there was a dork who lived there who was a head-bashing metalhead. This creep wore clothes with metal and punk rockers pics on it. Also he went around wearing a mohawk. Im NOT labeling everyone who likes that kinds of music or dresses that way-as scumbags but, this guy in particular-I am. His name is John Gaines.

Anyway, this freak of nature and soem of his buddies, had spray-painted swasticas on his trashcan, garagedoor and side of his house-using bright orange spraypaint. Apparently someone figured out that he was German and automatically assumed he was evil and had horns as well as a tail.

These creeps would come by in the middle of the night and egg his house oand or wrap it with toiletpaper. The day I went there, and delivered his book, I wound up talking with him for about an hour. He talked with a heavy German accent but spoke perfect English. Over a period of weeks, we became friends and he took me into his confidence and showed me his photoalbums and what he had left from the war. He still had his panzer jacket, sidecap, and his medals. I can't remember what he had at the time or i'd post them here. Anyway, this guy was always one to crack jokes and loved to tell stories.

Well, about 6 months after he passed away, his children came anc "cleaned house" throwing away his uniform items and such-because they were not interested in them. I remember seeing this stuff placed by the street in a cardboard box. His WWII photoalbums were among the items. I wished that I had rescured these items but, at that time, I really was not interested in collecting those kinds of items especially if they had Swazes on them-as his stuff still did.

Anyway, to make a very long story shorter, I picked a fight with John Gaines one night at the local Mall. The reason I did was because I finally got sick and tired of his big mouth and mouthing off about that Gent. My girlfriend Patty was with me and we decided to go into Alladdins Castle Gameroom. Gaines followed us in there and grabbed my girlfriend's @$$ and I punched him in the mouth. This guy always acted tough in front of his friends but, I never saw anyone get upp and run out as fast as I saw this guy do.

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

Yes do get chats with vets on tape if you can. I've replayed old tapes surprized of what they contained. I'd forgotten. As we know they all won't be around forever, unfortunately. Let them ramble some but ask key questions of things you want to know.

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