Brave Veterans

[German Born]

I would like to thank the brave vets for telling their stories in what was a tumultuous time in their lives.I and many other visitors registered and not find them fascinating and having a close relative that's been through similar circustances will only help me to understand the difficulties they all faced in these difficult times of our history.I wish you all peace and happiness and please keep the stories coming...G.B.

[chambers]

I would also like to add my 2 cents here as well. Communicating with the veterans here has been an enlightening experience for me. There is no better place to learn than from the men who experienced it. I would like nothing more than to sit in a room with Rudi, HaEn, Gerhard, and Milan Lorman and listen to them talk. I get a much better understanding from real veterans than just reading statistics in books.

Thanks guys, for being here and willing to share what is sometimes unpleasant memories with us. You are the reason we are all here.

I may not post as much as I should or ask really stimulating questions, but I am always here, reading what you have to say.

Your gracious listener,
Brooke

[gerhard2]

G.B.
I am sure none of the other guy's and myself feel particular brave. Lucky is a better term for it. We left the brave ones behind and it bothers me when I hear and read what is written about them and is happening to some of their memorials.
Facing them or whatever they threw at us did not make us to be brave, no mostly just desperate.
I tell you who was brave - some of my comrades usually wounded , staying behind to buy us a little more time during a pull out
Gerhard

[German Born]

Bravery is actually telling your stories 60 years afterwards to complete strangers,some guys could'nt even talk to their families due to,shame,guilt ,fear,persecution,rejection etc.It's all too late for me now as my chance to talk with my dad as he has passed away.I hope by sharing your experiences that it helps you to try to come to terms with it as I feel that maybe if my dad spoke to me about the war we would have had a better relationship,but then again I've heard its not uncommon for an ex soldier never to speak about their experiences and I guess we need to respect their wishes.

[haen1]

G.B.
I am sure none of the other guy's and myself feel particular brave. Lucky is a better term for it. We left the brave ones behind and it bothers me when I hear and read what is written about them and is happening to some of their memorials.
Facing them or whatever they threw at us did not make us to be brave, no mostly just desperate.
I tell you who was brave - some of my comrades usually wounded , staying behind to buy us a little more time during a pull out
Gerhard

Thank you Gerhard,
I agree. brave were my comrades who after a successful withdrawal, which left me behind, literally "stuck" in a foxhole, came back to get me.
Luckily THAT trip did not cause any additional losses.
As you, I do not feel brave at all, just lucky that I was spared to tell the story.
Grüssen
HN

[gerhard2]

G.B.
I have come to terms with my past a long, long time ago as has my wife, a survivor of the London Blitz.
Shame, guilt ? I never had any.
Persecution, rejection ? did not bother me, it was usually from people less honest than me.
Just satisfaction that my comrades could always count on me as I could on them and that I done my duty, which I did honorably. Which is a lot more then some of those we surrendered to can say.
Hardly surprising about your not having a better relationship with your dad. How could you possibly understand him ? I assume he was raised and educated in Hitler Germany, unlike you in a "politically correct atmosphere".
Also most of our experiences are miserable, painful and usually misconstrued as boasting or excuses.
I am pleased that my sons have no interest in soldiering and war, not because they are afraid to get hurt,
no - it's because of what they would have to do to others.
By the way I am also German born, just like in my youth the same officious zealots enforced what we were allowed to say, think and read. Now it's called politically correct and in my time it was called "toeing the party line". I don't miss any of it.
Let me leave you with the words of General DeGaulle:
A nations character is seen by the way it's veterans are treated.
(or something like it)
Gerhard

Hello HaEn:
How are you ? Have you hit your 80 yet or have I beat you to it ?
Take care.
Gerhard

[Rudi S.]

Hallo Gerhard,
well said and I agree 100 percent!
Hard to believe that we are talking about things that happened sooooooo many years ago.
Mit besten kameradschaftlichen Grüssen,
Rudi S.


Nebenbei bemerkt: HaEn und Gerhard: you young whippersnappers! Ich werde 82 Jahre alt sein in 4 Monaten; also der Stubenälteste.

[Tom Houlihan]

Hard to believe that we are talking about things that happened sooooooo

I was relating an anecdote to my coworkers about my time in the Marine Corps, and as I walked back to my desk, I realized that incident took place 20 years ago!

I can only imagine what it feels like for you gentlemen to be talking about something that happened 60+ years ago! Still, I am happy that you are here, and that you are willing to talk about it with us.

Vielen Danke!

[gerhard2]

Hi Rudi:
Your remarks remind me when I was the Stubenälteste. I had just returned from the hospital and Cripple batterie for retraining as kradmelder. I was with a bunch of 17 year old whippersnappers who just about finished their basic training and the only one who had Pulver gerochen (knew the smell of gun powder). As such (18 years old) I felt positively ancient and was treated accordingly, except by our instructor a Rottenführer who had fewer awards then I had.

Almost 82 ? that does make me feel like a whippersnapper.

Viele Grüsse,
Gerhard

[German Born]

It sounds like you were one of the lucky ones that got support during the war and also after.As far as I know my father had no support from anyone whether from his birth country or the country he migrated to.And as far as me helping him,I was just a kid.All a kid wants is his dad to put his arms around him and tell him stories.I'm glad you have the opportunity to sit down with your sons and do this.
Kindest regards.......GB.

[chambers]

Rudi, I'm sure you are just as handsome at 82 as you were at 22.

I have often wondered what motivated you, veterans, to become educated on using the computer and internet? Was it a family member, or something else? I know my grandad would enjoy reading and talking to other veterans his age all over the globe, but I can't get him near the dang thing!

Brooke

[haen1]

Hi Gerhard,
I'll be 80 on the 1st of November (allerheiligen) , hence my saintly face.
So I guess I am the youngest of us three.
Oh boy that makes me feel good
Hang in there guys !!!!
As Guy Lombardi used to sing : "enjoy yourself, it's later than you think".
HN

[German Born]

Hi Gerhard,when I referred to understanding my dad I also meant the language barrier.After speaking fluent german until I began school here the emphasis was to learn the english language and so I did.German language became my second language even though I can't speak german now I can still understand the language now and as my father spoke in a different dialogue than my mum it made it hard to understand.Also my dad had teeth missing Vs sounded like Fs and when he spoke about sizes and distance in metric all this was foreign to me.I thought when he was talking about a centimeter he was referring to an insect.Of course after learning imperial weights and measures at school the metric system was hard to understand at first but I've finally began to forget the old imperial system. All the best.GB.

[Rudi Welz]

Hallo Gerhard, HaEn and Rudi S.,
I agree with every word you wrote on this topic, thank you!

Rudi

[German Born]

G.B.
I have come to terms with my past a long, long time ago as has my wife, a survivor of the London Blitz.
Shame, guilt ? I never had any.
Persecution, rejection ? did not bother me, it was usually from people less honest than me.
Just satisfaction that my comrades could always count on me as I could on them and that I done my duty, which I did honorably. Which is a lot more then some of those we surrendered to can say.
Hardly surprising about your not having a better relationship with your dad. How could you possibly understand him ? I assume he was raised and educated in Hitler Germany, unlike you in a "politically correct atmosphere".
Also most of our experiences are miserable, painful and usually misconstrued as boasting or excuses.



I am pleased that my sons have no interest in soldiering and war, not because they are afraid to get hurt,
no - it's because of what they would have to do to others.
By the way I am also German born, just like in my youth the same officious zealots enforced what we were allowed to say, think and read. Now it's called politically correct and in my time it was called "toeing the party line". I don't miss any of it.
Let me leave you with the words of General DeGaulle:
A nations character is seen by the way it's veterans are treated.
(or something like it)
Gerhard

Hello HaEn:
How are you ? Have you hit your 80 yet or have I beat you to it ?
Take care.
Gerhard

I am proud to be living in a democratic country where freedom of speech has always been taken for granted maybe some people call us politically correct but I,m happy.I can go where I want when I want at any time without having to produce ID for just sitting on a bench.If you compare us with a lot of other countries I,d pick Australia anytime.We are a multicultural country with many migrants choosing our way of life and making this land home.Australians are non racist and we are tolerant to all religions.If that constitutes political correctness then so be it.