Thank you for posting. My grandfather, Jim Flowers, was a tank commander in Company C, 712th Tank Battalion and was nominated for the Congressional Medal Of Honor and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions in WWII.

My father was one of the 362 awarded the Bronze Star. These gentlemen are true heroes in every sense of the word. Rest in Peace Cpl Gladson and Sgt Reinisch.

R.I.P. GREAT GRANDPA BOB WE LOVE YOU!!

Thank you for sharing this... I could listen to WW2 vets telling stories for hours.

Thank you for your service. Rest In Peace! Your service to America as well as to the countries you helped to liberate is appreciated. I served in Germany in the 70’s in the area you served..

R.I.P. Brother ... GALESBURG - Robert D. Gladson, Galesburg, passed away Dec. 3, 2012, at Galesburg Cottage Hospital. Bob was born Feb. 27, 1921, in Burgess, the son of Ralph and Violet (Tornquist) Gladson. He graduated from Monmouth High School in 1939. He married Martha Reischling in 1941. She passed away in 1995; Bob married Geraldine Swanson in 1999 and she passed away in 2011. Bob worked as a territory manager for Cargill, Golden Sun and Rath feed companies. He enjoyed golfing, fishing, volunteer work, and most of all, spending winters in his beloved Arizona. Bob served as a corporal in the U.S. Army from 1943-1945 during World War II in Normandy and Czechoslovakia. He shared many stories about his experiences as a gunner in a tank. He was a member of Galesburg American Legion Post 285, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Military Order of Purple Hearts. Those who knew Bob thought highly of him and respected him as a true gentleman. He was an important part of his grandchildren's lives. He enjoyed visiting with people. Bob is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Kathy and Carl Miller; granddaughters, Kim (Chip) Timmons and Amy Miller of Galesburg; grandsons, Tom (Christy) Bates of Peoria, Ariz. and Marc (Megan) Miller of Naples, Fla.; seven great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren; two sisters, Jane (Dale) Adcock of Galesburg and Doris (George) Eyer of Moline; and many nieces and nephews. He was devoted to his family and will be greatly missed by all of them. Funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, at Trinity Lutheran Church. The family will receive relatives and friends after the service at the church. Burial will be at a later date at St. Mary's Cemetery in Monmouth. Memorials may be made to Trinity Lutheran Church, the American Cancer Society, the Galesburg American Legion, or the Veterans of Foreign Wars Museum. Online condolences may be made at www.h-p-w.com.

My father served in Shermans in the 4th Armored Division, 3rd US Army under Patton from activation to deactivation...

His sense of humor surely helped him cope with the horrors of war. A truly courageous and straightforward man, who tells it like it was, without glorifying or embellishing his experience. A true hero, and very lucky to have survived his part in the war.

You can see in his eyes he’s going back in time. There are definitely moments where he’s back in 1944. God bless the greatest generation.

I realise after watching these MEN how little I am a man THANK YOU sir God Bless you Sir

I wish there were 100 times as many interviews with the WW2 veterans from all sides.

I absolutely love hearing these warriors stories. They are a dying breed and should never be forgotten. I wish I could've met this gentleman. A truly humble and modest gentleman. God bless🇺🇸

Thumbs up to this man, modest and a gent.

This man is wonderful and so humble, it is men like this that were true heroes without calling himself one. I am truly honored to listen to him. My grandfather fought for the Canadians and I loved listening to his stories as well. God Bless him and hope he receives the peace he deserved.

This is good. Thank you for letting this story be told

You boys did good with your interview with Mr. Gladson. I hope you know that these old gentleman are a vanishing National Treasure. Thank you and Mr. Gladson for sharing with us.

In the 1980's I 'd just met my to be French wife and we'd gone out on a very cold Sunday and visited an Alsatian town which had been the front line for the Winter of 1944 . They had these little markers showing the American and German positions. I remember feeling a bit sorry for myself because it was just so cold but I wasn't at risk of getting shot or spending days lying in a trench and in fact was going back to warm flat with a nice meal and wine. Can't believe these brave men have got so old.

I love hearing stories from these old WWII vets. My Dad was one(Navy) and close kin who also served...but, are now all gone. Mr Gladson was a tank gunner....and loved his story as well, and thankful for his service. It doesn't seem to be a lot of stories on youtube from either tankers, or those that operated TDs during that time. If I read the comments right....seems he is now passed and am sorry for the great loss the family has endured for this fine gentleman.

Mr. Gladson appears to be a beautiful soul. One of them guys you'd enjoy serving with (as much as you could "enjoy" that awful situation).

Thank you sir for your brave service, men like Robert are rare now.

Thank You Cpl. Robert D. Gladson job well done welcome home!

My grandad was a commando engineer I have great memories of his stories wish he was still here

What a good ol boy ! Thank you for my freedom sir ! God Bless You !!

A true American hero. We owe you everything. God bless, rest in a well deserved peace.

These precious interviews, like live encyclopedias. Thanks for sharing this man's story.

Thank you for sharing. Much respect to this fine gentleman. God bless you all.

I should have paid more attention to these fine men and women when I was young.They trained me when I was in service.I never thought they would leave us,there where so many of them back then.R.I. P.,May God be with you.

Thank you for sharing this. I appreciate hearing the enlisted man's perspective, especially from a tank gunner.

Thank you for your service sir! What a great interview..

The interview of a WWII tank vet should have been done by some competent people.

The horrors this man had to bear witness to. May God bless you,sir and thank you for your many sacrifices and of those of your brothers in arms. God bless the 🇺🇸

My uncle John Charles Mitchell was in 712th and killed 3rd of July 1944, first day Company B encountered the enemy

Really amazing that people like this have their life stories immortalized. Content like this is more important then we could ever imagine.

I love our ww2 vets, great stories you just want to keep it going!

So many soldiers were lost In Tank battles that soldiers were picked right out from the line to replace those lost in Tanks. God Bless our Veterans and all who served in W.W. II, and God Bless Mr. Gladson and his wonderful family, thank you for sharing.

Thanks for sharing this.

Great job, capturing this mans experience. I wish I had done it with my uncles and father when I had the chance. Great job. Most all I talked to remarked about the slaughter at the Falaise Gap.

Thanks for sharing this video was an interesting watch I sat through the whole thing as a young man wanting to someday join the military I admire this mans service and what he went through during the war thanks to him and many men like him their contributions to our country will certainly not be forgotten anytime soon by me.

never gets old, listening to this generation.

I've wanted to meet a WWII veteran for a long time, not in particular to talk about what they did but in part simply to be able to gauge who these people are of and to be able to say I spoke to and met such an important person before it's likely impossible.

Bob mentioned Camp Shanks in New York. That is correct. It was built in '42-'43 in Orangeburg, NY, across the Hudson River and 20 miles north of NYC. GI's assembled there from all over USA. They were organized and sent by train to Hoboken, NJ, then across the river to ships in NYC. After the war, returning soldiers were allowed to live in the barracks. I was born there in 1952. We moved nearby in 1954. I played up there with friends whose father had a contract to break down the barracks. Only the roads were left by '59 or '60.

Thank you Bob!

God bless you Sir for your service and your courage ! We could use more of your kind today !! You can see he is having a hard time breathing. And you can see in his eyes, going back to these memories. What a wonderful gentleman and hero !! PS, if you have not seen it, watch the Movie Fury which does a very good job of showing the kind of combat this brave man experienced. I am just amazed at how calmly he talks about it given how many tanks he was in that were knocked out !!

Well done. Preserving history. Times are changing. Born in 1966, so much of our generation’s success was based on the sacrifice of the generation before us. Our children do not understand how lucky we really are as a country to have not only survived WWII; but to now exist as the predominant world superpower. Not sure how much longer we’ll have that role in the world, as much as it’s messed up, but we’ve indeed been fortunate to have experienced it. A good run. Let’s hope it keeps going.

Thank you for sharing.

GOD BLESS THIS MAN.

My grandfather was a tank man in ww2 he passed on when I was young... great video.

Poor guys; in a deathtrap M4 facing Panthers and Tigers. One of surviving M4 gets wrote his memoirs --- aptly titled "Deathtraps". The M4 survived the war only because 50,000 were built. The remainder were written off as target practice for the enemy. This guy was about guts.

Incredible... my grandpa was in the 712th, William Stap.

Amazing guy. Great interview. Thank you!

My Dad was in the 5th armored div. 46th armored inf. Attatched to the tanks i think he took the same route to the hertgen forrest from the things he has told me he was wounded in the forrest he was one of the lucky ones he will be 97 next week

The platoon that was wiped out that he speaks of, was my grandfather's platoon. There are a a few books written about that event.

Bob and men from his generation came home from war and just got on with their lives. Much respect for Bob and the greatest generation.

My dad was a tanker, his outfit was the 748 tank battalion. I miss him so much, we would talk for hours. Camp Shanks was/is in New York, it is now the town of Orangeburg, just across the NY/NJ border, about 10 miles fro NYC.

Yep,I can concur with this gentleman,sleeping in a tank is hard,and we did warm our bodies by standing behind the engine.

Michael: Great interview. My father (Louis) was in the 712, first Cpl then Sgt (tank commander). Went in at Ardennes on January 9, 1945 through Amberg, He was in Company B.

Great interviewee, very bad interviewers. Didn't listen and pay attention to his answers. Lame questions, unprepared, no foreknowledge. ... just sad. No opportunity to do it over so try to show respect and do it right with the one shot you have. I hope they pursue careers in lawn cutting or leave raking but not journalism.

My uncle, Quentin Bynum was an assistant driver/ bow gunner in the 712th, but was KIA in Belgium. Check out Aaron Elson’s books about the 712th for more stories

Just a job for these guys. You can tell that's how he felt about it.

RIP Mr. Gladson.

What a fine man. Thank you, sir.

🏆🙏🤗🇺🇲🎖️ Thank you for sharing

I love watching these videos it reminds me of sitting listioning to my grandpa telling me his storys about ww2 i never got bored of grandpas storys i miss it alot rip grandpa (warren williams)ww2 vet

Thank you for your service, Sir. May you Rest In Peace.

Lest we forget.

Great interview with a wonderful gentleman. Thank you so much for posting this. Very interesting.

Heartfelt thanks for sharing.

Thank you for serving. God Bless You.

here is something you don't hear about the 'slapping' incident with Gen Patton.....he had spent the day touring the medical tents of the wounded and maimed soldiers and just as he was about to leave he came across the Pvt sitting at the end of his bed crying into his hands....'what's bothering you son?'....he answered ...'I just can't take it' or words to that effect....at first Patton was taken aback then asked again what the matter was when he (Patton) realized the guy was unhurt it just didn't make sense to him seeing someone who hadn't a scratch among people without arms and legs or both or no jaws or half a body crying, when the guys that were hurt were trying to be cheerful and keep a stiff upper lip knowing they would never be the same again. This wasn't even an issue til word got back to a Chicago journalist several weeks later who made an issue of it. Now here is the ringer.....the Pvt after that whole deal ended up getting it all together and went on to serve with no issues and even said himself that the 'slap' made him rethink the whole thing over.......you never hear that part....only that Patton was an asshole......this was said by the doctors themselves later on.

Rest in peace Robert thank you for sharing your experience with us you where fair and brave man rest in peace

My uncle was in this unit, 1941-until the end of the war, then onto the Korean War in tanks. He retired from the Army in 1957. Carl H. Stoffregen.

Thank you sir, God bless...these people doing the interview have no clue...

Many many thx…

Loved listening to him

Was fortunate to survive so many hits on the tanks he was in... those Shermans had a habit of catching on fire or blowing up after a hit

Its always so great hearing stories from actual people that were there. Its almost Christmas now as I write this, well 2 weeks away.. but my dad knew a friend that was older than him but he was like an older brother. He was a P47 Thunderbolt fighter pilot named Herb Boyle. if you look online for that name, you can find him. He had 1 kill in the air, a FW190. He mostly was doing ground attack missions. but one day they were coming back to base and it was Christmas Eve...... they heard a person say MERRY CHRISTMAS MY AMERICAN FRIENDS. He sounded German and Herb answered and said WHO IS THIS? The man said I am German. Herb said where are you? The German said above and behind you. He looked up and to his horror saw a whole group of Me 109 German fighters above him. Herb also had a squadron. but the Germans could have dove down and got a lot of them. Herb said to him, well Merry Christmas to you. we are heading back to base in whatever direction it was and the German said we are going back to our base in Germany. take care my friends, we wish no conflict today. Herb said I agree and the Germans started peeling away.. stories like that are what make is so important to hear from all the veterans. and there are not a whole lot left. God bless them all and Bob here. my name too :)

I wonder what kind of person thumbs down content like this?

Damn this is under viewed...

I’ve actually been to the Flossenburg KZ. God bless him! Flossenburg is near to the US Army Grafenwohr training area today.

terrible interviewer (s)... I made it to 14:53 and have to take a break, but if this kind old warrior put up with the war and now this insidious style of interview harrassment, I guess i can too...thanks for your service sir, and for your patience with such interviewers, and thanks to the interviewers for this post - like a wise man said some 2000 or so years ago, "forgive them father, for they know not what they do."

my grandpa was on the spearhead

Pork slices, spaghetti,beans,soup, corn beef hash, processed meat. Green beans, corn. That was c-rations. Poke a hole in the top, heat the can on the exhaust manifold. He didn’t say it, but the bow gunner was directly in front of him when he was killed. Probably spalling.(shards of metal popped off the interior from the impact).

How stupid of me: Now I know why this great gentleman was so deaf. Thankyou for your contribution to freedom.

Nice edit job , guys, since it's your first day on the job.

Young people today especially young men have no clue about true courage.

Nice man. turn your cellphones off during an interview man! Lol

Priceless interview. You're a modern day scholar.

what a great guy

The interviewers should show a bit more respect and prepare some coherent and chronological questioning

Duty....

Holy $h1+! This guy went through five tanks!

My step-father, Jerome Landry, was part of the 712th Tank Battalion...I have tried to get his Army records, but they say his records got burned up in the fire of 73...but he is on the monument in DC...if anyone knows how I can get any info on him, it would be appreciated. Thanks - great video!

Great story LOVE that

what kind of person gives thumbs down to this video?

Thanks for doing this for this fine gentleman. You did a fair job obviously without much prep. Suggest you read The Soul of Battle to get some historical perspective concerning the realities of war. Thanks for your effort.

I wonder if “that English gun” he mentioned at 32.00 was the firefly?

This is good sir. I'sri lankan

excellent video and thanks for sharing..if possible I have a question for Cpl. Robert D. Gladson..was true the use of the nickname "ronson" for the sherman tank? thanks in advance

VERY humble older vet, please let him talk kind like interrogating

There's a reason why they called this the greatest generation!