Killed German wedding photos returned to his familly by US veteran after 68 years

Рет қаралды 2,378,739

6 жыл бұрын

A US veteran returns wedding photos he found on the body of a German he had killed in 1944.
For free help researching WWII veterans or named items, contact me at jean-loup@gassend.com
The author is always searching for photos, documents, letters and manuscripts about the liberation of the French Riviera and Operation Dragoon in August 1944. If you are a relative of a veteran who fought in southern France, please contact me at jean-loup@gassend.com
-Detailled information about this story can be found in the book 'Autopsy of a Battle, Liberation of the French Riviera': autopsyofabattle.blogspot.com/
researchww2.blogspot.com/
-More information about finding missing soldiers: findthemia.blogspot.com/
-Battlefield archaeology: battlefieldarchaeology.blogspo...
-Auf Deutsch: division148.blogspot.com/
WWII Veteran paratrooper Returns Wedding Photos 68 Years Later
By Cheryl Hurd | Friday, Dec 7, 2012 | Updated 8:20 PM PST
www.nbcbayarea.com
Even though he is 92, Howard Hensleigh of Menlo Park remembers 1944 like it was yesterday. That was the year the Army World War II veteran killed a German soldier during a gun battle in Southern France.
"The sergeant that I chose to fire the first shot fired and of course they hit the dirt. Firing going back and forth all the time," Hensleigh said.
Hensleigh, who was an intelligence officer and assistant platoon leader, says he knew the German soldiers were not going to give up without a fight. He says he gave them several chances to give up. But a man he later came to find out was named Georg Reick give him no other choice. Hensleigh shot and killed him during a firefight. Hensleigh said he felt it was something he had to do in order to save his men.
"When you take prisoners you get all the information off of all of them," Hensleigh said. "I hate to admit it but they don't end up with their watches rings and anything else."
In this case, Reick was stripped of personal artifacts, such as pictures of his wife and family and his wedding photo: It was common to confiscate the goods from the dead Germans at the time. Hensleigh took them, and put his enemy's belongings in his personal scrap book.
They stayed there for 68 years until a young French writer named Jean-Loup Gassend came along out of the blue. Jean-Loup Gassend was interested in interviewing WWII veterans who served their country in Southern France for a documentary he was working on. While researching online, Jean-Loup found Hensleigh as one of the many U.S. soldiers who had fought in World War II. Jean-Loup flew to the Peninsula to meet Hensleigh, and during their meeting, learned of his story and started to connect the dots.
Jean-Loup then contacted the company that developed pictures. But the company was no longer there.
He then sent them to the mayor of the small German town where the soldier lived.
The mayor recognized the dead soldier and put Hensleigh in touch with the soldier's grandson whose name is also Georg Reick.
The grandson and Hensleigh now e-mail each other back and forth. Hensleigh gave Reick's grandson information he's been longing for and Reick Jr. has pictures he thought he would never get.
Casualties of the ambush:
-Private Julius J. Richmond, Regimental HQ Company, 517th PIR
-PFC Jack Whitfield, HQ Company, 3rd Battalion, 517th PIR
-Unteroffizier Martin Janostik, Infanterie Regiment 107, Infanterie Division 34, 6.3.1912, Breslau
-Gefreiter Hans Jantzen, Infanterie Regiment 107, Infanterie Division 34, 20.9.1924, Siemersdorf
Units involved:
USA: 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment, First Airborne Task Force
Germany: Infanterie Division 34
Peira Cava, Sospel area, Nice Region, Southern France. Operation Dragoon Anvill, the Champagne Campaign, Liberation of the French Riviera.
jean-loup@gassend.com
A Crocodile Tear battlefield archaeology documentary
Militaria - collector - wehrmacht - researching veteran - army service number - ASN - IDPF - killed in action - missing in action - MIA - KIA - POW - First airborne task force - FABTF - D-Day - August 15th 1944 - june 6th 1944 - veteran's day - genealogy - investigation - track down - NARA -

Пікірлер: 4 000

@oceanhome2023 4 жыл бұрын

I had a neighbor a while back who ran over and killed a young girl it was not his fault, some how at the accident scene the girls tennis shoes were thrown into the back seat of his car . He rarely cleaned his car so he did not discover them until a couple months later a couple months after that he showed me the shoes , he knew they were to girls shoes there was ink pen writing all over the shoes like what young girls do including her name on several spots . I asked him why are you keeping those shoes and he had no answer. 2 years later he mailed the girls’ shoes back to her parents who were devastated for a second time . There are some similarities between these 2 stories

@alexrainer8891 4 жыл бұрын

Ron Lawson tf

@howcanyoureadthistheresnop9244 4 жыл бұрын

Droiz He probably didn’t see her

@johnnyrats7083 4 жыл бұрын

Ron Lawson how on earth did hey ‘somehow’ end up in the back seat of his car

@babyguilhem9338 4 жыл бұрын

I'm shocked someone who killed a girl is free to clean his car and love happily No prison ? Wtf

@babyguilhem9338 4 жыл бұрын

NSA it's a murder not an accident when someone run over someone

@zasmrcaveman5725 6 жыл бұрын

Holy shit! He looks great for 92.

@handsanitizer5525 5 жыл бұрын

I KNOW RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@michaelvasquez6179 5 жыл бұрын

A man who went to war and has seen so much in his lifetime, he looks like he’s in his 70 it’s ridiculous

@jake_runs_the_world 5 жыл бұрын

Rip

@rune.theocracy 5 жыл бұрын

"You kill enough people, eventually you become immortal."

@MimiPlaysViolin 5 жыл бұрын

You look great for a caveman.

@christophmessner6450 6 жыл бұрын

To give the pictures back to the relatives is a truly noble deed. I am a German and I salute to both guys.

@idleonlooker1078 5 жыл бұрын

That US veteran had 68 years to give them back, but did nothing. Really, what valid military purpose do personal wedding and family photos hold? The Geneva Convention states personal items must be returned (in this case to his widow). Take military equipment as a "war trophy" if you must, but NOT personal or sentimental items valuable to the family! That US vet kept the photos etc as his "war trophy" just to stroke his own vanity ("Look! I'm a bass-assed war hero because this is the guy I killed!!"). In 68yrs that vet did nothing - and would have still kept everything - had that French author not done what was right - and what that vet should've done in 68yrs. I salute the French guy.

@ememe1412 5 жыл бұрын

@@idleonlooker1078 WW2 had men brainwashed to dehumanize 'The Enemy'. This is how ordinary men managed to man concentration camps watching people starve and murdered like cattle, cause firestorms by bombing civilian cities and even to drop nuclear bombs without any moral impediment. Both sides conveniently set aside the Geneva conventions when it suited them. My grandfather was a vet of that war. The casualties were tremendous. You got turned in to a killing machine on command. You were ordered to do things that went against your very moral fabric, and you obeyed. Like shell areas you knew had civilians just to stop it's use by 'The Enemy'. You knew you killed helpless people. In the end 'The Enemy' were not people to you anymore, you forget. You forget your own humanity. A LOT of veterans took personal 'trophies' or mementos not to feel like a 'bad ass' but to remind themselves that who they killed were people just like them. People with loved ones, not just an armed uniform that was trying to kill you. It helped them remind themselves of their own humanity. Of course it can be taken other ways and may provide no comfort for the deceased's family. But all out war is f'd up.

@ememe1412 5 жыл бұрын

@@idleonlooker1078 Stop to think of everything of what was happening in WW2. Any of it logical? Can you rationalise outside of our own nationalist biases and modern viewpoint? Dead bodies didn't come back draped in flags to fanfare. They got bulldozed in to ditches. US forces were losing around ~15k dead avg in every major battle fought from Normandy to Berlin. You think seeing this carnage people have the same sentiments as you? Look at what vietnam vets were saying of their efforts to reintegrate after the war. Put that against the 16M Americans that served in WW2 nearly half of which saw action. 68years looking at a photo that the old man could have seen two ways, a person or a thing he killed. He had his reasons. You then compare vets to mass murderers? Macabre, but there is a point to reality. Some felt this and no doubt took trophies for cynical reasons. Others just didn't regardless of how high your horse is. These things are not a surprise for those who saw parents traumatised by that war or grandchildren like me who heard first hand their experiences. You ever speak to someone directly about experiences of that war? Where my granddad fought, they saw their enemies fling babies in the air and catch them with bayonets amongst other horrors. You think people who saw these measure things the same as you? As I was told, you killed so much you forget you're killing people. This is why I well understand that not all personal trophies taken were cynical. It's not justification, just the way it went. Not one person amongst his family and friends who ever saw his momentos over the years reacted like you. 3 generations had to pass...

@eazy-e9893 5 жыл бұрын

Idle Onlooker you can not claim that you know why he took this pictures, yes it is illogical to take somebody else’s pictures for your own mental peace, but what if it was so indeed? Feelings are almost always illogical. You can interpret many emotions and feelings into an object, some kids have feelings for teddybears, some men have emotions for their cars. All of this is irrational and still it is there. But most importantly, he had no obligation to return this stuff to the family. Maybe he wanted to return it but he didn’t wanted to spend time and money to investigate and find out who his family was... You can not claim to know the reason why he took it, or why he didn’t return it. If he was really evil and had no intention to return this stuff, why would he return it now?

@idleonlooker1078 5 жыл бұрын

@@eazy-e9893 1) There is no military value in wedding photos, so if the guy didn't take them for military purposes, then we are left with that he took them to satisfy his own personal vanity. 2) Feelings may be illogical, but they follow a logical sequence: boy meets girl, fall in love, marry, have kids, boy protects wife/family, then dies of old age. But they do not generally follow: 'Yahoo! I just killed that guy! Let's loot his body and take some personal shit so I can always remember him as my 'war trophy/victim' because I killed him!! 3) He may have had no obligation to return his trophy items, but there again he had no obligation to loot personal, sentimental items in the first place. There are regulations in the Geneva Convention that specifically guard against looting personal/family items (ie: of no military value) from a soldier. 4) The old chestnut of not wanting to spend time and money!! LMAO!! How much does it cost to write down the details - or photocopy the photos - and post them off to the International Red Cross? Really, how much? This vet in 68yrs couldn't scape up $50 to send off a package to the IRC? Come on! Get real!! One of the IRCs roles is to assist in locating missing person's and their relatives!! Furthermore, countries like the US spend millions searching for their lost soldiers. Why? To bring them home, to honour them and give the families closure. IMHO this should also extend to the return of looted family photos and other personal items back to those families as well. After all, by rights, don't the items looted still belong to the dead soldier and his family? (Conjecture this: Would you like some terrorist taking as his "war trophy" - to forever gloat over - some sentimental, personal, family items looted off your dead son, husband, brother, father or relative that he'd just killed? I think not!) 5) "Why is he returning it now": because some young French guy compelled from his innate humanity to do what's right, got off his ass, made some enquiries and found the family! Something that the vet couldn't be assed doing in 68yrs! (But I bet the vet's family know ALLLLL about the photos and the story how he killed that soldier!) And, really, it wasn't such a hard project afterall - as proven by the Frenchman successfully locating the German soldier's family. War involves soldiers being killed: and that's the chance every soldier takes when in military service. BUT, it was guilt and remorse alone - for looting and denying that German soldier's family from having his wedding and family photos (for 68yrs!) - that compelled their return, nothing more. In conclusion, I have no issue with taking "war trophies" that are military items - as every country have military museums which are stuffed with such trophies taken by their military forces, which is generally acceptable by society. BUT personal, non-military, family items, surely, and in all decency - even if only out of respect for a soldier who died in the service of his country - MUST never be looted: and if so in that immediate euphoria following "the heat of battle" - then be returned as soon as possible back to that soldier's family.

@caprisunpouch306 4 жыл бұрын

I went to Germany to visit an ex girlfriend, while out a WW2 German veteran heard their was an American in their small town. He came out to meet me and have a photo taken. We hugged and shook hands. He asked about my grand parents and their role in the war. One fought in the pacific the other in Europe as a glider pilot in Normandy. I only knew the one who served in the Pacific. He pulled me in close and said it was so great to be friends after all these years. I wispered in his ear "We were never enemies only separated by the will and ignorance of those in control." I felt gravity like I never felt. I believe it brought him a little peace. Love your friends all over the world.

@thegarz1963 4 жыл бұрын

CapriSun Pouch beautiful story. Thanks for sharing

@caprisunpouch306 4 жыл бұрын

@mista dont play You are loved. don't let the propaganda media pimps and race baiting and gifting celebs and black political leaders tell you differently. Got nothing but love for you as do most.

@postreroleumell.5082 4 жыл бұрын

True I always emphasize this that a soldier who fights do not hate the enemy infront of them but loves whom he left behind

@RasPutintheGreat 4 жыл бұрын

Nice

@gwendolynjeane 4 жыл бұрын

mista dont play You would lose a fight to a chicken.

@TheUnplugged1 4 жыл бұрын

Man them Germans was some hard boys ...imagine being the last man left knowing full well you don’t intend to surrender...powerful

@ginnyjollykidd 4 жыл бұрын

My little sister was a veteran having served in the Army National Guard. In her basic training, having gained sharpshooter status, she couldn't run fast (like all us sisters) because she had short legs. She apologized to the colonel there who said, "That's all right, Soldier, I'd rather have someone fighting beside me." What a guy! He knew what it was like being a soldier and appreciated all their efforts and talents! I'd want him to be my Colonel. Then again, had I been in the service, I'd be proud to have my sister be my Drill Sergeant and/or my Master Sergeant.

@ginnyjollykidd 4 жыл бұрын

@Nicolas d'Avout Troll

@JesusIsTheWay59 3 жыл бұрын

USA was harder. They stormed France's beaches. This video was just about 1 German soldier.

@Solisium-Channel 3 жыл бұрын

They were high on meth

@aapddd 3 жыл бұрын

@Nicolas d'Avout baloney

@jeep146 6 жыл бұрын

These veterans fought in combat, people who have never fought have no right judging these men.

@albatraoz1257 6 жыл бұрын

Bestoink Dooley libtard

@christophermills7693 6 жыл бұрын

unless you were there or in battle yourself, you have no to real right to judge. if you do you judge, yourself will be judged in kind. In war, soldiers loot the dead. they take any money, weapons, ammo etc. is it right? who is to say. weapons and ammo and other supplies are one thing. personal property like the images are in a grey state. If he didnt take them, would the pictures have made their way back along with the body of the fallen? I doubt it. Say what you want, but you aint no saint either. ( god knows I'm not)

@mwnciboo 6 жыл бұрын

Samuel Boas really? they would have rotted if he'd left them on the corpse. This way they have survived.

@erickandrewp 6 жыл бұрын

Samuel Boas, what a damn shame on you for not even making sense.

@shadowcat0201 6 жыл бұрын

Listen to Black Sabbath War Pigs, and you will know who to blame for every war.

@viescotty3577 5 жыл бұрын

I used to clean senior apartments. One veteran client of mine talked rarely bout his service. But he once told me part of his duty was collecting personal belongings and trying to return them to family on both sides of war. He had a watch of a soldier whom he tried for many years to find family for return. Unable to do so army told him to keep it upon discharge. He told me this holding watch, crying, and praying for family he never could find.

@mclarendrive 5 жыл бұрын

leterbuck2001 thats not funny 🤨

@hisexcellencypresidentofre4118 5 жыл бұрын

@leterbuck2001 you suck!

@idleonlooker1078 5 жыл бұрын

@leterbuck2001 If your Dad could've killed a few more he could had his own lawn bowls tournament in his back yard.

@rsuriyop 4 жыл бұрын

That man's heart was in the right place. I'd wish that more veterans (WWII, Korea, Vietnam, or whatever) would also find it in their hearts to do the right thing and return such items to the families of the fallen with whom these items would mean a whole lot more to.

@michaelgaynor6866 4 жыл бұрын

@leterbuck2001 ,No humor here!!!!! From a son of a Korean War Veteran. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

@cavalryscout8720 4 жыл бұрын

In Iraq I had a similar experience after destroying an Iraqi tank.. I went through the belongings of the only tank crew member who hadn't been completely mangled or burned.. he was obviously the tank commander whose turret hatch had been open and had been blown out of the hatch like a cork from a bottle. His body was in perfect condition with no wounds or even a singed hair. He had been killed by the concussion of the blast. Anyway.. in his wallet were pictures of him with his wife and family.. I didn't keep any of his personal items however.. I returned them to his pocket.. This experience is one that stands out in my memories of Operation Desert Storm. I relive it often as if it had happened yesterday. All I could think of when I saw the photo of his wife was that I knew that her hopes of him returning home to her would never happen. . I know that given the chance he would have killed me so I can't let guilt tear me apart, but the memory still haunts me..

@pandahsykes602 4 жыл бұрын

Cavalry Scout Thats fucked bro , thanks for your service 🙏

@dannybeeh6332 4 жыл бұрын

Cavalry Scout Such an amazing story. Thanks for sharing.

@juicyasheru 4 жыл бұрын

I can’t imagine what that must feel like. Thank you for your service.

@cavalryscout8720 4 жыл бұрын

@@juicyasheru we all have coping mechanisms. . Thank you

@leonbosco4107 4 жыл бұрын

@Cavalry Scout If only those fanatic fools didn’t flew planes into buildings, we wouldn’t have to send you there and you would not experience such tormenting memory.

@mr.aldini6801 4 жыл бұрын

He thought enough of the German soldier to preserve the man's memories in a photo album. I think that's awesome.

@50sRocKabilly 4 жыл бұрын

But why would you want to own a picture of a man you killed? Thats just sick.

@M9_Lu 4 жыл бұрын

50sRockabilly well, there could be several reasons. No one’s to say, though, as none of us are him. One reason could be that he wanted something to remember a brave soldier by. There is a strange bond between two enemies of a country trying to fight for their causes.(remember the guy killed wasn’t really a nazi for racism but rather conscripted thinking he’s fighting for his country’s freedom from allied oppression.) A second reason could have been that he wanted to remember that he’s still human, so he took the photos to remind himself of what he did. A third reason reason could have been that he was like u said. He could’ve just wanted the photo just because. But, like i said earlier, u no one’s to say why he took the photos.

@darrenyoung001 4 жыл бұрын

Not all German soldiers were Nazis. Unfortunately,war is a terrible waste. An anecdote I know to be true is of a then "Tommy" in the Western Desert/El Alemien, hit by shrapnel. Lying in the bottom of a shell hole a German Afrika Corp soldier found him. The British soldier was in agony,badly wounded and he begged the German to shoot him... "Nein kameraden". The German soldier patched him up best he could and left his water bottle...bearing in mind it's in the desert!!! This was an older work colleague of my dad and obviously "Tommy" survived the war to recount this.

@zx6r502 4 жыл бұрын

Natural Slasher well said

@TheBalls55 4 жыл бұрын

It was like a trophy.

@g.ramirez7250 4 жыл бұрын

Looks like the soldier died covering his platoon !! A hero himself !!

@frankieelder3210 3 жыл бұрын

He was told to hold that position as long as he could no matter what the cost to himself. He died following orders so that his fellow soldiers could live another day. What a soldier, what a man.

@JV-bj4kx 3 жыл бұрын

1:19 For someone he is enemy For someone he is Hero For someone he is loved one

@Frank_Nemo Жыл бұрын

For someone else he is just a body to be looted when he's dead.

@jimfinigan1681 4 жыл бұрын

Soldiers on both sides collected battlefield souvenirs. Then, when they got older, they feel remorse and want to return the items. I knew a WWII veteran who brought home a samurai sword that he took from a dead Japanese officer. It hung in his den for decades, then about 10 years ago he decided to return it to the family. He had read that those swords have significant heritage value to the families of those who carried them. Well, he did his research and, with a little help, managed to find the family. He flew to Japan and met with them, and gave the sword back. They were so overwhelmed with this that they formed a relationship with him. They asked him to let them show their appreciation, but he politely declined. Anyway, it happened that my friend collected miniatures. One day, a truck came to his house and dropped off a conex container. When he opened it, it was full of collectable miniatures, sent by the family.

@CrocodileTear 3 жыл бұрын

What was the name of the US veteran you mention?

@randomcommenter5266 3 жыл бұрын

@rambull Jr it was so he could return it in the future.

@randomcommenter5266 3 жыл бұрын

@rambull Jr Pictures can't walk and if the veteran never got them, it would have been lost forever.

@TheRetirednavy92 3 жыл бұрын

My dad was at the Canal, after what the Japanese did to our guys, he never took another prisoner, just killed them and took a tooth for a souvenir. He had about 200 teeth when I opened his safe after he died.

@scoobydoo2587 3 жыл бұрын

@@randomcommenter5266 If he had really taken it to return it, then why did he wait almost 70 years to do so? And even now he only returned it because a French researcher contacted him

@colonelcrossfire8268 5 жыл бұрын

It was likely that those pictures would have been lost to history if this man didn't take them.

@jamesfletcher9268 4 жыл бұрын

They should have been buried with him. There was no military intelligence need to take them other than as a trophy of the man you killed. His wedding photo? He put them in his family photo album...that's some dark shit right there. Having to kill him wasn't where this dude went off...it was taking those pictures as a souvenir. Had it not been for the French researcher contacting him...I'm guessing those pics would still be in his family album. There are no hero's in war....just survivors.

@damanithegoat9653 4 жыл бұрын

James Fletcher Desmond doss is a hero in war. So there are hero’s in war dude

@MrPr1nglz 4 жыл бұрын

@@jamesfletcher9268 Honestly, I just see as a man trying to honor a fellow soldier by keeping his memory alive. He may very well have intended to return it to the family but for whatever reason, decided not to. Perhaps a pang of guilt? Anyway, it's not anyone's place to judge what actually happened. The point of fact is that the family was able to be reunited with the possessions of a loved one

@jamesfletcher9268 4 жыл бұрын

@@MrPr1nglz You are entitled to your opinion...perhaps you are correct...but I would think he would have put them somewhere safe for that day of return. Yet this man put them in his FAMILY ALBUM for 70 years. I had 2 uncles, both gone now, that landed on Juno Beach on D-Day. Both fought all across Europe. Made it to the end. Neither of them would talk about it. They were haunted by the men's faces that they killed. I never saw their medals or uniform, pictures of them overseas...until they were dead. So I find this disgusting really, and I know if my uncle's were still here...they would be too. Peace.

@MrPr1nglz 4 жыл бұрын

@@jamesfletcher9268 I think you failed to actually understand that I never actually took sides one way or another. Everyone has their own way of dealing with trauma and while we can sit here and speculate on the reasons why he chose to do what he did, the fact remains that we have no ability to actually read his mind. It could have been a sick memory of him but it could also be him honoring his sacrifice in his own way. It's important to see both sides of the fence before jumping to conclusions. For all anyone knows, he probably did try to contact family and failed or just felt like he would be hated for being the man who killed a loved one if he was going to return it. Glass half full people, seriously...

@gargara77 6 жыл бұрын

Most of people angry about veteran. But maybe if he didn't take these photos they will never turn back to his family ?

@southeparkfreak 5 жыл бұрын

Indeed, who else would have returned the photos? The photo return platoon? They would have rotted or buried along with the corpse.

@ryleyw3684 5 жыл бұрын

exactly

@firelord1125 5 жыл бұрын

Exactly. If this guy hadn’t taken them, either another soldier would have (and who knows what he would have done with them) or they would have rotted away, never to be seen again.

@q_q123 4 жыл бұрын

Why should they be angry? A good deed has been done. German or not. It could've either rot into the ground or returned to his family. I don't see why the second option isn't the better choice

@julieinthenorthwest4594 4 жыл бұрын

OK Folks, When we search the enemy, we're looking for intel (maps, encryption codes, radio frequencies, unit insignia, etc.) be they dead or alive. We take everything off them and bag the items. Then it's sent to the rear (to the MPs first then on to the MI (Military Intelligence) folks). Once all items have been examined then 2 things occur, they are returned to the POW or archived. Back in WWII, numerous items were taken as war souvenirs (heck my dad brought back a Walther P38) but things change. During my time (Mar 1977- Dec 1996) everything leaving theater (the area of operations) was checked extensively for war souvenirs and these photos would have been taken. And then just sat in some archives somewhere. The family is lucky that he did take the photos, otherwise they would be rotting away in the archives, been lost, or destroyed by now. Hope this helps explain a few things for folks.

@3PCTManOrBust 3 жыл бұрын

The “Greatest Generation” were really the last best generation so far. They put up with the Great Depression, WWI, and WWII. Their grit, nuts, and guts and class will never match any other generation after them. They are really inspirational and this video embodies all these qualities. God bless to both soldiers, it’s just to bad one of them had to go. War sucks!

@crxdelsolsir 3 жыл бұрын

Many would have also gone through the Spanish Flu of ww1 where millions died.

@NTNinja 3 жыл бұрын

Thats not a generation but I agree

@3PCTManOrBust 3 жыл бұрын

@@NTNinja en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Generation

@toast2610 3 жыл бұрын

Brokaw wrote that these men and women fought not for fame or recognition, but because it was the "right thing to do." So it seems at least for the American side taking wedding photos of dead German soldiers and keeping them was the right thing to do. No wonder post WWII morality is so messed up.

@joechavez268 3 жыл бұрын

Amén, I feel like I should of ben born at that time but sadly I didn't

@loglad5394 5 жыл бұрын

Comments: stop talking bad about veteran Me: sees no comments talking bad about veteran

@sjn_ 4 жыл бұрын

For real. There are more comments about bad commenters than the bad comments. 🤣

@williamschutz4982 4 жыл бұрын

I'm still looking for one myself.

@Vito_993 4 жыл бұрын

Am still looking for these bad comments lol

@Alvan81 4 жыл бұрын

I noticed the same thing!! Drama/conflict even if phony, gets easy 'Likes'....

@09nob 4 жыл бұрын

@@sjn_ people spoiling to get their keys dirty in a knock down, drag out, balls to the wall keyboard battle.

@bellab2510 5 жыл бұрын

Germans were tough fighters.

@250rtrxjunkie 4 жыл бұрын

Yes they were💥💨💨💨

@diligentone-six2688 4 жыл бұрын

But they were commanded by an Incompetent and a Careless leader.

@rovat6285 4 жыл бұрын

Please note: They were also high on Meth, it’s true.

@rodwilkins1614 4 жыл бұрын

The Nazis had 5 years experience terrorizing Europe. That gives them the upper hand.

@chartreux1532 4 жыл бұрын

@@rovat6285 I'm German and work as Historian since 10 years here in München/Munich. No they were not "high" on Methamphetamines .Just like the US Military wasn't "high" on Amphetamines. Certain US Soldiers/Branches were given Amphetamines in pill-form if they had Missions that needed them to be awake and alert for long periods. The same was true for the German Military and certain Branches who were given low-dose Methamphetamine pills who had to be awake and alert for over 24h. For example Bomber Pilots and also certain Special Forces like f.e. the Brandenburger Fallschirmjäger (Paratroopers) who had Special Missions that needed them to be awake and alert non stop for 20-30 hours. Amphetamines and Methamphetamines both were used in different countries Militaries during WW2. That said, i can't blame Americans and Canadians for thinking "The Germans were high on Meth" and not knowing that their own Military did the same thing with Amphetamines for their Special Missions and of course for long flight Pilots to keep them alert and awake. The US Media especially did a terrible Job reporting about this. Most Media basically went with "Germans were Meth Junkies" and not mentioning that the US Military did the very same thing. This is also something American Historians we work with complained about and were upset about their sensational Media and their sensational "Pop-Historians" being so misleading. As that one American Colleague of mine said: A Headline saying "Both Germans, Americans and others were given Amphetamines if their Job in the Military required them to be awake for over 24h." doesn't sell as well to the American Public as "The Germans were Meth Junkies!!!!!" as Headline. There is a Reason that none of the Books on that Topic that became Bestsellers in the UK, USA etc. were written by actual Historians, but all by Journalists. I can only recommend to everyone who is interested in historical subjects (no matter what): When it comes to historical Topics, always make sure to read Books written by actual Historians and Historical Researchers, and not Books on historical Topics by Journalists. Cheers and stay safe

@temujinkhan6326 3 жыл бұрын

It was touching that the grandson did not hold a grudge. Germany should honor their fallen soldier for fighting until the end. That's loyalty and heroic even though it may sound stupid to somewhere he did not surrender.

@ashdown4441 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah sadly our government is too left and veterans here aren’t really honored that much, and if I say that I respect my ancestors I’m automatically a nazi. It’s honestly sad but that’s just how it is

@temujinkhan6326 3 жыл бұрын

@@ashdown4441 They where fighting from what they believed in. It doesn't matter what someone in other country might think. The most honorable thing a person can do is sacrifice his life for his believe, family and country. I am a asian immigrant in the US and also a US military veteran.

@ashdown4441 3 жыл бұрын

@@temujinkhan6326 thank you for your service!

@Lordcrusader17 3 жыл бұрын

@@temujinkhan6326 ya the annihilation of all races other than them. That kind of makes it tough

@kriegsfuhrer1517 3 жыл бұрын

@@ashdown4441 y’all need to get your German pride back. As an American it’s sad to see such a great strong people go soft. We did the trail of tears over here. All countries have a bad history

@AMLCOrey 3 жыл бұрын

I'm happy he returned the belongings to the family and that he could tell them what had happened. Imagine it the other way around. As a grandchild of a G.I. killed in Europe or the Pacific, you would feel relieved and touched if a German or Japanese veteran would return well-preserved belongings of your relative and could tell you the details of the circumstances of how he died. We may speak different languages and have different customs or traditions, but our hearts beat the same. We are all humans and we all feel alike. We all have the same grief for beloved ones that we lost.

@jayfarias8440 5 жыл бұрын

Apparently we have a ton of WWII experts in the comment section. Lol

@fileroloc 4 жыл бұрын

Dude its just abunch of spoiled keyboard warriors that have also faught in combat but are better then that lmao too many snowflaking in the US we prolly need another wold war to weed them out n reunite agian

@lockedinstreetracing6005 4 жыл бұрын

Yeah I see that lol I give up reading the comments cause there morons

@q_q123 4 жыл бұрын

@@fileroloc Yeah, they fought in keyboard wars.

@The_Truth5 4 жыл бұрын

Jesus Christ

@jeffreyflynn5746 4 жыл бұрын

@DH stop...your trying to hard to be funny. Just quit while your ahead.

@siesaugeneieridontwantalas9200 6 жыл бұрын

All these people talking about how terrible this guy is. He literally was enlisted to fight and kill other humans, thats war, and nowyou're surprised that this guy killed someone and searched his body? This dude is a straight hero AND he gave the photo back lol

@martyreking5487 6 жыл бұрын

Yeah he did but almost 70 years latter , I'm sure his bride is dead by now and never got to see those pictures again...you fucking moron .

@siesaugeneieridontwantalas9200 6 жыл бұрын

martyre king then dont marry a fucking Nazi moron.

@itzthedude971 6 жыл бұрын

martyre king Nice

@itzthedude971 6 жыл бұрын

SieSaugenEier idontwantalastnamewtf He didn't have a fucking choice to become a nazi fucktard. Learn history. And also, stealing an individual property on the battlefield is against the Geneva Law. So yes, get an education fucker.

@siesaugeneieridontwantalas9200 6 жыл бұрын

martyre king you're a fucking moron. People die in war, idk why you dont understand that peoples lives arent important. He died fighting for the 3rd Reich...thankfully, and then he got searched by the people who killed him BECAUSE THAT IS THE NORMAL THING TO DO, why would this guy be a bad person cuz he did the same thing. There are THOUSANDS OF STOLEN PICTURES ON BOTH SIDES. the only difference is THIS GUY GAVE IT BACK. this man is a hero lol. That's it

@Mostrichkugel 2 жыл бұрын

What a beautiful bride she was, such a pretty woman. And think of how short their marriage was. War only causes tragedy, and it was a very kind act by this American veteran to return the photographs to his former enemy's family.

@alanwood5857 4 жыл бұрын

Rieck has 2 interesting badges on his uniform; Infantry assault badge & wound badge from Spain

@eltontv6002 5 жыл бұрын

Waait a second. This German soldier is from Ellwangen. That's where I live. Holy shit

@samrat447 4 жыл бұрын

Track his family down and talk to them.

@Evalein1223 4 жыл бұрын

and extremly close to where I live

@fecking_weirdo 4 жыл бұрын

@A Pacifist Machine Gunner "Hey, your grandfather was a soldier in ww2, let's talk"

@SV1998DX 3 жыл бұрын

Direkt hier im Schwabenland ! Wohne auch in der Nähe.

@Luckyheraclius89 3 жыл бұрын

the American is from Menlo which is my hometown

@IronDragon-2143 5 жыл бұрын

I'm glad to see that he was willing to show such compassion and respect to the family of his former enemy and return something so special to them.

@dr1ver267 4 жыл бұрын

This guy looks great for 92, and seems totally there mentally, that’s amazing

@shaneprescott4060 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you to all these men that fought in WWII, until you see first hand the suffering these men went through after the war one will never understand what gratitude we owe them

@MyEpiphany430 5 жыл бұрын

Most people would've burned the photos of their enemies. He kept them safe for decades! Respect!

@Front-Toward-Enemy 6 жыл бұрын

This comment section is aids. 1. taking personal items off a dead enemy isn't that bad. During this war people were torching each other with flamethrowers, blowing each other apart with artillery and mowing each other down with Machines guns 2. The guy gave them back, so its wrong to call this man "evil" for something he did 68yars ago when he was young. 3. None of you have ever been in war, you people think of yourselves as being perfect people with a strong moral code. Well, don't ever brag about how strong and righteous your Moral code is when you have never had it tested in combat.

@userxx611 6 жыл бұрын

Agreed

@paulcommodore4151 6 жыл бұрын

tommy gun I'm a three tour vet and I agree

@AlessPlayingLikeaPro 6 жыл бұрын

Hahaha, people really like to think they are such good people, don't they? Chances are (about 85%), that you would have been a nazi had you lived in nazi germany.

@Front-Toward-Enemy 6 жыл бұрын

everyone thinks of themselves as being so brave. Your right, most people today would have been a Nazi if they lived in Nazi Germany. Either because of shear ignorance or fear of what the Gestapo would do to their Family if the Nazi Party ever found out that you had opinions they deemed "dangerous" I know of only a few people personally that would risk themselves for what they believed... but I don't know of a single person who would risk the lives of their children. And that's the reason most people today would have been a Nazi. The fear of your family being sent to a Internment Camp and shamed because of your disloyalty to the German people. Even if your family wasn't sent to a camp, the public shaming would have been harsh.

@kurtdanielbelando522 6 жыл бұрын

tommy gun, but if still in der u must still respect it right by the way im not arguing just my comment pls no negative to my opinion

@pedrojuliancereceda8301 3 жыл бұрын

May , all of them, Rest in Peace.

@gourmetslay Жыл бұрын

About ten years ago, I dated a Marine that fought two tours in the Middle East. At 30 years old you could see the weight of his service in his eyes, on his face and the way he absorbed every monotonous moment of his civilian life. He lived in the middle of nowhere, in a log cabin with his dogs and a wood stove. It was obvious he had meticulously planned that life - personally handcrafting his future peace while he survived the Hell of war. Anyways, there was a pile of identification cards and papers that sat right out in the open on his coffee table, and all bearing a passport style photo of each and every enemy he had killed. The gravity of that unremarkable stack of papers and IDs made it impossible for me to casually exist around it, and ultimately him. Even in death, they were still enemies and he didn’t give a damn if he was deserving of the pride he felt when he looked through them. I sensed that he felt as if it was his duty to carry that stack of IDs for the remainder of his time on this Earth - it was his burden to endure and his alone. There was a lot left unsaid between us regarding his service but in the end, all of it was too difficult for me to understand, accept or live with. I’m sorry this became such a long winded comment - I haven’t thought of him much in the last decade but my heart still aches for him. I am thankful of every soldier and every man or woman that ever fought for their country. They don’t all sacrifice with their life. God bless and thank you for your service.

@ericaswensonelliott 5 ай бұрын

What a heartbreaking but beautifully crafted word picture on the invisible wounds of war that often never heal. ❤‍🩹

@eviannafaye5269 6 жыл бұрын

What a moving story. My heart goes out to both men. I sincerely hope, that there will never ever be another world war....

@jasperbenincasa8883 3 жыл бұрын

ikr

@philgeorge1003 2 жыл бұрын

And yet here we are

@carlhicksjr8401 6 жыл бұрын

My respects to Lt. Hensleigh. A lot of guys wouldn't have thought twice about keeping the photos. That it bothered his conscience all these years... and that he did something about it... speaks well of the man.

@Bluediamond2023 4 жыл бұрын

Carl Hicks Jr I think he should have buried the pictures with the soldier and not kept as trophies.

@michaelgaynor6866 4 жыл бұрын

@@Bluediamond2023,I had a friend in Elementary school back in the sixties whose Father had a man's Skull in his bedroom closet. I was freaked!!!! Both the Father and Son died,the Father from a car crash and his son from Aid's. Bad Karma!!!!

@hrlarsen574 2 жыл бұрын

RIP German Hero. Your sacrifice will never be forgotten.

@kimmogensen5390 Жыл бұрын

hello fellow dane?

@macmund 4 жыл бұрын

Salute to you and the other brave soldiers of WW2

@Yesnog05 5 жыл бұрын

This reminds me of a story a ww2 vet shared years ago. After finishing a fight, the army vet saw a dying German soldier and he saw him slowly pulling out pictures from his coat pocket. The German soldier then spoke to him saying "mein familie/my family". And that moment haunted him to this day. I'll never forget that story

@docholiday1806 4 жыл бұрын

Cristine communists suck. Russia sucks also

@lyricalpanic618 4 жыл бұрын

Cristine yup. My great uncle starved to death after Stalingrad because he could speak Russian and was trying to feed his fellow soldiers, and that’s when the Russians basically cut his rations.

@Taker02 3 жыл бұрын

@@decembrie23 fuck the red army and soviet union, they were always the real enemy.

@Daniel-jm7ts 3 жыл бұрын

@@Taker02 to be fair, the red army was rightfully pissed at the germans after they went on a genocidal rampage over Eastern Europe destroying cities and murdering civilians. The germans weren't any better to soviet pow

@old_account189 3 жыл бұрын

@@Daniel-jm7ts The soviets did exactly that, several times over and over again. So... nothing changed.

@gvenchy2476 5 жыл бұрын

All of these people commenting and literally having no idea what they’re talking about lol. It was war and they didn’t surrender. Didn’t leave them with much of a choice. Don’t understand how you’re going to sit behind your phone and judge someone for a situation you really don’t know much about and are probably never going to be in.

@HomeSkillit 4 жыл бұрын

@unkown user typical triggered grifter. It's time to move out of mommy's house buddy

@Hiroheim 3 жыл бұрын

@unkown user You must be very sad,since you have 60 iq.

@hilkton1798 3 жыл бұрын

@unkown user "Lifer loser lol" I know its a pathetic way to "insult" someone, but there isnt a chance youre over the age of 14. Get off comment sections with this topic.

@hilkton1798 3 жыл бұрын

@unkown user Further more proving my point. Learn how to have a proper argument before you start spouting bullshit over the internet. Also ask your parents to beat you more, its clear you're in dire need of it.

@semsemeini7905 3 жыл бұрын

LOL the others surrendered.

@randysanchez3960 2 жыл бұрын

You are a hero Jean Loup, keep up the great work you do. Amazing.

@svens.3839 3 жыл бұрын

The old German uniforms looked so good 😍

@Utonian21 2 жыл бұрын

Real shootable

@Someone-nt8wz 2 жыл бұрын

Watch the video where this youtuber talks about how the german soldiers dress.

@APersonOnYouTubeX 2 жыл бұрын

Wehrmacht uniforms if am correct were used in great war

@DavidLangeYU91 2 жыл бұрын

@@APersonOnKZfaqX Not really. They were optimized and modernized. The Uniforms of the Kaiserlichen Army/Reichswehr (1914-1918)and the Uniform of the Wehrmacht (1936-1945) look prettey similiar but they have it's difference.

@ABlockBeats 2 жыл бұрын

Most stylish uniforms ever made

@Detroit911 5 жыл бұрын

Not only survived WW2 but made it to 92 years old with his mind still sharp. God Bless

@breakingmad2645 5 жыл бұрын

Isn't it strange to hangout with a stranger who killed your grandfather?

@phausebangphausebang1247 5 жыл бұрын

so then blame Hitler

@alexinthemiddle4170 5 жыл бұрын

It would be if it happened. But they just emailed, not hung out!

@elpibelol5005 5 жыл бұрын

ideas are not killed with any kind of caliber

@alexanderchristopher6237 5 жыл бұрын

@@gillesderais2457 u know Hitler started the war, right? Don't come at me with your tin foil conspiracies

@gillesderais2457 5 жыл бұрын

@@alexanderchristopher6237 so you think federal reserves don't exist ! Little kid .

@davetillette5045 3 жыл бұрын

This is so Incredibly. Thank you.

@SIMSPHERE 4 жыл бұрын

I loosely read through the comments, so I did not see it. No matter what side you are on, I can " he" was a true soldier, and did not give up on the fight. I hope this is recognised. You have to respect, and understand the enemy, if you want to defeat them. You also have to know that every govt, tries to indoctinate you, to fight for them. That man was simply doing his job as told. Just as our men, were doing. This is what I love about WWII vets, they can speak thier mind about how they felt, in the moment "then", and also have the compassion in stating " if it wasn't for the war, we probably would have been good friends.

@S62bhas 4 жыл бұрын

God Bless the American & the German Soldier's Family

@skyman1848 5 жыл бұрын

In the end we all end up in the dirt.

@michaelgaynor6866 4 жыл бұрын

On Veterans Day, this sixty three year old man sitting here in Philadelphia with tears to my eyes! God Bless our Veterans! November 2019

@jtalbot34 4 жыл бұрын

Michael Gaynor did you serve? My dad was born in 1953 but never served because his number was never called up however his three older brothers did serve in Vietnam only his eldest served in Korea but my grandfather fought in WWII against the Japanese but his brothers fought the Germans. Thank you for serving and if you didn’t serve I still thank you because I’m sure you had family who served. 🙏🏻🇺🇸

@khalidalali186 Жыл бұрын

Wow, great work Jean!

@bebos1262 6 жыл бұрын

At least he had the compassion not to destroy the items.

@ginnyjollykidd 4 жыл бұрын

That would never be on a soldier's mind.

@ecomike494 6 жыл бұрын

I am from Germany and i live in Ellwangen who also this guy lived👍🏻

@Louisianan_SwampMonster 3 жыл бұрын

You could see on the German soldier’s ribbon on his chest was a eastern front service medal, this means this man had survived the eastern front. Just a Amal fact I wanted to share.

@blitzkrieg9408 2 жыл бұрын

Nope, that’s an iron cross 2nd class ribbon

@ricoposchel9491 2 жыл бұрын

Sehr gut erkannt!

@robertlohr1860 3 жыл бұрын

Every war is the same in that respect. When I was in Viet Nam, belts with the star in the middle was highly sought after. It’s funny, I could not bring myself to rifle a dead soldiers body for sovenirs, but many of my friend there did. There is some thing degrading disturbing the body for personal gain. Military papers and maps certainly okay, but the taking of billfolds, clothing or other sovenirs for personal reasons to me is greed and I was not trained for that.

@Teacher-lj6in 2 жыл бұрын

Salute kind sir... Respect Warm regards from a military vet from South Africa

@mike-gs4nx 5 жыл бұрын

Reminds me of the story of how the Japanese pilot met one of the soldiers , who was at Pearl harbor Dec 7th 1941 , they shook hands at the Arizona memorial and cried

@davidmarshall1259 4 жыл бұрын

mike eat it all yanks like a good cry. About everything.

@michaelgaynor6866 4 жыл бұрын

@@davidmarshall1259 From Philadelphia, Pa on Veterans Day November 2019,I honor Mr. Joseph John Symbula who Survived the Attack on Pearl Harbor and his wife who was a Neighbor of mine.🙏🙏🙏🙏🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

@jtalbot34 4 жыл бұрын

It is one of my favorite stories!

@thing8357 4 жыл бұрын

DAVID Marshall fuck you asshat. Leave the country you meth head trailer park trash

@christiangregori79 5 жыл бұрын

My grandpa whas luft waffe pilot from Austria

@carolinademetria500 5 жыл бұрын

Christian Gregori my grandfather was Army Air core on B17. He flew many bombing runs over Germany. Ironically his daughter, my mother, became best friends with a German immigrant who turned out to be from one of the towns they bombed.

@thefireswordtfs8011 5 жыл бұрын

@@carolinademetria500 Wow.

@iwto_ampere5821 5 жыл бұрын

mine was an ambulance driver

@oii3211 5 жыл бұрын

Christian Gregori my great grandpa was in the Schutzstaffel

@rogertrooman7918 5 жыл бұрын

My great grandfather served on a B29 in the Pacific. US Army aircorps, 23 whole missions.

@rtstvnsn 4 жыл бұрын

Great video and excellent research on your behalf, Well done, and Thank You for sharing, It was very decent of you to locate the deceased soldiers family to return the photos, Imglad the American soldier was able to make contact with the grandson and communicated with him until his death,

@Splan115 3 жыл бұрын

"I gotta admit, I didn't feel sorry for him". Damn, we have nothing on these ww2 vets, truly the most badass greatest generation that ever lived.

@legoyoda3546 3 жыл бұрын

Well I think that you and I wouldn't feel anything but hate for our enemies either in the midst of the firefight and fighting for your survival, as well as all the propaganda and knowledge of what happened earlier, combine all of that and you have a killing machine.

@search4truth104 3 жыл бұрын

Probably saw some horrific things Germans did, kinda lose your sympathy real fast.

@wolfpaw2715 2 жыл бұрын

@@search4truth104 the German troops didn’t do anything it was the SS who did the war crimes common German troops hated the SS

@grusamericana7100 2 жыл бұрын

@@wolfpaw2715 bull shit. Sure the ss ran camps and the waffen ss committed heinous war crimes but the Wehrmacht did horrible crimes on the eastern front. War is war, everyone commits war crimes, regardless of country. Don’t be a bootlicker

@alexanderqwarfordt2037 2 жыл бұрын

@@wolfpaw2715 Unfortunately, masses of the german army were brainwashed/convinced of being a better breed. The werhmacht were very active in the worst of war crimes all through ww2

@wvcricker5683 5 жыл бұрын

These men are true heroes! My grandfather was in Patton’s Third Army and was severely wounded in the Battle of the Bulge... He finally made it back home minus a lung.. And he has 5 grand babies named after him and two nephews! Thank God we had men like this to fight for our freedoms! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

@Baraka_Obama_ 3 жыл бұрын

Respect

@erickescobar4383 5 жыл бұрын

Hits you in the feels to know that in war every one is human no matter what side there on. Sayin that war is war the purpose is to eliminate the enemy force.

@ndradutta538 3 жыл бұрын

Salute to the brave heart who didn't surrendered 🙏

@nh8444 3 жыл бұрын

Amazing how in such a short time we could forget what war meant and how important veterans are. We do our youth and those who fought a disservice by not teaching them to revere those who fought and especially those who died so we could be comfortable enough to forget their sacrifice. It’s really a terrible disservice.

@dseymour1897 6 жыл бұрын

I’m a modern day veteran my training and humanity, must and will respect a injured or deceased enemy as a non combatant. Take these possessions by all means but return to his family ASAP.

@jameswalker2402 6 жыл бұрын

Wtf non combatant...then why killem

@falconsawcon1978 6 жыл бұрын

d seymour Nah I'd rather disrespect the bodies of Isis terrorists and taliban.

@dacosta0656 6 жыл бұрын

d seymour you were Not a US Marine

@axemanlion3475 6 жыл бұрын

dass wir Humane sind

@axemanlion3475 6 жыл бұрын

dacosta0656 Axemen alion

@roc3771 6 жыл бұрын

The German soldier was covering the retreat of his platoon. WTF people.

@Kai-ow9gi 5 жыл бұрын

Rocco how my Grandfather's cousin died, the irony was that my family we're on opposite sides fighting and my Grandpa found him later on the beaches of Normandy dead from a headshot while he was covering his men in retreat

@user-kn2qk8ly8c 5 жыл бұрын

He was covering the retreat of his platoon... BY SHOOTING AT AMERICAN SOLDIERS. if you see a platoon leave some men behind to shoot you will you just stand there and let them do it you moron? You gotta take that chance to kill as many of them as possible or else they’ll regroup with their company and prepare a counterattack.

@euronymous6998 5 жыл бұрын

The guy who killed him clearly said everyone else had surrendered except for this guy still shooting so no he was not covering retreating troops he just didnt want to surrender

@euronymous6998 5 жыл бұрын

@topherh33 Then you must be watching an entirely different video then me

@kristheobserver 5 жыл бұрын

Probably not as the video indicates the rest of the platoon had surrendered. More than likely he was a German NCO with a Polish contingent. He was trying to motivate them to fight. They were having none of it.

@SpudEater 3 жыл бұрын

My family immigrated to America from Germany in the early 1900s and my great grandfather fought in WW2. I was around 6 years old when he passed away in 2001, kindest man I have ever known and you could never guess that he experienced war. It wasn't until I was older that I heard more about him and his life as an infantryman. Many things were given up during that period and to hear about his experiences and how he was such a kind and loving man through the rest of his life after the war and what he dealt with, I could never complain about any situation before me.

@m3lowiesvlog715 2 жыл бұрын

Never surrender,fight til the last bullet,true hero!

@crashoverride4881 5 жыл бұрын

We all owe so much to so few who are left. They were the Great generation.🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

@billirvin9057 6 жыл бұрын

Like the man said, dead and captured enemy soldiers are stripped of everything they have and checked for any possible intelligence value. Nothing is returned to the captured soldiers until after their captivity is over, if then. I've watched a couple of these videos and the narrator keeps mentioning "forgiveness". I'm a combat vet of the Vietnam war and the things we did, we did to save our own lives and the lives of our comrades - our enemies did the same thing. There is nothing to forgive - there were no atrocities committed - people were doing their jobs, as terrible as it was. Much love and respect to ALL VETERANS, of ALL WARS! We may have been on different sides but we are all brothers & sisters!

@stevek8829 4 жыл бұрын

In Vietnam no infantry prisoners survived on either side. They were routinely tortured. Marines took more casualties than during WWII.

@spiderreed350 2 жыл бұрын

This is a fantastic, touching story. If only he'd have given up he could have reunited with his family after the war but during training it's drilled into there head's to never surrender, fight until the last man,and the last bullet.he was a brave soldier.

@paulcommodore4151 6 жыл бұрын

"we fought the wrong enemy" general George Patton

@paulcommodore4151 6 жыл бұрын

Parma zyxwvu yes he did. Do your research. I'm not giving lazy asses links

@jervill1 6 жыл бұрын

You must be a Right-wing racist as well to quote any of Patton's musings post war. His motivations for his statements are apparent on a quote like this: 'The difficulty in understanding the Russian is that we do not take cognisance of the fact that he is not a European, but an Asiatic, and therefore thinks deviously.' We didn't fight the wrong enemy. We had and have more than one at any one time.

@jervill1 6 жыл бұрын

Tyler Assady read again what I wrote numbnut. You don't even make sense. Of course he said it before he died, dead people don't talk. Fucking loon.

@jervill1 6 жыл бұрын

Paul Commodore he was killed by the government to hide the real aid and collusion of the Western allies that created a Russia in 1945 more powerful than the one Hitler invaded half a decade earlier.

@jervill1 6 жыл бұрын

Tyler Assady it's one of his more infamous diary entries. Part of the collection in the LoC. Don't get me wrong, he was one of America's greatest generals and of his time. Doesn't change who he was.

@Gdawg53609 5 жыл бұрын

People Need to remember that WW2 vets grew up during The Great Depression if you don't know how bad it was I suggest you look it up.

@practicalintuition4030 4 жыл бұрын

How is your comment relevant to anything?

@Stewart-hb5sl 3 жыл бұрын

@@practicalintuition4030 lmao, ur comment is even more irrelevant. Shut up kid

@kazarofchult8086 2 жыл бұрын

The man and his wife look so happy in those pictures I’m glad they were able to get them back to the family to show a good time in their lives before he was lost to them

@user-lb9ei2kc6s 6 ай бұрын

I am watching this from Sri Lanka, - - My father was a soldier for Royal Army during the WWII, through out his life he suffered the horrible memories of war. Once he told "dead soldiers have no memories of war, they only have experience of the death by a bullet, soldiers who are alive, have to carry out the horrible memories of the war through out their life!

@ryansabaterrr8952 5 жыл бұрын

Some stupid judge the soldiers like they already experience world war

@ryansabaterrr8952 5 жыл бұрын

Oh yah sorry for that

@Cavelson 4 жыл бұрын

Ryan! James Francis Ryan!

@mikes06roadking 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your service!!! May you RIP Lt. Howard Hensleigh.

@bigboys108 4 жыл бұрын

They may be enemies But you still Treat them with respect

@extremerc9533 3 жыл бұрын

My father told me of a VC that had been killed in combat. He wouldn't answer if he killed him or not but he said there was pictures of him and his family, he placed them back in his pocket and let them be. Still to this day he says I fought the enemy not the person....

@daBEAGLE1017 3 жыл бұрын

Imagine having to take someones life and living with that feeling for 68 years while looking at his picture? Poor guy.

@gris186 5 жыл бұрын

Brave man to single handedly try and hold a line on his own. He ended up dying but who knows if that gave his fellow brohters in arms the time they needed to retreat or escape.

@marvinbanzuela6336 5 жыл бұрын

People are people we make mistakes. What matters more is when we correct them. Like this man returning those photos.

@Emanresuadeen 4 жыл бұрын

Right. It was a big mistake to save them and not throw them right in the trash where they belonged.

@lalboimanlun1230 4 жыл бұрын

5:24 this picture and the one following it gives me the chills.

@rsuriyop 4 жыл бұрын

I don't understand how anyone could just hold on to stuff like that, especially for that long, and most especially after killing the guy who originally held on to them. How would that not haunt anyone for the rest of their lives?

@DeclanTrippier419 3 жыл бұрын

In my opinion it's kinda sickening honestly. Kill a man and take his family photos? I can understand a watch, medal, knife, money, etc. But taking their wedding and family photos seems fuked up.

@juliuscaesar1062 3 жыл бұрын

@@DeclanTrippier419 well it could be to preserve them rather than letting it be missing. A watch and all those stuff isn't valuable enough to preserve, and doesn't really hold anything with them

@mandyellis876 3 жыл бұрын

@@juliuscaesar1062 but to ‘preserve’ them for 70 years...I don’t think so! Not a good look!

@chocothebananacat7686 2 жыл бұрын

@@mandyellis876 It could be serving him as a reminder that the other side were humans and had their own families to whom they wanted to return. I suppose once you have something like that in your possession, it would be very difficult to later decide to throw it away. Men will do odd and interesting things when in the throes of a war.

@franklopez557 5 жыл бұрын

RIP German soldiers.

@christophertalmage3392 4 жыл бұрын

@a10warthog61 What is wrong with you? U dead inside.

@ricardomilos990 4 жыл бұрын

a10warthog61 they were forced to fight. If they didn’t they would have been executed

@COPPERSRUN 4 жыл бұрын

@a10warthog61 they fought for their country like any other soldier

@jamessharp7349 3 жыл бұрын

Maverick this is one example many did also many didn’t know of the atrocities being committed and believed in there flag like u did with yours

@hiimryan2388 3 жыл бұрын

@Maverick bitch if you were to fight for america would you surrender because you could?

@laneyspangle4474 5 жыл бұрын

Omg weren’t they both good looking men but I wished he had returned them a lot sooner to the family especially his wife and his family so sad

@jessevarela 3 жыл бұрын

My thoughts exactly.

@needaman66 3 жыл бұрын

Hero up until the moment he stole this guys personal belongings, now hes a creep

@cyrosubod2317 2 жыл бұрын

@@needaman66 pretty common looting a dead soldiers

@ginnyjollykidd 4 жыл бұрын

I'm glad to see these soldiers connected by the pictures. I think that's often what happens: the respect one soldier gives another whether friend or foe. In a way, this man and other soldiers who looted their enemy dead became the stewards of their belongings. And this gentleman and many others strive to bring the belongings back to the families of the soldiers. Were it not for looting, these keepsakes might never have returned to the families of the soldiers.

@wilhelmosmond3865 3 жыл бұрын

War is indeed terrible 💔

@wilhelmosmond3865 3 жыл бұрын

How are you doing Ginny?

@reamsel 3 жыл бұрын

So sad to think of how many millions of men who died in war. 🌹

@salvadorlucero1034 5 жыл бұрын

God WW2 actually scares me even tho I wasn't alive at the time but knowing all of the stuff these Veterans had to do to survive and to return back to their families is just horrifying I pray to all of the Veterans who have fought for our country and that I hope they find a way to forget about the war and live happy for the rest of they're lives

@fressejetzt840 5 жыл бұрын

Thank you sir for returning what was once lost and thank you for keeping those pictures i can't imagine the horror those picture woke up as you looked at them This solider was just 'kanonen Futter ' he stayed behind to make sure his company could escape

@wilhelmosmond3865 3 жыл бұрын

He is a hero😇🙏. War is indeed terrible. How are you doing?

@mikey-fi4cw 3 жыл бұрын

I have seen strangers for the first time, and a deep part of me was familiar with them and so were they with me. Bodies die but souls don't, and sometimes we remember each other on the deepest level of consciousness

@apmarsden 3 жыл бұрын

Both were outstanding men. I salute them both.

@sidequestsammy411 5 жыл бұрын

The people that are mad are the same people who would'nt exist today if the German soilder had killed the American -Butterfly Effect

@doctormcboy5009 3 жыл бұрын

bullshit

@traciebutton1886 5 жыл бұрын

I salute all veterans who have served trying to keep our world free. Thank you. With respect and love because I have never served my country. I am proud to be British I am proud of my heritage. I am making a dream come true by going to uni either this September or next and it's to study history and I want to work in the world war one to world war two era. As someone said there's many stories that have never been told.

@brenocavala 3 жыл бұрын

Beautiful story. Congratz to all involved

@michaelweeks9317 3 жыл бұрын

Now that folks ,is a story. God bless you all. Michael from San Antonio.

@MajesticDemonLord 6 жыл бұрын

We can wax lyrical about the rights and wrongs of taking items from an Enemy soldier you've just killed. But think on this - because of his actions, those items were saved and were able to be passed back to their rightful owner. It's easy for us to be armchair generals or to cite conventions, but it seems that with the passage of time, the right thing was eventually done.

@RaveApe 5 жыл бұрын

That's a really good point, if those pictures were left with the body who knows if they'd of been destroyed or buried with the body and lost forever.

@welderella 4 жыл бұрын

It’s not like he could just do an internet search when he got back home.

@Alvan81 4 жыл бұрын

As the Intelligence Officer it was his job !! I'm glad they included in the interview that he would rather let them surrender and get Information that way.

@mandyellis876 3 жыл бұрын

But ask why it took 70!!! years before it happened!!!

@dirtmover6190 5 жыл бұрын

When you have been in combat, especially after a major fire fight that this soldier had been engaged in , your perspective of right and wrong are different than what they are while you are watching this story, don’t judge him until you lived thru it

@hansvonschlader8227 3 жыл бұрын

That German soldier is a Hero for not giving up.

@blindergehorsam 3 жыл бұрын

No it is stupid, when he Surrender he had a live with his Family, He left his Family behind, thats no Heroism! It is just sad that he make a wrong decision.

@cyrosubod2317 3 жыл бұрын

@@blindergehorsam idiot he didnt surrender he fought til the end and hes a soldier thats the right thing to do he’s doing his job to defend their country against the advancing allies

@blindergehorsam 3 жыл бұрын

@@cyrosubod2317 Your are the Idiot if you not understand what i writte! Fight a battle he never can win and die for nothing!

@cyrosubod2317 3 жыл бұрын

@@blindergehorsam loser!!! Get out of the internet i didnt say he can win theres no chances they can win they’re clearly outnumbered by the enemy i just remebered their bravery and sacrifices they make for their land idiot

@lockedinstreetracing6005 4 жыл бұрын

That's a very noble thing too do I salute you sir thankyou for your service and God bless America

@SS-lg9qi 5 жыл бұрын

This should serve as a deterrent to those who are thirsty for another War.War makes the rich richer and leaves the rest of us with scars which sometimes even time cannot heal.