WW2 Vet Recalls Tank Column Destroyed by Germans | Conversations With a Veteran
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- James Feezel of the US Army 12th Armored Division recalls combat in Europe, being shot at and captured by the enemy, and the horrors of discovering the Dachau Concentration Camp.
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Filmed by Christian McLean
Edited by Joshua Scott
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Is there a channel foucous on the other side?Would like to know the perspectives on both side.
Thank you for watching our TH-cam video and for your comment. We appreciate your interest in our mission to preserve the stories of World War II.
We understand your desire to hear more stories from the perspective of the Axis powers, as it provides a comprehensive understanding of the war. Traveling and capturing stories from all over the world is an essential part of our mission, but it requires funding and resources.
To support our efforts and help us capture stories from various perspectives, we encourage you to visit our website at www.memoirsofwwii.com. There, you can explore different ways to contribute and help us expand our project. Your support will enable us to travel, document, and preserve these valuable narratives.
Thank you for your interest and for reaching out to us. We value your support, and together, we can ensure that a diverse range of World War II stories is preserved and shared with future generations.
I have seen one or two videos from this creator from the perspective of a German and a Japanese soldier. I'm almost certain of it. Hopefully you can find what you're looking for
@@MMOchAForPrez Thanks! I'll look up later.
I've read the book WN62 and it's interesting how gentle the so called "Omaha beast" are, not like the Hollywood concept everyone wearing oppsite uniform are evil.
@@MemoirsofWWIIWow! I was pinned top!
@@黃色史萊姆 a lot of the opposite uniform in ww2 were some of the most evil men in history.
His father was a wise man. He knew the horrors of war.
My sons are interested in what I did in Iraq and Afghanistan as an Infantryman. I don't say much other than how much I never want them to have to experience war and how messy and unglamorous it really is. The WW2 guys saw alot, but the Vietnam guys are my heroes. I also relate to them how I didn't have it as bad as they did.
I mean as his father was part of the US navy during WW1. He probably saw limited action but he still knew how horrible it was.
You know what they say "Only the Dead have Seen the End of War."
They don’t make them like that anymore sadly. 18 years old fighting pure evil and for the future of the country. Every war since has been politicians scheming and should have been avoided.
Yup. As soon as he talked about his Dad and counseling him to wait until they called in him, I cried... Within the first two minutes
This guy's 97? Wow he looks amazing and is sharp as a tack!
And now we need pills and drugs. And what will we all have. At 97. I am US military veteran. No pills or shots for me. Be good and true, stay true and good.
Thanks for your kind words. And time listening to this great soldier
The 97 year old ww2 veteran I mean
I am a diabetic so that must mean I am weak,I take pills,I am 60 yrs old and out do any tough guy young or old,yester year or future.Dont talk bs of someone who needs medication,I too would have been as good or better than anyone from that generation, watching the old footage every soldier had a cigarette hanging out of their lips,great shape
He’s functioning better than joe biden 😂😂😂
My neighbor, 99 year old Richard Lawrence. He was a ball gunner in a b52 shot down over Hungary. He spent 18 months in a pow camp and was force marched 500 miles on foot through the winter. Said they ate tree bark and what grass they could find. The greatest honor in my life is counting him among my dearest of friends. There's 60 years between us, but I consider him my best friend. Love these guys.
The B52 didn’t have a ball turret. Maybe he was in a B17 or B24? All my respect to him, what a hero!
Thanks for sharing, if you think he would be interested in being interviewed please fill out a veteran form in our website! www.memoirsofwwii.com/veteran-form
@@charliegreer4507 probably B24
@@charliegreer4507 yeah probably a B-17, B-52 doesn’t have any turrets and it didn’t come into service until 1955
Amen, I've had the honor to meet a few WW1 and WW2 Vet's, listening to their stories and then knowing what all the conditions they wen't through by video's.... it's a damn miracle they're there to tell the tales. This one fella that always came into the store I worked at he fought in WW2 as the Bulge, lost his hearing after firing artillery for something like 4-5 days on end,so that's why he wore 2 hearing aids he told me. He's since went on now, he gave me this red glass bead and said it was "the blood of Christ representation" he was a Catholic, he always had on his Rosary as well. I genuinely enjoyed talking to him and he'd seek me out everytime and give me some Wintergreen Candy, he liked to give candy to dang everyone lol. We are loosing our hero's, these men witnessed a lifetime, witnessed hell of Earth in that lifetime as well as they walked through hell n made it back to boot....God Bless each and every one of those men.
Love what you guys are doing keeping these men encounters alive and documented for many to see and learn
Call every nursing home every hospital etc etc and ask if there are any vets from WWII or Korea who want to be interviewed! I would do the same but I don't have any of the abilities you do sir and I would hate to see these veterans stories get lost to time. This is our one chance to make sure these great heros and their miraculous stories are never forgotten! Thank you so much for EVERYTHING you do and keep these videos coming! I thank you good sir and more importantly grateful future generations will thank you as well!
My uncle is a WW2 vet. He is 93 now. My dad served in the Vietnam War and spent 26 years in the military. I will keep watching this channel as long as they make videos.
@@debrakleid5752 you should have him fill out the form to be on this channel. 👏🏻
@@faylinameir I would need to see if he is interested. He hasn’t been doing all that well. He is 93 years old now.
@@debrakleid5752 How young was he when he served? What did he do?
This was my great grandfather, a great man, a warrior. He passed recently but man did he have stories
Bless him and RIP.💖
May his soul rest in eternal peace. 🙏
Sorry for your loss of a great man
I remember my grandma telling us stories in world war 2. She tell us stories about the Japanese in Bataan Death March here in Philippines. She save a couple of Americans and Filipino soldiers who’s on that march, they hide under women’s long dress 👗 and my grandma saves 6 American and 10 Filipino soldiers. And in her time there was a Japanese soldier confessing with her then he slaps the Japanese soldier and the soldier spits her out then leaves. My grandma tells she’s not afraid to die if I die you die to she says. My grandma is a little bit of a badass luckily the soldier didn’t fuck her up. When I go in our old house she always tell ww2 stories sadly she died in December of 2010 she’s 89 yrs old. She’s a lovely woman I miss my grandma 🥲
Your grandma was a brave woman!! Saving Filipino and American soldiers could have gotten her killed at best, tortured to death at worst. Yes, your grandma was a badass!!! ❤
Your Grandma is a hero! Amazing!
@@Baraka_Obama_ thank you 🙏
my granduncle was 96 when he died he died witrhin a few weeks of interviewing him for my school exams
he was a luftwaffe mechanic and was captured by the russians in the end
before he avoided capture 6 times !
in the end his group was the first germans to be released by the russians
tell me you have that on video
@@RonniE-wl1vt yea and it has been one of the things i am most proud of to this day
ahh met a man from hamburg and he told me the rusia women soilders on east front use too gang rape any german soilder they caught and since he was a Whermact sniper he would shoot them as they were gang rapeing the shocked germen troops.
@@tavish4699 upload the video here on youtube
@@a.a.1245 No i dont think He would have wanted that
I spoke to a WW2 veteran a while ago who lives next to my grandparents. If I recall correctly he was drafted, and was sent to the Pacific as a radioman. He took part in the retaking of the Philippines, and the landings on Okinawa. He didn't talk much of what he did during those actions, but he did talk about how awful the Okinawa landings were, and how some guys would slip in between the landing craft and the ship while boarding and get crushed that way. The radio equipment was very heavy, and he was told to only carry his pistol, but he said to hell with that and got his hands on a Thompson as soon as he could. He was shot 3 times on Okinawa, presumably by a machinegun, and I believe he was sent home after that, earning a few medals for his actions. He's around 99 now, and doing okay. He got sick a few months ago during the pandemic but he's better now. He's usually outside fixing lawnmowers or working on his truck, which is incredible for him to be doing at his age. It was an honor to speak with him, and I'll always remember our time together.
I love what your mission is in preserving these stories for future generations. Thank you all for what you do!
May you tell the next veteran I said thank you for your service please
You guys are doing a great service not only to these great men and women, but also to the rest of the world. So that no one ever forgets.
Propaganda has always led us to believe that we, "The Yankees", beat Hitler. But, I have news for you, Mr. A Bk: The US did not win the war against Germany. The Russians won it. The Allied Army of the US, UK, Canada, Belgium and France (and Poland, and other countries), was able to reach Normandy, thanks to the Soviets destroying the Nazis in Stalingrad, Leningrad and in Kurks, in 1943. It took them 289 days but the Russians won and without the help of nobody… OF NOBODY! Normandy was until June 1944, and Mr. “Hollywood” Patton did NOT manage to set foot on Germany until January 1945, when the Red Army was going over Berlin. General Patton was able to enter Germany only when the Russians were 180 kilometers from the Oder River (LOL). The Allies were defeated at Arnhem (Market Garden Sep. 25-1944), and at The Battle of the Bulge (Jan. 25-1945). General Patton was paralyzed without fuel, while the Red Army was preparing for its last offensive. Look: It took the Allies 8 months to advance only 550 kilometers from Normandy to Arnhem, and from there, start the Withdrawal to the border of France (What?), facing a virtually defeated German Army cuz USSR. Well… The US has been defeated in Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, Lebanon, Somalia and now, in Afghanistan. However, the powerful US Army defeated the tiny island of Grenada, as it faced a fearsome army of 287 Police Officers, since Grenada does NOT have an army. In fact, they were half this number, since the Policemen on the afternoon shift had not yet come to work. What seems incredible is the fact that the US was defeated by Vietnam. What? Did the US lose the war against Nam? OMG! Against a poor country, underdeveloped, malnourished, without Navy, without Air Force, NO Marines, Green Berets, SEALs, Rangers, Delta Force, USMC, Rambos or Chuck Norris. Defeated by a country of peasants without strategic plans, no B-59 Bombers, PT-Boats, Atomic Submarines, without Aircraft Carriers, NO Continental Missiles, nor Tanks, Choppters, Gatlin Machins, AR-15, Flamethrowers, Napalm, Agent Orange... and to top it off, defeated by an army of teenagers who had no shoes… WITHOUT SHOES!!! Army that fought with bamboo sticks!!! Charlie Kicked Our Asses and even invaded our Embassy.
Amen
@@salvadorvizcarra769 Hey pal...BK did NOT SAY that the "The Yankees" beat
Hitler. Please read what he said before you go off on the guy. He is just saying we should honor these men and women who fought in WWII.....geez.... where do you get off denigrating those who fought for their country or flag anyway ? It took more than one country to free Europe of the Nazi regime. As for the rest of all those conflicts and wars you mentioned what makes you the judge and jury and historic expert ? Do you have a lot of hatred for the U.S. ? Sounds like a personal thing that maybe a little therapy might help ? just asking
😂😂😂great Service,the USA had segragation till the late 60s and turned into a shithole nie,my Grandfather said:"look around ,we fought for nothing"
These are incredible documents of the brave.
I wish till my dying breath I would have been born earlier so I could have met my great grandparents and heard the stories of their service in ww2. These men served in Halsey's and Patton's armies respectively. One took pictures of ships that didn't survive the war and if memory serves me right one is the Arizona and the Oregon. The stories are these men worked with their hand's building houses that still stand strong to this day. I thank this channel for doing what I could never do and putting their stories into writing so that history will not be lost one piece at a time.
China is coming soon its gonna be your turn
@@animalmother1982 You wish it'll be China. Russia will beat them first.
@@EstonianShark I dont wish i know lol...
@@EstonianShark Russia will definitely not start a great war... Actually we need then against the chinese not against us lol..
@@animalmother1982 No one knows what Putin is up to. He has a failing country, might as well go down fighting. Why would China jeopardize the position they're in just to invade a country because it is a stain on their nation's pride.
“Quite a day” what a descriptive phrase and the memories it holds. Thank you for continuing to help these men to tell their memories.
Will you ever interview a german soldier again?
That would be so cool and interesting
Once we have enough funding we can travel over seas to capture all sides of wwii. Thanks for watching. Let us know if you have a lead!
I wonder how many veterans of the eastern front, on any side, are still alive
Many on the soviet side died prematurely from alcoholism
@@MemoirsofWWII there is a few germans in the us aswell
its hard to find them but mayby you could ask people if they have a german soldier in their family thats willing to talk about the war
@@tavish4699 I imagine that’s so hard. Many live with a lot of guilt no matter how they’ve progressed in life. I would still love to hear their side
@@najeemartin2496 im from germany myself and over hear its generally thought that that generatioon doesnt like to talk about it which is true for the most part , the only place they used to open up was when they sat in a pup together with their friends /comrades whop had seen the same shit of them
but now , as they slowly fade away into history i realized they are eager to tell their stories but nobody is interested in them
i interviewed my gfreat unlce at the age of 96 years old for my school exams and filmed the whole thing
6 weks later he passed away
i got so close to never doing the besat thing i have done in my life as of yet
we all have to start listening to what our elders say
My great grandp recently died. He served on the uss Curtis av
I'm so happy that there still in this world tell there stories
Hats off to James Feezel for sharing that. As a Geriatric care nurse in the 80's I met a lot of WWII veterans. A few WWI veterans too. They most often change the subject when you ask about their wartime experiences. A veteran British Paratrooper before dying got a few wild complex wartime issue's off his chest once as though I were his priest God rest his soul & that's about all I got. From literal dozens of veterans. They don't care to dwell on it all, they've struggled for decades to put it all behind them.
Thank you for doing this. I don't think I've made it through any of the features with dry eyes. So poignant, so valuable. Such sacrifice and so much horror. I truly believe we owe these folks our freedom.
I love these. I wish they also were able to get Veterans from Germany and Russia.
those guys would also have some wild stories
Hurlach Lager IV, between Landsberg and Kaufering. Was a sub camp in the Dachau system that was used for quarantine cases. Got a uniform from a man in the 12th's 493rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion that was there that day.
It really feels like I’m having a conversation with him
The saddest part of these videos is knowing that not much more than a decade from now, maybe less these men will all be gone. And we’ll be left with what we have, never to learn more.
but it makes it even more amazing they are being documented
One thing that I have found that actually does give us more stories is written testimonies. A number of them are rather obscure and have never made it into the national or international media. Not too long ago, British historian Dr. Mark Felton shed light (albeit briefly) for the first time on 13 American nurses and like a dozen male medics who crashed in Albania and had to walk all the way out of enemy territory with the help of friendly locals. Evidently the incident was classified for years, and then mostly ignored by the press. None of those involved are alive now to my knowledge, but their story and testimonies are preserved, waiting to be told more in depth.
I agree but don't feel too bad. We'll still be uncovering all kinds of surprise docs and details and archival pieces from WW2 over the next 1000 years.
And with the world nowadays, we have to worry how much of this will be used and understood not to make the same mistake again, as it is fading into the past and the new generations do not understand the severity of war anymore and will start a new one…
@@thunderbird1921 Calling Felton a historian is a stretch.
Keeping doing what you guys are doing. One of my biggest failures was not recording my great uncle's stories. Sadly due to family politics, his son moved him to a different assisted living facility, and required that all visitors be screened by him beforehand. Sadly my great uncle passed away a few years later, just as the restrictions for his visitors was finally resolved after a lawsuit.
I've heard about giving those who are starving too many calories or too much food that is high in fat could be deadly to them. Some sort of shock to the system. To be so far gone that overindulging could be fatal is just mind-blowingly sad.
refeeding syndrome
Its also because stomach's shrink when a person starves. If they ate too much then their stomach wouldn't be able to handle it and they would vomit, or worse , their stomach would burst
Thank you for posting these! Think you guys can chat with Clarence Smoyer in PA?
The Germans were pretty good about stopping columns of tanks and trucks. My fathers searchlight battalion was stopped cold at a viaduct, every truck and half track was destroyed. Very few made it out alive. My father freed Buchenwald. He never really wanted to talk about the war, and never had a love for firearms and never endorsed joining the service. He was a great Dad, may he Rest In Peace.
Yeah, war is not the answer unfortunately.
@@amuddymoose I'd say it is not the answer FORTUNATELY!
SALUTE!!!!! FOR YOUR SERVICE WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN!! YOUR SACRIFICE SHALL NOT BE IN VAIN!!!!🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
I hope the veterans see how much it means to us to hear their stories. They truely are inspiring
Thank you Mr. Feezel for your service, your patriotism, your bravery and your sacrifices for our freedom. May God bless you.
Crazy the germans let him go they probably just thought it slow them down if they took them with them
I'm so glad those Germans decided to just leave him and his crew alone as they withdrew and administered first aid to those wounded tank crew. Seems like they ran into a German unit that had the decency to obey the rules of war.
Wow almost as if both sides use propaganda to make the other side more evil then they are 😲
Plenty of German units were just regular soldiers, following orders ...
Americas were not always taking prisoners. Happy that this nice tanker made it out and home to live a full life.
Unlike many Americans? Even if you got taken as a prisoner, you still got anything stolen.
Aka a German unit. Lucky they weren’t on the wrong side of the savage red army.
Thanks for recording these memories so that they are saved. Brave men one and all. Thx
Good to know these stories will live on for others to hear, for many years to come 👍
The things he saw, witnessed, and experienced are not within our comprehension.
What is it to be machine gunned.
He rolled into and witnessed DACHAU.
As driver, he smashes his tank through and over the barbed wire fence of DACHAU to set his eyes upon *stacked* *Human* *bodies*
We cannot comprehend this.
It's impossible.
I go out of my way to thank and talk with any man wearing veteran hats.
These guys were just amazing and I am honored just listening to this
Also everytime you guys see a Vietnam Veteran go and welcome them home. Seriously they were not welcomed home after the war, they will be so happy. I have had three of them tell me with tears in their eyes that they feel so happy to have someone appreciate their servicr.
GOD BLESS
Thank you for bringing us these amazing stories. Grateful for your project and the service members who share such difficult experiences with us.
I love hearing these old ww2 vets, so brave.
It has always been interesting talking to vets for sure, I had 2 uncle's that served in the army during WW2 in which one was on the beaches of Normandy and was shot up by a machine gun nest and survived but suffered greatly from that while the other was a scout and did some amazing things during WW2 and Korea and also was one of the guards during the Nuremberg trials as well, after that uncle told me a few of his memories my dad confirmed that he killed a lot of men during those 2 conflicts.
This is the best TH-cam channel in the world, and I love the new edit!
Glad you like it! Thanks for watching!!
Good story
My grandfather was a tail gunner on a B-24 Liberator. Unfortunately he didn't like to talk about his service so I never got the chance to have an in-depth conversation about it with him.
🤗🤘
my salute you sir! thank you for your service
My beloved 12th Armored Division...
" hitler's henchman " that's a quite a bubble americans live in . i wonder what was his thought when us nuked japan and massacred countless civilians .
Probably thought we should have dropped another one to teach them a lesson.
@@frostedbutts4340I am not surprised. US war criminals were always sick in the head
Theres nothing corageous about fighting to preserve evil.
The nukes are a piss in the ocean compared to the suffering caused by the japanese throughout the war.
Thank you for your service and sacrifices for our Freedom. I pray today's generation of American soldiers and local patriots do not let your services slip away.
Awesome video
Get someone who knows about historical accuracy and replace the thumbnail of a WW1 Imperial German soldier. Absolute disgrace to those you are meant to be paying tribute to.
4:06 maybe he should look at the pilot as one of Hitler’s henchmen, in all likelihood it was a guy as young as he was with a dream of flying, called up for duty. War is terrible. It is generally fought between ordinary people who have no direct responsibility for nor benefit of the conflict they are involved with. As such even at his wise old age, he did not really understand the message of that priest.
Thank you for sharing this.
When they are successful they are the most " brave heroes ever" but when they are getting kicked in the butt... quit crying and overthink your selfish behavior
Another incredible video!
I’m so glad we still have some ww2 soldiers
Keep up the good work
This made my Day two episodes this month
God Bless this man and others who sacrifice their youth to answer the call to serve our country. 🇺🇸
What a man
88 flak cannons were used for years before this in an AT role. Probably wasn't a surprise.
So that veterean is going to tell us that the germans weren´t the monsters, everyone tries to tell us today. they aid the wounded, they are not shooting surrendering troops.
They did on the Eastern front. The Western front was a picknic compared to that.
@@rvdberg92 and why ? Cause they took way too much prisoners, no one could serve, when the own supply lines are attacked by partisans etc. and they did not do that by random, just as it was way too much people they captured.
@@badconker83 and that is an excuse to kill POWS by the millions? The real reason the Germans killed Slavs is because they were seen as Untermensch.
@@rvdberg92
They killed hundreds on the Eastern front because the Soviet’s did nothing but kill as well, commissars got what they got. That’s the way it was, for you to rationalize the Soviets actions from German retribution…is laughable.
@@user-cz8lj8kd7h Hundreds? What about tens of millions? Mostly civilians. The Germans raped and pillaged their way through Belarus, Ukraine and Russia until the Soviets managed to turn the tide of war. You are aware that the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, so where does this German retribution comes from? I see that the US education system is severly lacking.
My Father..John Samuel Kerr (went as "Sam") was in the 12th Armored division in France and Germany. He was in 1st platoon, company C, 119th armored engineer battalion. He was drafted and entered service in September 1942. He was 22yrs old. His initial training was at Camp Campbell KY. He was then assigned to the 12th and trained with them at Camp Barkley TX. He was a buck sergeant when they shipped overseas, was promoted to staff sgt after his platoon sergeant was killed. He later received a battlefield commission to 2nd lt. I'm not sure whether he commanded a different platoon, or his Lt was either promoted and transferred or maybe killed. Dad was wounded twice but returned to his unit before fully healed. At wars end he was sent stateside to a military hospital at camp Atterbury Indiana, where he underwent a number of surgeries on his arm. He was finally granted a 30% permanent disability. He returned to his civilian career as a plumber, married and built his own house In Ann Arbor Mi. and had only lived in it a month when he was recalled to active duty in July of 1950 and sent to Korea (how he was recalled when on the permanent disability list is a long complex story). After Korea he opted to remain in service and retired in 1969 after a tour in Vietnam. I so wish he would have been interviewed like this. He died in 2008 and left me with a head full of stories he either volunteered to tell or which I drug out of him over the years. I have the actual medals that he got as well as ribbons from some he never got the hard medal for. We also have a carbon flimsy of a memo sent to the commander of the 119th from the 43rd tank battalion relating how Dad along with some members of the 92cav recon squadron determined the pattern and clear passage of a German minefield while under fire. They completed the mission and Dad and a 92nd sergeant drug one of their wounded to safety. Dad then volunteered to go back out under fire to determine if a man left out in the minefield was actually dead as believed or still alive as one member of the patrol thought. Dad got to the guy, but unfortunately he was positively dead. To my knowledge, Dad never received an award for this action, though I believe he deserved one. Wonderful to see this fellow comrade of Dad's alive and well....can't be many left...Dad was 87 when he passed in 2008.
We should make politicians fight wars among themselves
Why nearly every american veteran was at the liberation of dachau??? 🤔
Right on Brother James LH&R
MAN, THIS WAS AWESOME. THANKS FOR SHARING.
how skilled do you have to be to pull a head shot with an 88 and how unlucky do you have to be to be the one getting shot
Gotta hand it to the German soldiers for high discipline and morale in shithouse circumstances.
Any chance you will ever do "Memoirs Of The Korean war" ?
It is definitely something we’ve been seriously discussing as a future possibility. But for now we are putting all of our efforts towards veterans of WW2, considering how quickly we are losing them. Thanks for watching
I wonder if they would have fought so hard if they knew how easy all was given away for free.
2 uploads a month?
Yes with this new series “conversations with a veteran” will add more content each month. We will still also release our normal shortfilms. Enjoy and thanks for watching!
This man called the German pilot he missed one of 'Hitlers Henchmen'. Yet, James himself was drafted. He fought a noble fight against hitler but many good german men like him had to be killed in the process. Thank you James for your service. You have carried a burden your entire life. The least we can do is know about it so as not to repeat it.
My uncle was a Marine who served on the USS Hornet.
Before he passed away at 90 in 2013, the local news did an interview with him at his home on his WW2 experience.
My grandad was in the RAF a bright man. By the time the Americans joined the war he'd already won the battle of Britain after having escaped from Dunkirk. He came home 2 weeks after everyone else in a french barge boat with all his equipment and all his men. He then went to Malta which was bombed to hell and then finally to North Africa. I wish he was here to do a TH-cam video because he sounded nothing like this man. He had the highest respect for the Germans and their professional attitude. He even stole a BMW bike and said it was incredible.
I didn't expect to get another video so early but i love it
This is a new series we have started called “Conversations with a Veteran” it’s in addition to our short film series. Some of our interviews can’t be made into a full length shortfilm but we still wanted to share their stories. So these won’t have any narrative or archive footage. We want it to feel like you got to sit down with this veteran and listen to his war time stories. Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!
@@MemoirsofWWII i always enjoy your videos
My god …. It’s all I can say 😕
Some one needs to show these to Putin. May remind him how awful war is.
How funny is it that this guy speaks and functions better than joe biden and he’s 97 years old
He even remembers Events better than our chancellor, and he is 16 years younger than brandon
It is our duty to never forget.
Hearing how he describes being captured and the German-AA-officer-turned-anti-tank, just being like "you're my prisoners", and next morning it reversed, that perfectly describes the chaos of war.
12:47 "We don't belong here, high command doesn't want us here" (paraphrasing,) Sounds like high command had a very good idea about what was going on. Managing reaction and people is what governments do. It doesn't make the USA look great in this situation. In others I know the right things were done .
👍😎👍
My respect for this man is unmathced... but his dry mouth clicking whiles he talking is driving me so crazy that I can barely comprehend his story. Give him some God damn water!!!
A starving person can go into shock if you give them food, it's called "refeeding syndrome". A doctor once told me that shifts in electrolyte levels can cause serious complications, including seizures, heart failure, and comas. In some cases, refeeding syndrome can be fatal. They were aware of this back in those days, it must have been heart-breaking to be told not to give concentration camp prisoners some food.
It is so sad that we are losing the greatest generation that America has ever known. I'm grateful that I had my grandpa his twin brother and my great great grandmother's husband who also served in World War II to look up to.
This was extremely powerful. Thank you guys for doing these videos.
first man through the gates of Dachau! An incredible testimony. Thank you for sharing this veteran's invaluable recollections of the war.
That’s a Hitler globe you have right next to the veteran. A replica from the original German company?
My Dad was a young boy growing up in Germany during the war..they lived not too far from the Sudetenland,,my Opa fought in Africa and Monte Casino before being captured. He speaks broken English but some of the stories he remembers are interesting. Oma and Opa passed away in 2004 and 1978 respectively..
Americans had no business in Europe.
Hitler declared war on the US and not the other way around
Shitler had a pissy fit and declared war on them. He had to be spanked.
Hitler declared war on the US.
My grandpa was also in the 12th armored division.
Horrible things like that girl but the common German soldier I imagine would take a prisoner and give a wounded enemy of first aid when the Japanese would never do such a thing and they're held in higher regard than Nazis ever will be
My stepfather was in a submarine during WW2 he didn't talk about it too much except one time when we went to San Francisco to see a WW2 submarine and I remember about in the middle of the tour he started crying
If I understand correctly, the 12th armored division was linked up with the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion, as well as the 117th Recon. as they liberated Dachau. My late grandfather was a medic with the 117th from Normandy, Battle of the Bulge, crossing the Rhine, and liberating Dachau as told here and right to Hitler's Eagle's nest.
He was one of those medics, possibly the medic as told here. I can't imagine what he saw. His name is Emil Bongiovanni.
Memoirs of WWII had him scheduled for an interview, but largely due to my personal schedule, there was a delay/mix-up. He passed away shortly afterward. I feel terrible about the loss of history.
I can’t believe the Germans just left them and let them go and regroup with there men Germans new they were soldiers just as they we’re probably couldent take them with them and had to retreat as soon as possible and dident wanna have to tie them up and take them with them it would slow them down dident wanna kill them all
There's lots of survivors from the concentration camps in their late 70s on up, not everyone is in their 90s from the war
my grandfather was very active on the eastern front fighting the Russian he told he that if he would have had to chance he would have shot Hitler in the face, he saw his men freeze and starve to death , but he was aware how the russians are he told me how they would go thou the field hospital with a flamethrower getting rid of prisoners of war. he said he raised his hands into the sky the first time he saw an American.
Dad was in 23rd Tank Battalion, Co B of the 12th Armored. Did not talk of the war.
Thank you for your service and sacrifice mr james 🫡🫡