Martin Steglich (left), French (center) and Heinz-Georg Lemm (right.) Just listening to these two veterans of almost six years of combat in World War II was a historical experience all by itself. They knew everything about the infantry regiment, the backbone of the German Army. Both began the war as lieutenants and platoon leaders, and ended the war as Infantry regimental commanders.
I call this my “Senatorial Candidate Photo.” Little kids would appear out of nowhere in the desert, searching for food, although they always appeared well-fed. Olga would send large packages of small boxes of raisins to hand out.
“In his first novel, A Garden of Sand, Earl Thompson wrote of Depression-era Kansas in the 1930s. At one point in the story, he described the inside of a truck-stop, where a young man often fantasizes about doing something bigger with his life than his friends – being a part of something bigger than himself. Above the jukebox in the old café is an Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company print depicting Custer’s Last Stand, at which point Thompson’s story continues, describing the Americana masterpiece:
“It was a great picture with ponies wild-eyed and frothing in the dust of battle, ridden by howling Indians in warpaint, dropping, dragging, dying like flies, all over it. And Custer, his hair like golden flypapers, golden mustachios, great white hat, fringed buckskin jacket, supported dying troopers around his knees, his pearl-handled six-guns blazing, mowing down Indians as if they were wheat. That dusty golden land was of the world and the boy knew. He lived where Indians had walked. Where buffalo grazed. Listen! For the silent step. He could look at the picture for hours. Nuts to Western Union! When he grew up, he was going with the cavalry.””
First Lieutenant Cooke and Captain Thomas French of Company M were two of the best shots in the regiment.
Speed was essential if a soldier’s limb had to be amputated. This type of saw was used for leg and arm amputations. The record time for a mid-thigh amputation was 22 seconds, but that was not without complications. These types of vignettes bring a battlefield visit to life.
The U. S. Ninth Infantry Division had bloody fights at Germeter and Vossenack in October 1944. South of Germeter off Highway 399 is the German Military Cemetery (Ehr. Fdhf.), where Field Marshall Walter Model is buried. Elements of the U. S. Twenty-Eighth Infantry Division attacked from the south side of Vossenack to the Mestrenger Mühle and up the other side to Kommerscheidt in November 1944. Here they ran into the German 116th Panzer Division.
Years of research dug up this document awarding an Iron Cross 1st Class to a panzer commander, who was killed in the Hürtgen at Kommerscheidt. Detailed research showed exactly where this fighting happened, including the individual American tank that destroyed the German vehicle. French has maintained contact with many prominent military antique dealers in Germany, some for over 30 years.
This is actually the Birkenau Camp, also known as Auschwitz II. A visit to this location gives the visitor a very strong feeling of going back in time. The setting is so stark that even an amateur photographer can take stunning photographs.
This is the infamous “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work Brings Freedom) entrance to the original Auschwitz camp.
This photo was shot in mid-May, less than 30 miles from the Little Bighorn Battlefield. A trip to Montana and Wyoming is something you want to ensure is on your “bucket list.”
