RUSHVILLE —

The American soldier is the best fighting man in the world. The U.S. military is also the most compassionate and forgiving of any Army the world has ever known. Generally, the GI would go out of his way to allow the enemy to surrender. WWII showed the very best of the American psych. Many young American men were killed or badly maimed but still their comrades had compassion and feeling. Although it was 12 years after WWII that I was stationed in Germany, I heard many stories of how the American soldier had done something nice for this family or community. Of course, I am sure there were times that things got a tad out of hand and things were done that should not have been. For the most part I think these instances were few and far between. So many different families, both German and French, went out of their way to tell us how they were treated by the American GI during and after the war. Even in the Pacific where the fighting (I believe) was much more personal than in Europe, Americans were compassionate. Many Japanese were told and believed that the Americans would do horrible things to the civilian population, but they didn’t. How often do you see a GI holding a youngster in his arms taking them to safety and toward something out of the war? Hershey was a name almost all Germans knew not from advertisement but from American soldiers giving the bars out freely. Even the time I was there the youngsters knew of and wanted a Hershey bar. Chocolate was the one word that was the same in English and German. We were glad to supply what we had and what we purchased to those who asked. Americans fight hard and play hard. And those other nationalities that they come in contact with seem to enjoy their antics. Many of the Germans I was in contact with had stories of Americans who had done something stupid or funny and then laughed as hard as the Germans at what they did. I assure you that we did the same thing when we were there, so I guess I did my best to keep up the American tradition. My unit, Headquarters Battery Division Artillery, adopted an orphanage and supported and helped enlarge it. I was Father Christmas three years in a row and that started me out on a career of some 10 years later on as Santa Claus in Rush County. Many of the youngsters in the orphanage were there because of WWII and, I would guess, Americans. They did not seem to have any bad feelings toward Americans but seemed to like us and our antics. After fighting is over then we seemed to be able to calm down and do the right thing. One thing that was hard to explain was the huge number of hand-lettered signs saying “Kilroy Was Here.” The Germans just did not understand the American sense of humor about that phrase. I do know that there was a rash of “Ami Go Home” graffiti around Wurzburg when I was there. The German Police had a hard time finding out who was doing the deed. Finally the American MP’s found out all of them were done by GI’s themselves. Guess they were venting their desire to go home. At Munich’s Oktober Fest the Germans would not allow the MP’s to bother any of the many Americans who attended the largest beer fest in the world. As long as German or American partiers would control themselves and not cause problems, they were let alone thanks to the German Polizi and people. I really did not meet anyone, other than one time, who had anything bad to say about an American. That one time was during the summer at a soccer match outside a small village. We had been out in the field over three weeks and without a bath. All of us were getting a tad gamey. The Army set up a shower facility on the banks of a local river behind a soccer field. The Germans were deeply engrossed in the game and resented our intrusion on their game. The road to the showers went right behind the field and as soon as we would take them down the Germans would put the barricades on the road right back up. One German gentleman was shouting something in German that I am sure was not something that one could even now use in public. Yes, American soldiers are indeed the best around, not only in fighting but in peace and in public relations after the war is over. Thank a vet for your freedom and thank him or her again for being so compassionate and forgiving.