In Remembrance. . .
- Thread starter Mr.W.
- Start date
Warrior9(Ret)
Custom
Many moons ago I was part of the group of soldiers from the Berlin Brigade that participated in the “Elbe Day” remembrance ceremony . I was on the Brigade Color Guard. All of us were between 6 to 6’2. The Russian Color Guard weren’t above 5’8. Our soldiers were all Infantrymen
Not sure about the Russians.It was touching to see the Veterans both sides who first met in 1945 o the banks of the Elbe River.
They embraced each other and laughed.
They didn’t care about the “Cold War”. They were friends for life
Recusant
Hellcat
Below are my father-in-law’s journal entries leading up to the end of WWII in Europe. The 90th Infantry Division was en route to Prague when the VE Day ended World War II. I should add that he was 19 years old, and was assigned as a gunner in a machine gun squad.
May 3, 4, & 5, 1945
I got paid for 2 months today. The 11th Panzer Div gave up to us today and we went out to get them. We got the first bunch-2000men. I got some pistols off of them. We rode most of the night and it rained also. It sure was cold and wet. The whole Div had over 5000 men in it. They came in all night and next day. The fields were covered with Germans. They have trucks and tanks lined by the road for 20 miles. It sure is good to see them come In. It means the war is getting closer to the end.
May 5 thru 8, 1945
We moved into a town in Czechoslovakia (Kollinetz). They told us the war was over. It sure was like a dream. We went on a patrol to a town and got lots of wine. It sure was good. I had 8 different kinds. We stayed in Kollinetz and stayed with some people. They sure were swell.
May 9th, 1945
They had a dance last night and I had a swell time. It sure was great and the people were too kind to us. There sure was a lot of pretty girls around. In the afternoon, the people had a parade with 4 flags. Czechoslovakia, English, Russian, and ours. It sure was pretty. It was 9 miles long.
Here are pictures from his photo album that chronical his jounal entries. The hand written captions on the backs tells the story. In the top right picture he's the the young man behind the water cooled Browning.
May 3, 4, & 5, 1945
I got paid for 2 months today. The 11th Panzer Div gave up to us today and we went out to get them. We got the first bunch-2000men. I got some pistols off of them. We rode most of the night and it rained also. It sure was cold and wet. The whole Div had over 5000 men in it. They came in all night and next day. The fields were covered with Germans. They have trucks and tanks lined by the road for 20 miles. It sure is good to see them come In. It means the war is getting closer to the end.
May 5 thru 8, 1945
We moved into a town in Czechoslovakia (Kollinetz). They told us the war was over. It sure was like a dream. We went on a patrol to a town and got lots of wine. It sure was good. I had 8 different kinds. We stayed in Kollinetz and stayed with some people. They sure were swell.
May 9th, 1945
They had a dance last night and I had a swell time. It sure was great and the people were too kind to us. There sure was a lot of pretty girls around. In the afternoon, the people had a parade with 4 flags. Czechoslovakia, English, Russian, and ours. It sure was pretty. It was 9 miles long.
Here are pictures from his photo album that chronical his jounal entries. The hand written captions on the backs tells the story. In the top right picture he's the the young man behind the water cooled Browning.