European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 6, 1945, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Yank tie army weekly 1945 people on the Home front Roehling by per Debs Myers yank staff writer anyone opens the door of Ben Rocklin knife a burglar alarm and out from a Back room walks Ben Rocklin what the quiet he Sells Long bladed knives that he Calls Jap stickers to and he Sells less lethal knives to provided he likes he Doest sell anything to people he Doest i am an american 100 he and i take no guff from any unless he is much bigger than i and very Little guff from in the past three Rocklin has sold knives to soldiers and judging from letters he has he estimates these knives have been responsible for killing old Bens he have gone across across deserts and across More than a few at night when in in i say to you you Are such a Ball of fire at killing it is a wonder youre not afraid of he used to make knives for slicing i made Fine he and housewives praised me in Many then the bread companies started Selling bread already when this happened old Bens heart was but old Ben is not a Man to sit and i made Hunting old Ben was getting old Ben knew War was old Ben knows the the japanese Are he bought All the steel Effting cases he could this was the steel that went into his the knives have Blades eight inches Long and Are Sharp on both old Ben tooled for he from bread knives to Jap As shy As i i sometimes say to youve come a Long a he can be trusted no farther than a Man can throw an orangutan by the i fought against the japs when i was a Soldier in the russian Imperial he and even 40 years ago they were Ben Rocklin is 5 feet he weighs 190 he quit telling about his birthdays when he passed that was a few years he employs a Chicago Telephone directory to illustrate How he used to treat the the Chicago Telephone directory numbers is inches thick and weighs 4 pounds 11 bunching his he takes a directory in his stubby hands and twists it into four i used to be a Strong he Ben has a three room shop on the second floor of a building at 746 South Halsted Street near Hull people in the neighbourhood Call him the Village this he does not i never shod a horse in my he i hate i have Ridden Many of them and eaten More than a i never knew a horse that i i am a typical Small when my country was i became a Oneman Arsenal of people were no longer buying bread once upon a Doest remember exactly was a professional wrestler and weight Many years in he wrestled the great Frank when Gotch was world it was a hell of a says i gave it to him who won Ben is i was matchless that a pillar of says who won Ben is asked the crowd cheered me muses i was a hero in who won he grinds a ignoring the then looks Over his he in 7 is on the Wall of the shop Are Bens own rules on How to be Happy at 75 plus mind your own business and do not use bad remarks about certain people that you might be sorry if you have avoid do not go into places where there is suspicion or where there is do not hear behind the door people talk or look in look in All directions when you Cross the Street around the Corner look out keep out of arguments about eat and drink everything you like and dont deny yourself watch out for some of your Best friends who Are your worst Ben is writing the Story of his he thinks he will probably Call it the nine lives and ninety thousand knives of Ben its he i have so much fun Reading it i dont have much time to write one of the great Days of history will he when the Allied armies meet the russian armies in therell be a pig on a he the russian armies have been under rated for a Long All we russians had was Broomsticks in the old and Broomsticks May be Good for Riding but they Are not Good for theres Only one Way to get along with a German or a beat hell out of him and let him know who is the Tough then keep on showing him who is the Tough Roosevelt and Churchill and All Tough its a Good cringes a Little when he remembers his own Days in the czarist it was very he it was not Rich it was very i had a general named he was big As a stable and smelled like he had a great red Mustache about six inches when he roared out his Mustache waggled like a Flag and he roared most of the he was a mean i was a foot but one Day the Cook and before i could get out of the Way and Marovitch grabbed me and made me a he carried a Long whip called a Knout with him All the and he Shook that whip under my nose and told me i better Cook faithfully i promised i would Cook about that time some czarist dog shot a Rabbit and brought it to the the general Cook this Rabbit and Cook it Good or i will skin you and maybe eat with of to i clean the Rabbit and fix a but while my Back is turned the generals dog steals the and when i look around i sit on the ground and put my head in my hands and i old Bens Rabbit is old Bens Goose is and along comes an old and he asks me Why i sorrow and i Tell and he says for me not to be a fool but to kill the regiments cat and Cook it for the so i do with plenty of and pretty soon along comes Marovitch swinging his whip and and he sits Down at his table and i put the plate before he takes a and he looks at me and that is Peerless and he tips me a and some years pass and i come to the United states and become a and i come to Chicago and make and then there is a great worlds fair in Chicago and i go to and at the russian exposition who do i see there but his red Mustache has turned to Gray and he has no but he is still and he sees me and he hugs me and he you once you cooked me a Peerless and i tipped you a and in an american citizen and in in a free country Anco t ook Back at him and i thank you son of a but that was no that was a