European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 7, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Photo by Gus Schuettler Curtis Miller any Allied units were gearing knowing the end of the War was at but the 71st inf div was fighting right up to be recalls Robert a former staff sergeant with the 66th we took casualties just a few Days before the official end of the said now with the distribution division of Safe Europe Headquarters in on May 4 we were pushing South into Austria towards our the town of when we came upon the concentration Camp at our first company commander and a jeep Driver approached the not realizing there were still German troops and a guard just shot them the 71st came into the War in Early but logged quite a few Miles before be initially the unit pushed Northeast from Pir Masens through Frankfurt and Hanau toward but it wheeled South at the Fulda Gap and went through Coburg and Bayreuth on the Way to we were supposed to Stop at along the Enns he we blockaded the and soon we saw what was left of a German army group massing on the other we found out later they had fallen Back from Southern Russia with the russian troops right behind the germans told the americans that they wanted to surrender rather than being captured by the so we opened up the Bridges and let them All he the division ended up with a total of prisoners of War in the two months it was in Lang said that although the germans they took prisoner were Downtrodden they still seemed to be a potent fighting we All got the impression that if we had turned against the the germans would have been More than Happy to keep on fighting alongside he the 71st never really linked up with the they massed on their Side of the Enns and we stayed on he we never really got to mingle with Chuck Vinch Ouglas Grogan Felt Lucky when the War we were pretty he it was Over with and we were still you had lost so Many but Grogan marched on and volunteered to go to the War in the three Days before his ship reached new the atomic bomb was dropped on the War ended for him in san where he was who was drafted in january re entered the service and retired in August 1962 and now lives in he was in the 20th army 10th army when word came of the germans it was about in the afternoon on May he the company commander received word on the radio that the germans were going to we were All very he i remember it was snowing and we were Over in Austria on the Way to the Brenner we were wed been stopped for about 30 minutes waiting for a unit to catch up to we didst believe it at a few minutes later it finally soaked in on Grogan said he remembers hats being thrown in the guns thrown on the ground and some drinking going of the memories of War Arent always when he has bad Grogan often thinks of his buddies the ones who we rent so when you think of a he you think of men being buildings being torn apart by artillery and people moving around Chris Estes y the time the War was All Tadeusz Grabowski wanted to do was go after fighting i the polish being captured by the germans and spending the rest of the War As a he knew by the sounds of american and British rifles i mid april 1945 that he would soon be returning to then he Learned he might not live to see his Grabowski and several other polish prisoners of War were being held in farmhouses in the Village of Masel in Northern despite the approaching who spoke was sent to a neighbouring Village to try to Trade red Cross Coffee for we had it better than the German Grabowski we had chocolate and we had candies and Coffee during the second world War in Germany was the most precious but we didst have when i came to the first this lady was speaking Grabowski and she be in my House the High commander of the German forces is they intend to shoot you i told her it was unbelievable but he he returned to the Camp and told his comrades what he had then Grabowski and another senior polish prisoner went to talk to the German he was a major i dont remember his Grabowski he be i will stay with i will stay with you until i can properly turn you Over to the Allied the major kept his a few Days later three americans drove up i a jeep and told the prisoners they were of we were very Happy because you like to Grabowski i have and i am not not but How Many of us have not survived the they came Home and its just a matter of Grabowski has never returned to at that time we never imagined we would stay 40 years he the Hope was there the War was and we were free that we would go Back to Grabowski was in a polish armoured division until it was demobilized in he found work in the civilian labor from which he plans to retire at the end of this his labor service Job included helping to dig american bodies from the Sands at Normandy so they could be returned to the United Grabowski is with the 6930th civilian support Center in Esslinger where about 250 poles Many of whom were equally homeless after the War now Dan Wollam Wollam Tadeusz Grabowski 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