Paratrooper kills german soldier and returns wedding photos to his family after 68 years
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- Опубликовано: 30 июн 2024
- On October 2nd 1944, Lt Howard Hensleigh, of the 3rd Battalion of the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment, was involved in two successive ambushes, during which he shot and killed a German non commissioned officer. When he searched the killed German's body, Hensleigh found the soldiers wedding photo, some other photos and a diary. He kept the photos in his photo album untill 2012, when the identity of the killed German was discovered. Hensleigh was then able to send the photos back to Germany 68 years after he had shot their original owner.
Crocodile Tear Productions
The author of this video is always searching for photos and documentation related to the war on the French Riviera (Nice, Cannes, Monaco, Monte Carlo, Grasse, Sospel, etc)
Based on the book "Autopsy of a Battle, the Liberation of the French Riviera". Schiffer publications.
battlefieldarchaeology.blogsp...
researchww2.blogspot.com/
Casualties of the ambush:
-Private Julius J. Richmond, Regimental HQ Company, 517th PIR
-PFC Jack Whitfield, HQ Company, 3rd Battalion, 517th PIR
-Unteroffizier Martin Janostik 6.3.1912, Breslau
-Gefreiter Hans Jantzen 20.9.1924, Siemersdorf
World War II - Peira Cava - 517th PRCT - First Airborne Task Force - Operation Dragoon - 1939 - 1945 - Militaria collection - Intelligence officer - Tête du Pin - Breil sur Roya - Moulinet - Col de Braus - Infanterie Regiment 107 - Infanterie Division 34 - Grenadier Regiment 107 - killed in action - missing in action - forensic - identification of war dead - M1 garand - mg34 - mg42 - Ellwangen an der Jagst - Foto Zirlik - Lieutenant Colonel Paxton 
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Words cannot describe how amazing this video is! Extremely detailed and well done, sir! I have yet to watch anything that really brought the war home to me as this did. It’s heartbreaking to realize the millions of stories out there similar to this because of it. Rest in peace to all soldiers on both sides!
also tragic that this continues to happen everyday. especially again in Europe. :-(
I agree" you'd think we all would have learned something" but I'm not giving up yet" stories like this are educating young people I'm sure of it" so maybe there's hope yet....with abit of luck right?
After watching horrific videos of drones killing soldiers in the Ukraine conflict, I am left wondering who will tell their stories.
Theres a song about a soldier going to fight in the civil war. His father told him, " Be brave , but show mercy when you can". What a line.
When I think of all the hours and hours of RUclips videos I've watched, very little even comes close to the impact of this 21 minutes. Thank you for this amazing and poignant story.
A story that must touch everyones heart. The sadest thing is, that 80 years later is a war again and similar sad storys happen day by day.
Many stories lost... My mother's "first love" was a bombardier, from Australia, and was killed on a raid over Brest...she visited his grave once, but I found another piece of his story in an article about a Lancaster bomber wreck being recovered in about 2010, the very bomber that he was in that day... Little vignettes of lives lived and lost ..
How tragic the deaths on both sides. I can't help remember what Darrell "Shifty" Powers once said:
"We might have had a lot in common. He might've liked to fish, you know, he might've liked to hunt. Of course, they were doing what they were supposed to do, and I was doing what I was supposed to do but under different circumstances, we might have been good friends."
I am so glad you took the time on this superb work. Having details like this brings those dark days to life that we may better understand them. My uncle was a BAR man in the Battle of the Bulge and went through tremendous combat and suffering. He was not the same when he came back from the war and shared very little of what he went through. It was only after his death that a war buddy of his contacted me and shared some of the combat they went through together. I would never have known. Thank you again.
It’s been said that one death is a tragedy, but 10,000 deaths is a statistic. This story is a perfect example of that truth.
I heard about a similar quotation , have to been said once by Stalin : " one death is a tragedy , but one million is but a statistic "
Thank you for this touching story. The fact that Mr.Hensleigh kept Mr. Rieks photos for so long shows that this incident haunted him. He was very fortunate to have contact with the familiy of his former enemy and be able to make peace with them.
Fantastic work! What a sad but at the same time incredible story that really puts the second world war (or any war) into perspective. These were all human beings, they all had there own lives with families back home - with friends, hobbies, hopes and dreams. One should never forget that these regular soldiers were all regular people - for the most part. Again, thank you so much for sharing this beautiful film about your research! Best regards from Norway! 😊
@@ww2historyandreenacting True the were both human being but German speaking human beings in majority considered themselves Ubermensch and commited unspeakable atrocities. Poland, Greece, Serbia were most massacred countries. In Poland alone Germans and its allied managed to kill up to 6 million citizens - this is equal to population of Norway today. So there is no equality between perpetrators and victims or Allied troops killing German troops fighting for evil Third Reich. It was not "normal" country and what most striking is that majority of troops were not members of NSDAP - German National Socialist Party.
Amazing job putting all that together - you've shown war at its most personal level.
I often wonder if there were no war how many friendships could have been friends. No one wins in war, everyone looses
For those who were Jewish I doubt any of them would've lived long enough to make friends with anyone. There's also the problem of Germany and Italy never being able to get rid of their strong arm dictators and building a peaceful democracy. Too bad Russia changed sides and got stuck with a dictatorship like a 3rd world country.
That is the tragedy of war. Soldiers of opposing armies kill each other.
I think as an intelligence officer, he was doing his job, he wasn't looting and had no idea personal photos would be in his pack, he was looking for maps or the movements of the German troops. If he hadn't kept these photos, this incredible story would've been lost. War is stupid, nobody wins. We all have to rise above the hate and show love to our fellow man.
If Sergeant Georg Rieck had tried to rise above the stupidity of war he would have been summarily executed. I wondered why the German NCO was permitting his men to surrender to the enemy and that he had not shot dead some of them to put some fighting spirit into them. Had a commissioned German officer been there, he surely would have emptied his postol into the backs of traitors. According to Nazi principles, soldiers fought to the death and never surrendered. I notice that Sergeant Rieck's headstone is not in the shape of a cross which certainly was the German custom. It must have been changed at some time.
War is human nature. Always has been, always will be.
@@Hunter_Nebid Refusing to take human life is also Human. Always was and always will be even when we have a nuclear war soon.
@@Jean-rg4sp I think you have been propagandized pretty severely, and also have never been in combat. I would be very surprised if a company grade officer, in any army, would kill one of his own men. when you read stories of summary executions, in my studies, it was always an officer of another unit.
and yes, Herr Feldwebel was re-buried. by the French.
War is horrible but sometimes necessary. The horrors the Nazis were committing needed to be stopped. We HAD to win.
What strikes me is how well written Gehart Hofig's letter is. A lost art in this day and age.
Not in most E.U. countries. Their public scholls are far superior to ours.
@@danielebrparish4271 I’m 🇬🇧 & part 🇺🇦 but my American ex showed me just how bad your education system is. He would constantly mix upper & lower case letters, couldn’t do cursive writing at all & he was dumb as a rock. His general knowledge and things I’d teach to 3.5 -11 year olds we completely missing. I teach & 2 of my pet hates are homophones and greengrocers’s disease, random apostrophes where they shouldn’t be 😂Unfortunately he also thought he was far superior and was an expert in everything 🙄
When I tell you this is hands down the best documentary of this topic I may have ever seen on RUclips. Letting the men tell their story while showing videos of how their childhoods looked is incredibly powerful. I can’t wait to see the next one.
There's a movie script here, you got tell a little different story, you can have the German soldier trying to surrender, and in German. " Don't kill me I have a family "" of course American soldier had no idea, and he whent home thinking for 70 years he murdered this German, he came back a bad man a bad dad, until he returned the album to the still living wife, and now he has complete closure, 😊😊, of course there's more to the story, Clint Eastwood would be great, make it a tearjerker, cause you really felt bad for this soldier thinking he murdered a man, and of course he didn't, at the end of the war both sides weren't taken prisoners of War it was really brutal GOD BLESS THESE HEROES, 😇😇😇😇
Such a terrible loss of life , his poor wife. War is senseless.
Thank you Dr. Gassend for sharing this poignant story. Excellent research on your part. I'm glad Lt. Hensleigh was able to communicate w/ the German soldier's grandson and provide the family with the wedding pictures he'd taken from the soldier's body. I found myself wondering if the German soldier's daughter might still be alive and able to enjoy the pictures of her parents. She'd probably be 79-80 years old.
Rieck's son was alive and well at the time I did the research.
Another fascinating story, Jean-Loup. Thanks for working on this for so many years... you brought closure to the families.
Thank you for this excellent report. As a German I can confirm that we do learn a lot about this dark part of German history. The letter that the grandson wrote, assuring the soldier of having no grudge, was great. He has a wonderful attitude. It is important to keep history alive so that it will not be repeated.
It is a good thing that you have learned not to attack other countries but it is sad that you like us swedes and other european people have forgot that we have a duty to defend our countries and are letting our enemies take over.
One of my neighbors Dad was in WWII. He recalled a time when he killed a German soldier and took his helmet. He was surprised and shocked to find a picture of the soldiers girlfriend in it. This made it more personal for him.
How could those German soldiers not expect to be flanked, given they were aware the Americans knew their position? I cant understand how in a group of experienced soldiers, not one thought the Americans might come back but flank around from the woods. Seems like a simple thing to figure out when your life is on the line.
Very good comment. These were their first days in combat against US troops and perhaps they were overconfident and believed their own propaganda, and didnt expect agressive infantry actions, but only overwhelming artillery from the Americans?
We can perhaps take the account of the letter with a grain of salt, but it sounded to me that Reick and the Germans were in the middle of being relieved by another unit and possible re-position right as the second attack occurred.
Extraordinary research. You have rescued for history and posterity an event which otherwise would have been lost forever. I am sure all of the soldiers involved in this small action would be very grateful that you have at last told the story of their tremendous sacrifice for their countries. And the film is a great reminder, as you say, of the foolishness of war when we would otherwise be friends in different circumstances. This is a great lesson to ponder currently.
Sems the German NCO sacrificed himself so the rest could retreat, even the original MG man who was wounded, survived and retreated.
I see what you're saying now.
Wow! As a combat veteran, the response from the grandson gave me cold chills! What a wonderful family and out come! Great work Sir
I suppose family can look back at now because of all that's been written about that era. We can appreciate how different the world could've been if the Allies hadn't won. I also think that Thank God the Allies won so myself and my children could lead free lives.
@@juliaforsyth8332 Yeah, Europe would still be for Europeans.
@@davidb2206 Absolutely correct! 👍
I have been watching your presentations for a couple of years now. Your work is absolutely stunning in research and depth. Simply amazing!
You're a good man with great soul. Thank you for your channel .
This is excellent research. You have salvaged a small but important piece of our human history.
“We’ll never know why he kept on fighting when he knew the war was lost” It sounds like he loved his men, and was trying to get them out alive. That’s why he kept fighting in the ambush surely.
He was a fanatic. Common problem with Germans at the time.
@@rpm12091we don't know that for a fact.
@@rpm12091 So he's a fanatic while the Yanks coming back for revenge weren't?
The letter of the other German sounds as if he coverd the retreat of the wounded, maybe it was indeed his goal to save his comrades.
@@rpm12091 Not every German was fanatic just because he was a German. Some were simply forced into the ranks, as Russian soldiers are today. May mankind some day find a way to bury the Universal Soldier and settle a peace!
Thank you for your tireless research, and for keeping history alive. Invaluable!
A battle narrative equal to the best. As a modern American I find this so full of humanity & sadness. Very well done.
Brilliant channel. Fascinating stories that re thoroughly researched and well-presented.
Powerful.......Thank you so much for this very moving tale.
Well done, 'Crocodile Tear' - amazing work & research
It's wonderful you did this research! It reunited people. A miniature moment of World Peace ❤ ✌️ 🌎
Thanks again Jean-Loup for a wonderful and also sad snapshot of the history of those days. Great work. =)
The German war machine was a very disciplined smooth operating bureaucratic system. When a German soldier was wounded, sick, captured, or killed his parents and spouse would receive a detailed summary report of the events. The bodies of German soldiers were reburied in cemeteries on the Eastern and Western Fronts or transported back to Berlin, unless frontlines became captured territories by the enemies. They were very meticulous about honoring their dead. *This letter is a reflection of that. Remember Herr Feldwebel's friend was just a young soldier himself, and look how detailed and specific this letter is reporting the circumstances of Herr Feldwebel's death to his wife and parents. The soldier that wrote this at the end of the war was very young. My Dad was in the Korean War, but I had many relatives in WW2. One uncle in the Battle of the Bulge. Another Uncle in the Pacific. I've done interviews with WW2 vets. One a D-Day Utah Beach survivor, who died just a few years ago, RIP, Joe Miner. He was 94. He was in Patton's army. A Hitler Youth, (still alive in his 90's), was liberated at age 16 by Montgomery's army.
Usually the CO send a more formal and less detailed letter. it is rarer for a friend to have sent a highly detailed and sincere letter such as here. US families in most cases never received anything more than the official telegram. That is why US families are often clueless about what happened. Richmonds family though he had been killed by a flamethrower while parachuting into France....
Thank you for sharing this story of war and humanity.
Another brief time in history brought back to life as if it happened yesterday! Merci Jean Loup 👏🏻
watching the video of the Lt, it reminds me of all the WW2 vets I conversed with @ the VAMC. That long term care room was a flashback where I heard many stories just like his. RIP Lt.
Fascinating story...very well researched.
This loss in the families creates long-lasting trauma. The last words had been hard to swallow and made my heart feel heavy and weighed down, due to the told story and due to incidents in the wider range of the family and my own experience. Thanks for your interest in history and for showing the results to a broader public audience.
Excellent account of two men who should never have had to face one another as combatants. This helps us appreciate how events experienced during the war remain fresh in soldiers' minds even decades afterward. Thank you for your informative research.
What a fascinating video and thank you so much for all the work you did, and for posting it. My grandfather fought in both world wars and my mother brought me up to hate the Germans but the older I get, I realise what a terrible mistake this was and when one starts to investigate the lives and families of these men one realises that the vast majority were not sadistic Nazis, but were ordinary conscripts with wives and families like us, and really had no choice but to do their duty when called up.
awesome video, so much information, i have a few wartime pictures of dead germans that the americans searched through the dead german, it was common practice in ww2! Fantastic video with research at another level. thanks for posting jean loop
What was common in WWII shocks millennial youtubers. Perhaps such topics should be censored?
Excellent video, that gives the family closure. My mother too never saw her father. A New Zealander, he was a bomber pilot for 51 Sqdrn RAF and was buried in Scotland. She is now 84 and feels his loss even more strongly now than she did when she was a child.
War is hell..war is sad,there is no glamour
Thank you for posting the story. May they rest in peace.
What a heart wrenching story of the effects of war upon families. I've never been moved so much by a historical narrative. Please keep up the good work.
What great research into a sad event for the families of these fallen soldiers. Fantastic work to find the complete story of this long ago action.
An excellent example of why war makes no sense.
I found myself near tears at the end. To all of those who know what such loss is, smile when you can and cry if you have to. S. Stoddard former Co. C 2/75th Ranger Airborne
Great research and shows how devastating the cost of war is on a person-by-person basis for all sides. This gives some closure to both families that will last generations. May the Lord have mercy on all of us.
Fantastic video! You told the story very well, and brought all the facts together nicely. Thank you!
Your research is second to none.. am glad there is someone like you keeping an eye on thinks from then
Excellent work as always, Jean-Loup.
Absolutely incredible. Thank you SO much for your work.
Great video! Merci beaucoup for having the interest and passion for telling the stories of these men, their fate and highlighting stories from a front that might have otherwise been forgotten.
Amazing the amount of research that goes int these vids. Thanks for your efforts.
Fascinating, and a superb video & story once again. Thank you!
I am speechless...I don't know what to post. Thank you!
You have a wonderful way of documenting History and also recounting it!
I echo all the great comments posted about your fantastic research, your ability to bring an event and the soldiers back to life, as well as your presentation style and narration! Just terrific!
Thank you for another fine video and telling a side of history that otherwise nobody would have knowledge of my condolences to the families
That was a riveting story... Thank you for your effort and enlightening us all.
Excellent account of the needless horror of war and devastation of families. My father fought in the Pacific (at 19 yrs. old) and had PTSD for the rest of his life due to kamikazes attacks .
Excellent research as always
Your research is fascinating. I wish I had more info about my grandfathers' stories. I have some info but some I have not been able to find.
This was a beautiful story, very well told. Thank you for bringing it to the world.
Very sad , but a truly heartfelt story - once again , great work and I hope to contact you soon about the SS helmet I have that is in winter white camo , and appears to be a automotive type paint and is named !
You are such a good investigator. Amazing story and well done.
Excellent work in recovering all the information for this touching story.
Another fascinating story. Thanks for reporting your research findings.
Wow, During this videos - What a conflict of emotions, for all parties . . . . . . .
Respect to all those
R.I.P. - Brave they've souls !
Here, we are reminded of the absurdity and futility of war as well as the dedication of war fighters and why they fight. Extremely well researched and told.
First rate research Jean-Loup, honestly your videos are an education and 100% better than any of the 'so called' history channels on mainstream TV. Its very interesting hearing the battle from both sides and how the veterans recollection of the incidents are clouded with time. I've made a note of your book title and I've an upcoming birthday so I'm going to buy it.....hopefully the royalties from my one purchase will enable you to buy a nice bottle of wine 🍷, cheers m8 and keep up the good work 😊😊😊
Thanks. I dont believe the royalties would even allow me to buy a bottle of the cheapest vinegar-wine 😄
A beautifully researched and presented story which was deeply moving; THANK YOU!
You never cease to amaze me with you every last detail. Thanks for this touching story. What a waste of life so close to the end.
Thank you for your amazing tenacity in your research!
What an amazing researcher you are and story that makes history richer.
I just subscribed your channel this morning and I went to check if this channel is still making videos and I see you've uploaded one while I have been watching! I love the WWII German stuff, great work man!
Incredible story, thanks for sharing!
This is an excellent video, really bringing to light the experiences of what it was like to fight during this time. Also excellent is your work to contact the surviving relatives of the German soldier.
Had a priest history instructor in an excellent residential school I spent 6 years at.
His constant refrain after every lesson was "and there is another example of mans inhumanity to man".
Took me a long time to finally realize how very right he was. War is inhumane and all are led into to it repeatively, by the inhumane who are never in the firing line unless they lose their war.
In those days the leaders actually had been in very intense firing lines in previous wars: Hitler, De Gaulle, Churchill, Mussolini...
@@CrocodileTear There goes my theory apparently, except for the fact that none of the leaders got their fingers dirty a second time . . .
@@user-qs7gx7rp7m Htiler and Musolini did not survive WWII, if I am not mistaken De Gaulle was condemned to death by the French governement, etc.
we all appreciate all the work you do to save memories, and tell the stories of otherwise forgotten men and women. I hope it is rewarding for you Jean! these stories are fascinating and i wish these stories were more prominent on social media than stupid 'ghost' stories. the real stories are often more haunting.
In this case Höfig actually does mention a ghost aa well.
Fantastic account of a tragic event that happened so long ago. You expertly placed a very human quality on an otherwise brutal war.
US flag should have been a 48 star flag.
True that. I think I got the German flag correct from the time frame though
Bonjour Jean-Loup, excellente presentation! Lost three uncles in WW II. One (Fernando) was killed (decapitated) when his tank got hit (Battle Monte Cassino, May 1944). Another one (Henri), flight officer-pilot shot down over Northern France on a bombing mission July 1944. The last one, most tragic considering the he "physically" survived the war was a Naval Officer, sunk by the Japane Imperial Navy in Aug 1944, fished out of the water and brought back to mainland Japan (Tokyo suburbs) to be tortured until the Japanese surrender (Sep 1945). He weight less than 100 lbs, could not walk... spent over six months in VA hospitals to recover. He would return to combat in Korea, only to commit suicide at the Korean end of hostilities (1955). My aunt stated that he had never come back from his captivity year in Japan.
I was lucky to serve as Liaison Officer with the Marine Nationale at BAN Nimes-Garons ~1990. Your compatriots and military treated me like a "king"; I was even "pampered" by the members of the local Foreign Legion training base. Local people told me a lot about the WW II Resistance, some of your citizens showed me their scars, pictures, ... "War is Hell".
Thank you for your efforts "setting the record straight", bringing some comfort to families of Veterans. At that time, I helped track down a few American fathers of French children left behind by our GI's for various reasons.
Je vous remercie pour le travail et le reconfort que vous apportez a ces familles. Que Dieu vous benisse (vieille habitude Catholique que j'ai apprise durant la guerre en Iraq/Afghanistan), Ciao, L (Maine, USA).
I cant believe that i just now seen your channel and what a stroke of good luck this was for me" your story is awsum" i luv the fact that you researched both sides of this unfortunate event" Thank you very much and keep up the spectacular work sir 👍
This story brought a tear to my eye. War is such a horrible and senseless thing, yet governments keep creating them. You have done a wonderful thing putting all of the time and work into this to benefit those you don't even know. I believe there will be a special place in heaven for people like you.
Excellent research!
Very good video
I sincerely appreciate your unwavering dedication for the truth and history
You are a hero for such work
I appreciate your research and the pictures being returned to the grandson, but why did the paratrooper take the pictures to begin with?
I didnt ask him. But it was very common in WWII for soldiers to keep photos or ID documents of enemies they had killed.
Dear Jean-Loup, another amazing, well researched and documented part of history. I had mixed emotions. My first thought was about the taking of photographs from a body. I thought that immensely sad and felt sorry those belongings weren't returned to his wife at the time. On the other hand, you have uncovered a story, a series of events of which, without the taking of the photographs and your work we would be unaware. Absolutely fascinating. Your book will, I think make a good addition to my small library.
Keep up the great work.
Thanks Paul. Taking photos was pretty common in WWII. I have a couple more cases that could make potential videos.
@@CrocodileTear If your previous work is anything to go by, they will make great viewing!
Good lord that takes some balls...
Going to the family of a man you killed...
Woah. That's crazy.
You just never know how people will react.
What an interesting vignette from WW2! Thanks for making this video and sharing it.
Wow! Great detective work for an amazing video. Reading about past wars in history it's easy to forget that these were fought by people like you and me who had previous lives with families and a history of their own. You captured that! Well done. My Dad was in 62nd field artillery under Patton.
Hello Jean-Loup, just wanted to let you know I just got your book. Your videos are amazing and looking forward to reading it. Take care
'Crocodile' - surfed on to you a couple of months ago and subscribed.
The more I see of your channel the more I respect your mature approach.
Got lost mixing with WWII ghosts (living & dead) for over 35 years. No money - just excellent company.
Sorry our own spirits have not yet met.
Have much I would share afraid it will be lost when I become a casualty in life myself.
My specialty was WWII 'Home Run' evaders, liberated evaders, 'Also Ran' (best of all), Helpers, Betrayers and the German Security forces employed against them (some very remarkable people, some of whom I like).
Can't claim to be an authority on the subject but would not be afraid the contest the title.
Should 'Evasion' ever be considered as a Playlist category on you channel, I would support it.
Smoke heavly. May not last much longer but have faith that fate & the gods have a sence of humour and some times reward merit.
Amazing history. So sad.