42nd United States Constabulary Squadron Troop B
My Father - An Eyewitness to History
Written by
Ronald E. Thompson
LA3032-43
August 9,1999
George B. Thompson
131 Cherry Blossom Drive
Churchville, PA 18966-1016
My Father - An Eyewitness to History
131 Cherry Blossom Drive
Churchville, PA 18966-1016
My Father - An Eyewitness to History
For the purpose
of this paper I chose to interview my father, George Bryan
Thompson. My father is the person closest to me that I felt would
provide the most valuable insight into the generation before my
own. More specifically, he would be able to provide me with
insight into his experiences as an American and how they have
helped maintain his perspective on life. The time of his life I
chose to focus on was during his service in World War II. As I
interviewed him, it became obvious to me that his experiences during
his service and military life in World War II, perhaps unlike many
other servicemen, were not necessarily bad ones. They were no
doubt interesting and unique in many ways, but the stereotypical
tragedies and heartache of war were not necessarily ones that my father
endured - at least those are not the stories he returned home
with. In fact, my father considered his experiences in the war
and his life as an American during those years and after, very positive.
George Thompson was born in Philadelphia, PA, was raised during the heart of the Great Depression and was himself the son of a World War I veteran who was employed as a draftsman as part of the Works Progress Administration. My father graduated from High School in 1945 and was drafted into the United States Army at the age of 18, like so many of his peers. He served at Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, PA as Cadre Leader with the rank of Private First Class. He was then infantry trained at Camp Robinson, Arkansas and shipped to Le Harve, France. He was stationed in Germany during the tail end of World War II as Patrol Commander and Supply Sgt. in Bavaria operating outside of Freising, Germany. While stationed in Freising, Germany, my father was part of the 42nd United States Constabulary Squadron, Troop B and guarded the elite Nazi S.S. (Shutzstaffel) Troopers at the Dachau Concentration Camp in 1946. His foremost responsibility as a Patrol Commander was policing the German civilian population as part of the Constabulary. Organized in 1945, the United States Constabulary functioned as a fast, hard-hitting police force providing protection for a disorganized Germany. It controlled displaced persons over which Germans had no authority, patrolled borders and frequently was involved in dramatic raids breaking up black-market and smuggling operations. Known as the "Blitz Polizei", it also served as a mobile strike force giving military protection in the United States Zone of Germany while working closely with the German Police at the start of the Cold War.
While part of the Constabulary, my father was one of the privileged few to be present at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany to witness firsthand, the leaders of the Nazi regime be indicted on four counts of criminal offenses. These offenses included common plan or conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. As these proceedings were not attended by just any military personnel, my father was granted a ticket to the visitor's gallery in the court room by a high ranking U.S. officer and was present for Session 313 and sat in seat 198. He wore a head set while listening to the translated trial of Herman Goering, Rudolph Hess and others of the Nazi regime. Being an 18 year-old at the time, he did not fathom the importance this day would have in world history. Although his presence certainly had no bearing on the event itself, my father's account of the trial was indeed fascinating and proved to substantiate in his own mind, the horror stories of the Nazi regime while providing some legitimacy for the way he was taught to hate the Nazis. According to my father, Rudolph Hess, Hitler's right hand man, was sentenced to life in prison and Herman Goering was sentenced to death by hanging. Goering however, committed suicide by ingesting a cyanide capsule just two weeks after my father had last seen him at the trial. As those not present at the trial can only imagine, the court room scene as my father described it, was incredibly somber, as the defendants pleaded not quilty to all charges.
My father's assignment in Germany with the U.S. Constabulary is what gave him the opportunity to see not only Germany itself, but also the German people themselves in perhaps a more favorable light than how they had been portrayed by Americans back in the States. Much of the feelings American citizens had toward the country of Germany and its civilian population at the time was negatively influenced by Hitler, the Nazis and its military - the rich culture of Germany was overshadowed. According to my father's knowledge of Hitler, he was once very much revered by the German people as their leader, much the way Roosevelt was here in the United States in earlier years. But, as Hitler's regime began to take on the earmarks of a military dictatorship and his aspirations of conquest became morally and humanly criminal, the civilian German population began to disassociate themselves with Hitler. On the domestic front, Hitler even went so far as to get rid of morally sound youth organizations such as the Boy Scouts only to replace it with The Hitler Youth, which focused on shaping the minds of German youths through allegiance to him and Nazism.
My father's interactions and experiences with the German culture and its people during his service, was very much the opposite of the Nazi experience. During his tour of duty in Germany, he became enamored with what he found to be a very culturally rich and inviting Germany. His sentiments of the German culture and its people were reflected by the civilians as they looked favorably towards the U.S. Constabulary in which he served - they were revered as liberators. The informal, but seemingly mutual appeal that developed between him and the German culture provided much of the basis for his positive experience in the war. It was probably then no coincidence upon returning home from the war, he married a girl, as did many GIs, who had a strong German heritage and birthright,
My father told me of the sensitive cultural issues that remained even after the war ended between the German civilian population and Nazism. From my mother's point of view, as the daughter of first generation German immigrants, the few Nazi military mementos my father was able to bring home from the war, including Nazi daggers, were inaccurately representative of what Germany was to my mother. My father discarded this memorabilia for a couple reasons. He not only respected my mother's feelings, but he shared them as well. Also, at the time, my father deemed it best that anything that suggested Nazism was removed from the house in light of what had transpired during the war. There was a concern that items like his could, in later years, be misconstrued as keepsakes of Nazi sympathy. Although to a lessor degree than with Communism, after the war there were concerns about German American citizens and their feelings towards Nazism.
In marked contrast to my father's positive experiences in World War II was his brother's negative ones. As has been said many times, "the experience makes the man"; nothing could be truer when it came to my father's brother and his experiences in the war. The older of my father's two brothers served in World War II and, unlike my father, saw significant battle action, My father's account of his brother's wartime experience was brief, but from the stories that were told, I gathered that Edward Thompson's military experiences in World War II were much different than my father's. Edward Thompson was many times engaged in heavy fighting and took shrapnel in nine places throughout his body during the Battle of Anzio in Italy. Because of this, and my father's lack of significant battle action, a dichotomy seemed to develop between their life experiences during and after the war. Edward Thompson was not able to benefit from the cultural appreciation of Germany that my father was afforded. As a result, after coming home for the war, Edward Thompson has a much different attitude towards life than does my father. My father came home with feelings of patriotism and satisfaction sparked by his fulfillment of his military duties and perhaps some cultural enrichment as well. On the other hand, my uncle, Edward Thompson, came home with injuries and battle scars, both physical and mental, but he also came home with feelings of resentment and with perhaps a bit of a "chip" on his shoulder. Whereas my father felt proud to support the United States government's effort, my uncle felt the government owed him something - owed him a great deal. Indeed they did, but the feelings of patriotism felt by my father were instead feelings of bitterness felt my uncle. Edward Thompson returned to the States hating the Nazis and everything to do with Germany; my father came back with the same feelings towards the Nazis, but also loving the German civilian culture, its antiquities and rich heritage. In a strange turn of events, my father did not re-enlist in the army when his tour of duty was up, although he did join the reserves; yet Edward Thompson did re-enlist and went on to serve in Panama as well.
After interviewing my father, it became plain to me that so much of how the war shaped people's lives depended on the individual's experiences as American's before and during the war, but also to a great extent, their personality as well. In the case of my father, the social aspect of the war experience seemed to shape and define his feelings about the war itself and life after the military. At the young age of 18, my father was asked to serve his country in the patriotic spirit that was so prevalent at the time in the United States. I asked my father during this interview what his thoughts and feelings were upon being drafted and the response I received was admittedly surprising. He told me that he was neither nervous nor apprehensive - feelings I'm sure I would have had. In fact, if anything, he seemed to convey the feelings of an idealistic young man who was anxious to serve his country and embark on a military career as a non-commissioned officer in the armed forces after years of upholding very similar values as a Boy Scout. Values that are all too often missing from the youths of today. For me, it is not suprising at all to believe that these were the very same feelings and values that my father was lucky enough to return home with after the war,
Although my father regrets his decision not to re-enlist in the military, he believes his life after the war turned out just the way he would have wanted. He felt his patriotism, idealism and love for the military become an even greater part of his person as he married, helped to raise a family and enjoyed a successful career in the commercial insurance business. He is still active with many military organizations such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars and is the Historian and Service Officer of the U.S. Army Constabulary Association, Inc., Outpost No. 2. In fact, to this day he marches with VFW Honor Guard in various parades supporting the patriotism that he now sees as lacking in our country. My uncle on the other hand, to my knowledge does not remain close to any of these military affiliations, except perhaps the VA Hospitals to continue receiving deserved life-long benefits as a wounded veteran of war. It is impossible to tell if their experiences were reversed, would their outlook on life as American veterans during and after the war, be reversed as well. The experience does make the man, but in the case of my father, it is evident to me that the man was already made. The war changed the life experiences of the man, but not the man himself.
Many years later, one of the few things that my father does hold animosity or ill will towards regarding the war, it to those who have found ways around serving their country. The draft dodgers of the war will always be a pet peeve of his and a sore point of discussion when we discuss those who protest any war effort or the military itself. My father brought home an innate appreciation for the military, and due to the lack of wartime operations in the years after my brother and I finished high school, he did not see it develop in his two sons. My father seems to have difficulty understanding that, because I did not experience the military and the "life experiences" that accompany it, I cannot truly appreciate it. Hopefully his, "The Greatest Generation", will be the last that will need to experience it on such a grand scale.
George Thompson was born in Philadelphia, PA, was raised during the heart of the Great Depression and was himself the son of a World War I veteran who was employed as a draftsman as part of the Works Progress Administration. My father graduated from High School in 1945 and was drafted into the United States Army at the age of 18, like so many of his peers. He served at Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, PA as Cadre Leader with the rank of Private First Class. He was then infantry trained at Camp Robinson, Arkansas and shipped to Le Harve, France. He was stationed in Germany during the tail end of World War II as Patrol Commander and Supply Sgt. in Bavaria operating outside of Freising, Germany. While stationed in Freising, Germany, my father was part of the 42nd United States Constabulary Squadron, Troop B and guarded the elite Nazi S.S. (Shutzstaffel) Troopers at the Dachau Concentration Camp in 1946. His foremost responsibility as a Patrol Commander was policing the German civilian population as part of the Constabulary. Organized in 1945, the United States Constabulary functioned as a fast, hard-hitting police force providing protection for a disorganized Germany. It controlled displaced persons over which Germans had no authority, patrolled borders and frequently was involved in dramatic raids breaking up black-market and smuggling operations. Known as the "Blitz Polizei", it also served as a mobile strike force giving military protection in the United States Zone of Germany while working closely with the German Police at the start of the Cold War.
While part of the Constabulary, my father was one of the privileged few to be present at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany to witness firsthand, the leaders of the Nazi regime be indicted on four counts of criminal offenses. These offenses included common plan or conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. As these proceedings were not attended by just any military personnel, my father was granted a ticket to the visitor's gallery in the court room by a high ranking U.S. officer and was present for Session 313 and sat in seat 198. He wore a head set while listening to the translated trial of Herman Goering, Rudolph Hess and others of the Nazi regime. Being an 18 year-old at the time, he did not fathom the importance this day would have in world history. Although his presence certainly had no bearing on the event itself, my father's account of the trial was indeed fascinating and proved to substantiate in his own mind, the horror stories of the Nazi regime while providing some legitimacy for the way he was taught to hate the Nazis. According to my father, Rudolph Hess, Hitler's right hand man, was sentenced to life in prison and Herman Goering was sentenced to death by hanging. Goering however, committed suicide by ingesting a cyanide capsule just two weeks after my father had last seen him at the trial. As those not present at the trial can only imagine, the court room scene as my father described it, was incredibly somber, as the defendants pleaded not quilty to all charges.
My father's assignment in Germany with the U.S. Constabulary is what gave him the opportunity to see not only Germany itself, but also the German people themselves in perhaps a more favorable light than how they had been portrayed by Americans back in the States. Much of the feelings American citizens had toward the country of Germany and its civilian population at the time was negatively influenced by Hitler, the Nazis and its military - the rich culture of Germany was overshadowed. According to my father's knowledge of Hitler, he was once very much revered by the German people as their leader, much the way Roosevelt was here in the United States in earlier years. But, as Hitler's regime began to take on the earmarks of a military dictatorship and his aspirations of conquest became morally and humanly criminal, the civilian German population began to disassociate themselves with Hitler. On the domestic front, Hitler even went so far as to get rid of morally sound youth organizations such as the Boy Scouts only to replace it with The Hitler Youth, which focused on shaping the minds of German youths through allegiance to him and Nazism.
My father's interactions and experiences with the German culture and its people during his service, was very much the opposite of the Nazi experience. During his tour of duty in Germany, he became enamored with what he found to be a very culturally rich and inviting Germany. His sentiments of the German culture and its people were reflected by the civilians as they looked favorably towards the U.S. Constabulary in which he served - they were revered as liberators. The informal, but seemingly mutual appeal that developed between him and the German culture provided much of the basis for his positive experience in the war. It was probably then no coincidence upon returning home from the war, he married a girl, as did many GIs, who had a strong German heritage and birthright,
My father told me of the sensitive cultural issues that remained even after the war ended between the German civilian population and Nazism. From my mother's point of view, as the daughter of first generation German immigrants, the few Nazi military mementos my father was able to bring home from the war, including Nazi daggers, were inaccurately representative of what Germany was to my mother. My father discarded this memorabilia for a couple reasons. He not only respected my mother's feelings, but he shared them as well. Also, at the time, my father deemed it best that anything that suggested Nazism was removed from the house in light of what had transpired during the war. There was a concern that items like his could, in later years, be misconstrued as keepsakes of Nazi sympathy. Although to a lessor degree than with Communism, after the war there were concerns about German American citizens and their feelings towards Nazism.
In marked contrast to my father's positive experiences in World War II was his brother's negative ones. As has been said many times, "the experience makes the man"; nothing could be truer when it came to my father's brother and his experiences in the war. The older of my father's two brothers served in World War II and, unlike my father, saw significant battle action, My father's account of his brother's wartime experience was brief, but from the stories that were told, I gathered that Edward Thompson's military experiences in World War II were much different than my father's. Edward Thompson was many times engaged in heavy fighting and took shrapnel in nine places throughout his body during the Battle of Anzio in Italy. Because of this, and my father's lack of significant battle action, a dichotomy seemed to develop between their life experiences during and after the war. Edward Thompson was not able to benefit from the cultural appreciation of Germany that my father was afforded. As a result, after coming home for the war, Edward Thompson has a much different attitude towards life than does my father. My father came home with feelings of patriotism and satisfaction sparked by his fulfillment of his military duties and perhaps some cultural enrichment as well. On the other hand, my uncle, Edward Thompson, came home with injuries and battle scars, both physical and mental, but he also came home with feelings of resentment and with perhaps a bit of a "chip" on his shoulder. Whereas my father felt proud to support the United States government's effort, my uncle felt the government owed him something - owed him a great deal. Indeed they did, but the feelings of patriotism felt by my father were instead feelings of bitterness felt my uncle. Edward Thompson returned to the States hating the Nazis and everything to do with Germany; my father came back with the same feelings towards the Nazis, but also loving the German civilian culture, its antiquities and rich heritage. In a strange turn of events, my father did not re-enlist in the army when his tour of duty was up, although he did join the reserves; yet Edward Thompson did re-enlist and went on to serve in Panama as well.
After interviewing my father, it became plain to me that so much of how the war shaped people's lives depended on the individual's experiences as American's before and during the war, but also to a great extent, their personality as well. In the case of my father, the social aspect of the war experience seemed to shape and define his feelings about the war itself and life after the military. At the young age of 18, my father was asked to serve his country in the patriotic spirit that was so prevalent at the time in the United States. I asked my father during this interview what his thoughts and feelings were upon being drafted and the response I received was admittedly surprising. He told me that he was neither nervous nor apprehensive - feelings I'm sure I would have had. In fact, if anything, he seemed to convey the feelings of an idealistic young man who was anxious to serve his country and embark on a military career as a non-commissioned officer in the armed forces after years of upholding very similar values as a Boy Scout. Values that are all too often missing from the youths of today. For me, it is not suprising at all to believe that these were the very same feelings and values that my father was lucky enough to return home with after the war,
Although my father regrets his decision not to re-enlist in the military, he believes his life after the war turned out just the way he would have wanted. He felt his patriotism, idealism and love for the military become an even greater part of his person as he married, helped to raise a family and enjoyed a successful career in the commercial insurance business. He is still active with many military organizations such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars and is the Historian and Service Officer of the U.S. Army Constabulary Association, Inc., Outpost No. 2. In fact, to this day he marches with VFW Honor Guard in various parades supporting the patriotism that he now sees as lacking in our country. My uncle on the other hand, to my knowledge does not remain close to any of these military affiliations, except perhaps the VA Hospitals to continue receiving deserved life-long benefits as a wounded veteran of war. It is impossible to tell if their experiences were reversed, would their outlook on life as American veterans during and after the war, be reversed as well. The experience does make the man, but in the case of my father, it is evident to me that the man was already made. The war changed the life experiences of the man, but not the man himself.
Many years later, one of the few things that my father does hold animosity or ill will towards regarding the war, it to those who have found ways around serving their country. The draft dodgers of the war will always be a pet peeve of his and a sore point of discussion when we discuss those who protest any war effort or the military itself. My father brought home an innate appreciation for the military, and due to the lack of wartime operations in the years after my brother and I finished high school, he did not see it develop in his two sons. My father seems to have difficulty understanding that, because I did not experience the military and the "life experiences" that accompany it, I cannot truly appreciate it. Hopefully his, "The Greatest Generation", will be the last that will need to experience it on such a grand scale.
References
Brokaw, Tom (1998). The Greatest Generation.
New York: Random Housing, Inc.
Thompson, George Bryan. Interview of the life experiences as an American and as a veteran of World War II.
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Thompson, George Bryan. Interview of the life experiences as an American and as a veteran of World War II.
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