The Last Day by bmac62
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
Ever wonder what happens to the members of the losing army on the last day of a war like World War II?
The following is based upon a true story told to me in 1985 by the soldier speaking below.
The Last Day
It is deathly still
We're off the road in among the trees
The grass is green and oh so lush
Our officers have all gone forward
Everything is hush, hush, hush
It seems like only yesterday
It was the 1st of September
Nineteen Thirty Nine
We crossed the Polish border
I read the sign
We were young then
We had stars in our eyes
We had grown up in youth camps
No parents
Just propaganda and big bold lies
Today is the 8th of May
Nineteen Forty Five
Here I am, stretched out in the grass
If I'm free to go, I'll be walking home
We're out of food, ammunition and fuel
Between then and now
We've been through hell and back
We've bounced from west to east
And east to west, wearing out our uniforms of camo and black
If ever I get to tell my story
I can tell about joy and suffering
Pain and glory
But no longer shall I kid myself
The real events were horribly bloody and gory
If a grandson should ever ask
Where were you in the war Grandpa?
I'll say, Poland and France
Rostov-On-Don
Kiev, Kharkov, and Kursk
Italy, Normandy, Falaise
The Ardennes
And last but not least
Fighting to save each other
From Budapest
To the Vienna woods
Where I sit today
But I must stop my daydreaming
Here comes my captain
Men it is over
We've but one job yet to do
Drive our vehicles over the bluff
To stop the Russians from getting our stuff
All our tanks, artillery and trucks
We've turned to a smoldering heap in the valley
It was easy, just took under an hour
Then said the captain
Men you are free to go
But one problem
I must leave with you
Arrest on sight
Is the Allied order
For we all wear SS on our arm, our sleeve and our collar
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The skeleton key patch on the illustration above was the patch of the 1st SS Panzer Division, Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler
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My soldier above was an artillery sergeant in this infamous division. He miraculously survived almost six years of brutal fighting without a wound. Thousands of men died around him.
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The 1st SS Panzer Division was part of the Waffen-SS, the military arm of the SS commanded by Heinrich Himmler.
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All members of the regular Wehrmacht (Heer, Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe) were pardoned, paroled, and officially discharged with papers to prove it.
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Members of the SS were branded as criminals to be arrested on sight upon the cessation of hostilites.
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A follow-on piece to this will reveal what happened to this soldier, an outgoing older man when I met him 40 years later.
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My intent is to tell this soldier's story. By no means is this piece meant to condone or glorify the SS in any way.
Thanks for stopping by,
Bill
Comments (23)
Fascinating! we were never taught about the war at school, only now in later life do we find out more and more. I suppose it was all too recent to discuss in the fifties.
Wonderful piece, Bill. Thought provoking. Will look with anticipation for your follow up. Watch it with the old soldier description.. You realize it's been 40+ years since our first trip to Nam. ;-)
Bill, I find it hard to separate your writing from the message. The style harkens to Hemingway with short descriptive bursts. But the message, oh the message grates.
wondrous
Excellent stuff Bill, fantastic writing here!
I like how it starts out that he's human first, then from which army emerges. To a point it could've been my dad, and after then it didn't matter. It'll be interesting to hear what comes next, although this does stand just fine on its own.
COOOL
Great writing style ... and very informative a very uniqe perspective of that historical war!!! tom p.s. I do intend to paint what you suggested , was going to paint another first .... but now you've got me thinking...;)
There are always two sides to every war, and no one wins. We are, after all, just human. Beautifully written, Bill~~~the "other" side of the story.
Bill, beautifully written and you covered everything. Coming from you, a retired U.S. Army officer, it has somehow more credibility. If it had been written by a German, or say by someone like me, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Germany, it may have been perceived differently. Who knows how he wound up in the Waffen SS. As I had written in my 'Memories of my Father' I knew all the war stories, stories that sounded fantastic to a little boy. Never did I dream to ask him about the whys. When I went to school in Berlin (1946-1956) history ended in 1933 and began again in 1945. None of us kids dreamed of asking about the intervening period, we all knew what happened. And the teachers never volunteered anything about this either. Was it policy or fear that nobody wanted to talk about it? Only later, after my father had passed away, did I realized that there were so many things I wished I would have asked him. I imagine it is the same with this former member of the Waffen SS. I am glad you wrote it. It is thought-provoking and may help people that have never been in a war understand things better. Unfortunately as long as human beings from different cultures, religions and political ambitions have to compete for the shrinking space and resources available on this planet, there will be wars. And there will always be winners and losers, people that gain from it and others that don't. I am looking forward to your follow-up, Sig...
Reminded me, of "Roads to Moscow" from Al Stewart. Do keep it up. We all know their wereabouts, but a story is always worth telling. Especially in this manner P
Well written. Thought provoking. Emotionally charged. War is so horrible. Leaders never seem to have enough wars, but they don't pay the price.
Very well written, my friend, but as far as I'm concerned, the SS can go to hell.
I don't know what to say, I've read so much,some fact,some fiction and some grey with the mist of time.This is jaw dropping, a history lesson encapsulated.Bring on part 2... Thank you Bill.
This was worth waiting for, my friend ... I'll look forward to part 2. Well done! Everyone involved in a war is someone's enemy. Perspective is everything. Thank you for telling your friend's story.
very moving text and presentation
Brilliant, Bill! But, again and as usual, the letters S.S. bring out the 'jump' reaction in some people. There were VERIOUS parts of the S.S. The Military, 1st SS Panzer Division, Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, used to be Mr Hitlers personal Body Guard MANY years before the start of the war. Thus the name. When the army expanded, egos did as well! Himmler wanted his 'own' army. Thus the S.S. became part of the Wehrmacht, but better equipped! The Ahnenerbe SS, The SS-Totenkopfverbände and other branches were the 'unpleasant' side!! Sorry to give a History lesson Bill. But, I do hate blame placed on those who do not deserve it.... A wonderful piece. Obviously, straight to Faves! I look forward to the next one. Rob.
This is just so impressive Bill, and I only can concur with moonrancher starting out with the human first and then in then in the end revealing the army he fought for is very moving. My father, born german, lived through this dreadful years and he only started telling about them two years before he died. He never was in the army, cause he had asthma but he was a dispatcher in the war. He had been drawn to duty in the so called students compensation service. I had the chance to talk with him and to understand what this time was like for one who lived through it and I will ever be gratefull for this.
Beautiful words...excellent writing, dear Bill !!! 5* Great stuff :):):)
I've heard many war stories from all sides & perspectives, including a woman who fought for her life in occupied russia in WWII, a man who was brainwashed at age 14 and taken into the killing squads of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia (and was tormented all his life since, as he began to awake from the torture they put him through to turn him into a 'killing machine'), people who fought the Maoists in China & saw their loved ones imprisoned & even killed, a young monk who saved lives in Romania, and it goes on. All must be told, all must be heard; and this is another powerful story. Where does innocence end & responsibility begin? Another essential question. But for this piece, you're showing what one man felt who'd been there and seen the horrors. I look forward to the follow-up. It gets so much more complex when we hear it from many sides. Thanks for this, Bill, another piece of provocative history from your gallery...And it's well written too, which is hard to do since capturing another person's narrative (even more difficult in verse) carries a responsibility all its own: You want to do service to the person, but you also want to speak from your heart. Very sensitive job...
Bill, I do love every bit of it and I am thinking of translating it into Russian for friends, if you don't mind...
impressive text! I agree with Junge1:
Nicely done!