History in a hallway bed

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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A patient was admitted to my hospital today. Lotta history in him.

In 1938, as an orphan and as a 14-year-old untermensch he managed to leave Austria as part of the Kindertransport.

Adopted by a family in northern England, he joined the Royal Tank Corps in 1942 but soon after volunteered for the Glider Pilot Regiment.

On June 5, 1944 (D-Day minus 12 hours) he piloted his glider and the load of British commandos it was carrying, to Pegasus Bridge. They did everything expected of them.

Three months later, he piloted another glider into the Dutch countryside near Arnhem as part of Operation Market Garden. In the battle with an SS Panzer division that followed, a tank shell took him out. He says he woke up to the sound of someone screaming only to realize that the screams were his. His femur was sticking out through his pants. He survived that as he did his captivity as a POW, a Jewish POW.

In May 1945, he was liberated, along with Holland and, as a German-speaking British officer, was assigned to investigations for the Nuremberg war crimes tribunal.

So here he is now on a stretcher, in the hallway, waiting for a bed on the ward.

History in the hallway.

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And quite a survivor into the bargain (if my math is right, he’s 95 or 96).

How did you find all that out about him? Speaking to relatives? Is he still mentally “there?” If he is, it must be fascinating to talk to him. I wonder what he thinks of the kinds of wars we have these days.

There’s a brief exchange in the movie Three Days of the Condor, where Cliff Robertson’s character is talking to John Houseman’s character about his participation in WWII intelligence. Robertson asks “Do you miss the action?” “No, I miss the clarity.” And this was in 1975. How much less clarity we have now.

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I bow my head, in honor of a true hero.

~VOW

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A few months ago there was an article about him in one our (Canadian) national newspapers. He talked about how the first responders, doctors, and nurses are “on the frontlines, and run into battle every day” against Covid .

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I hope he’s got a bed by now!

– and that you’ll get a chance to talk with him.