One of thing for pensions was that promotions after 1939 were not counted, so the 3793 flag officers received a smaller pension than their May 1945 rank. Officers were vetted and outright Nazis were not invited to participate in the new Armed Forces. Medals issued by the Third Reich could be worn without the swastika. Honoring WW II vets has been “touchy” as Ronald Reagan found out when he visited a military cemetery that had some SS graves. It hit the fan when Hans Ulrich Rudel died (500+ tanks killed and one Russian warship). It was agreed that soldiers on active duty could attend his funeral but not in uniform. When the newspapers published pictures, at least one general (chief of staff) had to resign.
One of thing for pensions was that promotions after 1939 were not counted, so the survivors of the 3793 flag officers received a smaller pension than their May 1945 rank. Officers were vetted and outright Nazis were not invited to participate in the new Armed Forces. Medals issued by the Third Reich could be worn without the swastika. Honoring WW II vets has been “touchy” as Ronald Reagan found out when he visited a military cemetery that had some SS graves. It hit the fan when Hans Ulrich Rudel died (500+ tanks killed and one Russian warship). It was agreed that soldiers on active duty could attend his funeral but not in uniform. When the newspapers published pictures, at least one general (chief of staff) had to resign.
This. I can’t imagine that there are many Wehrmacht vets left. But when had my year studying abroad in Göttingen–back in the Middle Stone Age (1977-78), the city buses still had signs asking passengers to offer their seats to wounded vets. (In the U.S. the signs simply say “disabled persons” and not veterans specifically.)
My great aunt met Hitler when she did her junior year abroad in Germany back in the '30s; according to her he was very charming and a model gentleman. She also made some interesting observations comparing what she saw of the treatment of German Jews with how African-Americans were treated back home.