My father did a noble thing in World War II, and it may have saved his life…
Dad often spoke about the he had as a young man in World War II. He still remembered the time he and some other soldiers some German prisoners of war.
Dad was part of George Patton’s Third Army, which in Normandy on D-Day. A few days after that great , Dad and a few members of his unit were on patrol (巡邏) in a French . Walking along the path, they arrived at a top of a mountain, two German soldiers did at the same time. Quickly, Dad and his fellow soldiers their guns. The Germans and turned in their weapons.
“We should them right now,” said one member of Dad’s unit. After what he’d seen at Normandy, Dad didn’t . This was war, and these were enemy soldiers. But Dad . He ordered the soldiers to empty their . One of the Germans held out a picture of a young woman and a baby.
Dad took them from the soldier. The of the photo made him think twice. He them to the man. Dad knew how to speak German, so he spoke to the man. “Pray for the war to be over, so we can all go home,” Dad said. The German was . “You are not going to kill us?” Dad shook his head. “If so, of us want to surrender (投降),” the German said.
Dad and the other American soldiers stood as German after German came out of their place on the other side of the mountain. 37 in all. They their weapons: machine guns. In fact, all of them were ready for . If they’d killed the first two men, Dad and his buddies would have been gunned down on the spot.