I had never heard of it either. And I may not have believed it had it not been for the photographer. It is a shame that Generals get massive statues and this kid who was probably only 19 did the most heroic thing I had ever read about and barely gets mentioned in a newspaper 60 years later.
But I guess that is what makes this such a great story, you know he was doing it for only the right reasons. He knew he wasn't setting an example or going to go down in history. He would probably just end up dead in some random field. But he did it anyways because it was the morally right thing to do.
I don't know how many similar stories like this had happened throughout the war but didn't have a photographer there to record the story. I'm sure many people died doing heroic actions that will never be known to anyone else.
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