How Could we Let this Happen... Then and Now

April 5, 1945

Dear Martha,

The war has been a long journey and I hope it ends soon but that is not what I want to talk about. I have been In Germany Liberating these people from death camps and what I’ve seen will always be planted in my head like a permanent nightmare. These things I’ve seen should never be seen and with a million words I can’t even express them. Today we were sent to capture a communications center and we came upon something that I will always remember. We came upon 50 bodies, lying in a pool of blood. These people were clubbed or shot in the back. We missed these people by an hour or two, AN HOUR OR TWO!, if we would have woken up two hours earlier we might have been able to save these people who had been suffering for god knows how long. I did not even know these camps existed until I arrived in France. Yet these kids and people as I talked to them were so appreciative. They had been through so much and after all that they thank me and appreciate me. For what?! I mean we did come and save them but after how long? After it wasn’t only their problem it was ours. I have been fine with this war because we are protecting our country but now seeing these people and how they have suffered and what a slaughter this was makes me think differently. Why did we not act sooner? Why would we let this go on for so long with so many people dying? Men, women, children, it didn’t matter. What does this say about America that we would let people be starved, worked, and killed and we didn’t do anything. Again Why couldn’t we join the war earlier and maybe all these people would not be starved or dead. What does this say about our society, these people were murdered because they were Jews, and just on that fact. At home I have had a disliking for blacks, but why? Just because they are black! Am I the same as a Nazi? This is what I have thought staring at these bodies piled up, body after body, all skinny seeing bones and such, these could not even be human they look more like skeletons. I will hope that this letter has done enough to change you and i have attached pictures because no words can explain these atrocities. I will never be the same man again but I hope that I will still be able to sleep at night without seeing these people in my head. Life is a gift and we should live every day to the fullest and make everyone’s life better anytime we can. I hope you have been able to live life without me and hopefully I will be home soon. Do what you can to promote this war, because these people need us and I hope we have done enough for god to forgive me and America for not saving these people earlier.

Love,

Frank Crandle

April 5, 2008

Dear Diary,

I still Remember the day 63 years ago when i saw those bodies and i wrote the letter to my wife. It is clear in my head like it was yesterday, it is something that will stay in my head till the day i die. 63 years later and everything is still so fresh, how many other things have happened since then, i have had children, grandchildren, and soon to be expecting great grand children, and thing thing i remember is piles of dead bodies and the smell of them rotting. I have had so many happy moments in my life, but yet the one that is so prominent is the death camps. It didn't help finding out that around 11,000,000 people were killed, over 6 million were Jews, those are astonishing numbers that made me sick to hear over the years. What is sad is we still kill people. Even now, we still have wars. Why? Because we hate and we're greedy. We have greed for power, for money, for oil. It causes people to hate. It's like a cancer. What i have learned is there will always be hate in the world, the only reason for war should be if people are being mistreated or slaughtered, not for greed, not for money, not for oil, but if innocent people are being mistreated there needs to be a stop to it. I did not tell my story for years and years after i came back other than to my wife, not even my children, but now i know this story needs to be heard while i still can tell it. Every time i look at the pictures it does not get any easier but I must make sure people never forget, and unfortunately i think we must have. There is a genocide going on in Sudan, that is a slaughter, that is something we should fight for. I tell my story to remember, but it is more a story about Actions, and actions will speak louder than words. Saying i feel bad for the people in Darfur is something, but starting a rally, writing letters to officials, and writing petitions is what needs to be done. I do it to do the right thing, this story is about morals, follow your morals! I wish I was 20 again so I could take actions and maybe one could have helped America realize it needed to go to war and stop Hitler sooner and maybe that many people wouldn't be dead, or even just saving 1 life, that life would even make my cause worthy. I had another seminar today, and one student asked me "was it worth it to go to war after all you have seen?" and i hadn't really thought about it to much and i answered "No matter how many nightmares i have had from what i have seen, i would not be the person i am without my experiences and be able to teach people about what i learned and the very similar problems that are still here today in Darfur" I end each seminar with the reminder to take actions in what you believe in and to remember to follow your morals. Remind them to put themselves in others situation, and try to not only make themselves, but other people better as well. And everyday i leave and come write in this diary, and imagine the world if those 11 million people were still alive.

There are Many Stories of Us Veterans telling there stories of their experience and here are some of the links...

http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2007/10/22/news/local/doc471c6bb5433a2510125841.txt

http://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/articles/2007/09/24/villages/villages02.txt

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/05/31/loc_loc1amemdach.html