The story, as I understand it, is that my Uncle Willy hightailed it out of Germany as Hitler rose to power, found his way onto a ship, and tried to sneak past immigration into the United States. He was turned away, so he got back on the ship and headed north to Canada, where he was accepted. Safely in Canada, he made his way back into the United States (successfully this time), where he promptly signed up to join the Army and shipped right back to Europe to fight Nazis.
I don’t know all the details, but Willy was assigned to a tank crew. At some point he learned that he was being paid less than his fellow soldiers, so he complained to a superior, who laughed at him and said he was lucky to be able to fight period. “You’re just a German,” the guy said. “You’re not worth as much. Well, that pissed my great-uncle right off, so he went to THAT guy’s superior and made his case for equal pay. Whatever he said, it worked.
I was probably about 8 or 9 years old when I heard this story straight from my uncle. I probably got a few details wrong and Uncle Willy is long gone. But hey, Happy Veterans Day! And while you’re at it here’s some truth about the more recent wars.
