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Unknown Soldier
you never spoke
of your loss
your younger brother
only a few miles away
dying on the other side
of a field in France
and you,
the lucky one?
buried with honors
in Arlington
me, left to pass on a story
I know so little of
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(06-18-2025, 04:11 AM)Mark A Becker Wrote: Unknown Soldier
you never spoke
of your loss
your younger brother
only a few miles away
dying on the losing side
of a field in France
and you,
the lucky one?
buried with honors
in Arlington
me, left to pass on a story
I know so little of
A very thought-provoking story. Brothers in arms, or brothers in the biggest family of all, the dead. Fridalin would have been on the winning side at the time he fell (fourth day of the Battle of France) - irrelevant to brothers of both kinds.
 Non-practicing atheist
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(06-18-2025, 06:12 AM)dukealien Wrote: A very thought-provoking story. Brothers in arms, or brothers in the biggest family of all, the dead. Fridalin would have been on the winning side at the time he fell (fourth day of the Battle of France) - irrelevant to brothers of both kinds.
Yes duke- I can't imagine what my dad was feeling as he moved through France with the US 87th Infantry, within 40 miles of where his younger brother was killed earlier in the war.
I never even knew my dad had a brother until I was a teenager, when our mom told us kids. My dad refused to talk about him: my father was a proud Austrian, and hated that his country was 'absorbed' by the Nazis. Apparently his brother welcomed it.
ps. I edited losing side to other side, to more accurately reflect the fact you mentioned, duke: that Germany did indeed overrun France in 1940. My dad, and the 87th Infantry didn't arrive in Moircy, Belgium (about 40 miles from Vringe-aux-Bois) until late 1944, four years after my dad's brother was K.I.A.
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(06-18-2025, 04:11 AM)Mark A Becker Wrote: Unknown Soldier
you never spoke
of your loss
your younger brother
only a few miles away
dying on the other side
of a field in France
and you,
the lucky one?
buried with honors
in Arlington
me, left to pass on a story
I know so little of
Without the footnote, I'd have thought one brother died in WW1 on the German side, the other in WW2 on the US side (which would make the narrator quite old). But now it looks like the younger brother died in WW2, and the elder in....Vietnam? Iraq?
Poignant.
Edit: I read your reply to Duke. Quite interesting. I find it interesting that so many German Americans fought against Germany. Wonder what they thought of it.
I love the title. Unknown, because his family refused to talk about him.
I love the title. Unknown, because his family refused to talk about him.
Posts: 695
Threads: 139
Joined: Jun 2015
(06-19-2025, 12:37 AM)busker Wrote: I find it interesting that so many German Americans fought against Germany. Wonder what they thought of it.
My dad was born in Vienna, Austria, and hated that the Nazis had annexed his birth country. Many Austrians, including his younger brother, fought with the Nazis. Fighting with the US Army was my dad's way of reclaiming his country. I can imagine that he and his brother did not get along, but my dad never spoke of it. Wars have a nasty way of tearing families apart.
My old man did his small part to repel fascism during WWII. He was bi-lingual, and met my mom while serving. She was also an interpreter, and a German citizen who worked with the US Army against the Nazis.
There is much more to their story, but I'll leave it at that for now.
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