REDS MEET YANKS AT THE ELBE 70 YEARS AGO
Torgau, Germany (JFK+50) Seventy years ago today, April 25, 1945, Soviet and American soldiers met each other near Torgau at the Elbe River in Germany.
While the meeting was expected, it was not planned.
The US 273rd Regiment, 69th Infantry led by Lt. Bill Robertson had pushed several miles beyond where their orders specified. The town was deserted, having been evacuated by the Germans just a few hours before.
The meeting was preceded by confusion on both sides and fear of German trickery. Then appeared "four (American) soldiers coming up the bridge."
Lt. Robertson met Lt. Alexander Sylvashko in the middle of a collapsed bridge on a steel bar which formed the letter "V". They patted each other's shoulders.
The Americans and the Russians could not understand each other's words, but "somehow their messages got across."
The meeting of World War II's two great allies was historic. It came just days before the death of Adolf Hitler and the end of the Third Reich.
SOURCE
"Treat them nicely," 60 years ago, US forces and the Red Amy met in Torgau, Germany," by Martin Herzog, The Atlantic Times, April 2005, www.atlantic-times.com/
Torgau, Germany (JFK+50) Seventy years ago today, April 25, 1945, Soviet and American soldiers met each other near Torgau at the Elbe River in Germany.
While the meeting was expected, it was not planned.
The US 273rd Regiment, 69th Infantry led by Lt. Bill Robertson had pushed several miles beyond where their orders specified. The town was deserted, having been evacuated by the Germans just a few hours before.
The meeting was preceded by confusion on both sides and fear of German trickery. Then appeared "four (American) soldiers coming up the bridge."
Lt. Robertson met Lt. Alexander Sylvashko in the middle of a collapsed bridge on a steel bar which formed the letter "V". They patted each other's shoulders.
The Americans and the Russians could not understand each other's words, but "somehow their messages got across."
The meeting of World War II's two great allies was historic. It came just days before the death of Adolf Hitler and the end of the Third Reich.
SOURCE
"Treat them nicely," 60 years ago, US forces and the Red Amy met in Torgau, Germany," by Martin Herzog, The Atlantic Times, April 2005, www.atlantic-times.com/
Historic Marker for Elbe Day
