Post by jeffwho on Jun 10, 2016 10:07:38 GMT -5
www.indianamilitary.org/German%20PW%20Camps/Prisoner%20of%20War/PW%20Camps/Stalag%20VIII-A%20Gorlitz/John%20Kline/Kline-John.pdf
Received word that my buddy in Minnesota passed. It'd been several years since we'd touched base. I feel terrible I didn't do my part to keep up with correspondence, but I fear that he might have fallen ill and perhaps been unable. John was my very first contact in the 106th, guided me to many resources and encouraged me to join the Association as an associate member via my father-in-law's service with the Division. He encouraged me to continue to seek details and "get his story right, from him, so no one can forget it". I do keep trying.
If you read John's diary, you'll note that he dealt with the war and his imprisonment very directly, and tried to get his Division comrades to do the same after he realised how empowering it was to come to terms with disproving all the terrible things that men of the 106th had heard about themselves and their Division, from peers and acclaimed authors alike: "they gave up", "they folded at the first sign of battle" and the like. Thankfully, as the years passed and more detail disproving those stories emerged, and he was such an outspoken advocate of the Division and instilled the "Pride of the Golden Lions" in many men and their families so they listened, and the Association grew in ranks with him at the helm of the CUB (Division magazine) and putting together the framework on a small "metro Minnesota" domain for what is now the official 106th website.
He always signed off correspondence with something positive, and for this final time John: "Hand Salute!" and rest in peace. We're missing a good man.
Received word that my buddy in Minnesota passed. It'd been several years since we'd touched base. I feel terrible I didn't do my part to keep up with correspondence, but I fear that he might have fallen ill and perhaps been unable. John was my very first contact in the 106th, guided me to many resources and encouraged me to join the Association as an associate member via my father-in-law's service with the Division. He encouraged me to continue to seek details and "get his story right, from him, so no one can forget it". I do keep trying.
If you read John's diary, you'll note that he dealt with the war and his imprisonment very directly, and tried to get his Division comrades to do the same after he realised how empowering it was to come to terms with disproving all the terrible things that men of the 106th had heard about themselves and their Division, from peers and acclaimed authors alike: "they gave up", "they folded at the first sign of battle" and the like. Thankfully, as the years passed and more detail disproving those stories emerged, and he was such an outspoken advocate of the Division and instilled the "Pride of the Golden Lions" in many men and their families so they listened, and the Association grew in ranks with him at the helm of the CUB (Division magazine) and putting together the framework on a small "metro Minnesota" domain for what is now the official 106th website.
He always signed off correspondence with something positive, and for this final time John: "Hand Salute!" and rest in peace. We're missing a good man.
