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JOHNS, Gerald (b. 1925) and Irmgard Stieger (b. 1928)

Military ServiceU.S. Army WWII Veteran, SHAEF

Oral Histories

OH 1200

Army veteran and his German war bride. His experiences in the European Theater during World War II while attached to SHAEF; her experiences as a German civilian before and during World War II. His original assignment to K Company, 116th Infantry, 29th Division; transfer to Headquarters Command, SHAEF, as head of the officer's mess, 1944; comments about entertainers Glenn Miller, Jack Benny, Paulette Goddard, and AL Jenkins; transfer of SHAEF to France after D-Day; transfer of SHAEF to Frankfurt-am- Main; personal observations of relations between Generals Dwight D Eisenhower and George S Patton; redesignation of SHAEF to USFET following the defeat of Germany and subsequent American occupation; transfer to Kronberg Castle as head of the officer's mess; observations of civilian hardships in postwar Germany; screening of civilian staff for ex-Nazis. Irmgard's youth in prewar Nazi Germany; her membership in the Hitler Youth and personally meeting Adolf Hitler at a party rally in Frankfurt; anti- Semitism in her home village of Schonberg; Allied air raids; her initial encounters with American troops; economic hardships of her family after the war; employment as a waitress at Kronberg Castle and her first encounter with Sergeant Gerald Johns; their account of the theft of the crown jewels at Kronberg Castle; stealing food for her family; their first date; her near accident with General Eisenhower while horseback riding; his marriage proposal and her family's reaction; their marriage on September 2, 1947; her reception as a German war bride by his family and the residents of Wrightsville, Pa., 1947.