Interview with Family of Melvin Thielbar - Part 2

...cedar chest. I was totally amazed at the things that we were looking at in there because I had never really seen them before.

Did you know there was a cedar chest?

I knew there was a cedar chest, but I didn't know what was in it. So I was really amazed when she had me out the other day and was going through it.

What kinds of things surprised you the most as you were looking in it?

All the uniforms, all the pictures, just all of the the whole... I can't imagine being in a war and what he went through and to look at those made me think to myself, I wonder how it all went for him and it just made me think back of him and miss him.

Was it surprising... in what ways was it surprising to you that he hadn't shared that history with you?

I was the youngest and I guess our life was busy. We did a lot to help him down at the Eagles and whatnot. Yeah he really just didn't talk to the war about you very much with me so I don't know.

I was kind of surprised when he started, when we started going to the he talked a little more with me about it then and like I said he's spoken with my husband several times and I don't know that he thought that we needed to know that part of his life because I think it was pretty traumatic as a young guy to go through that to see what he saw. I do remember him telling me that they landed at Anzio Beach. And the troop hauler, the flap folded down, and he happened to step right on the edge and he fell in the water and the gunshot creased his helmet and the guy that was standing next to him there was shot instantly. And that's really one of the main things. Also he talked to me about Dachau. When they got there their first inclination was to give the people food because they were starving and what happened was they finally had to give orders to not feed them anything because they weren't able to have what they were being given. It was too much too soon and so they were trying to ration it out a little bit better.

He did say at one time, daddy had a great sense of humor. And my mother had said that she wanted to be cremated when she passed away and put on the piano in the jar until daddy passed away and at that point in time then she wanted to be put in the coffin right between his legs and she was going to be buried with him. My dad looked up at me and I was looking in the rear view mirror because I was driving down the highway and he said to me, "Wow I may never get any rest then." And one of the fun things I found when I was... I hadn't opened it I didn't know what was there because after my parents passed away three months apart it was just overwhelming. And so when we were looking the other day, I happened to go through my dad's coat pockets on his uniform and I, you see it in the movies all the time, but I didn't think it was something that really happened, but he had his little picture of the very naked lady that he carried in his pocket and it's still there I put it back. So that's daddy he had a great sense of humor. In fact, down at the Eagles Club, they used to do parties and fundraisers, and they would get some of the guys at the Eagles Club to dress up like ladies, and he participated a couple of times. He's a pretty cute little woman and he raised the most money of any of them on the charities so that was kind of fun. He had a great... his life I think was very fulfilled. I feel like he was very satisfied with everything that had happened in his life putting that first part back where he could deal with it, so that's my dad.

Can you tell us about opening up that chest and what you found? You can even tell us what kinds of items you found there.

It was shocking to me. I had seen copies of the letters that he had written home, but we found the actual letters. We found some of the regalia that they bring home as souvenirs. He has a dagger, he has some... a belt with the swastika and I don't think as souvenirs. He has a dagger, he has some... a belt with the swastika and I don't think for him they were... they were not something that he was... he wouldn't put them out for display. They were part of his history so they were in there. We found some VE letters which is the small ones that they send when the sensor says it's okay to start sending letters without being censored. And the books of the history of where his infantry unit went. They were everywhere; they were in France they were in Germany they went to Africa. And I didn't know any of that until I opened the doors of the cedar chest and found out... a lot of cool things in there.

You found a camera as well.

There's a German camera in there, it's a... it's an amazing little camera it's one of those that has the lens that pulls out in the front. Haven't figured out how you look into it yet but there's got to be a way to make pictures and I know there's some film in there that hasn't been developed. I don't know what's on it so I don't know exactly what to do with it. Could be from then... I don't know. His uniform was in there; everything except a shirt. And I know he wore one but I don't know where the shirt went so that was kind of interesting. I was surprised that it was so heavy; the material was so heavy. And by putting it in the cedar chest, it's very well preserved anyway. We don't have any little holes in it anywhere which is nice. That's just some of the things we found I was just surprised. About the best thing I can say was "surprised."

In the correspondence that you read that you haven't seen over the years were there things that you that he talked about that he wasn't saying from his experiences?

Those were the things I heard about at the reunions.

And I didn't go to the reunions.

He didn't, he never talked about it except at the reunions. And when I was looking, for example, [for] the book of the Filthy 13 which was the movie Dirty Dozen was based on, they didn't talk about any of that stuff until I went to that reunion. And I heard things that almost just scared you. I mean and I was an adult at the time and it scared me to hear it. What those guys went through... it's phenomenal. A lot of courage. He didn't, he never talked about it except at the reunions. And when I was looking, for example, [for] the book of the Filthy 13 which was the movie Dirty Dozen was based on, they didn't talk about any of that stuff until I went to that reunion. And I heard things that almost just scared you. I mean and I was an adult at the time and it scared me to hear it. What those guys went through... it's phenomenal. A lot of courage.

Well I remember meeting your family at the...