Army veteran remembers momentous events of the 20th century
By all accounts, retired Col. Ralph M. Hockley should be dead, either at the hands of the Nazis or on a blood-splattered hill in Korea. Call it fate, divine intervention or just plain luck, he not only survived, but thrived, and witnessed some of the 20th century’s most defining conflicts and moments along the way.
Born Rudolf “Rudi” Martin Hockenheimer in Karlsruhe, Germany, in 1925, Hockley could once have expected to follow his father, Julius, into the butcher-supply business. The family wasn’t rich, but they were prosperous enough to employ a maid and the future looked promising. Then the economy crashed worldwide and not long after, Adolf Hitler and the Nazis came to power. They were suddenly the enemy in the country they called home.
http://soldiers.dodlive.mil/2016/05/witness-to-history/READ MORE
