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German artist uses jewel to say 'thanks'
German goldsmith kicks off fund to help the 42nd Rainbow Division's Family Readiness Group by donating a bejeweled version of the Purple Heart
BY CATHY JETT
Date published: 6/16/2008
BY CATHY JETT
The 42nd Rainbow Division battalion soldiers who helped liberate Dachau on April 29, 1945, were horrified by what they found.
The oldest Nazi concentration camp in Germany was not only crammed with more than 30,000 emaciated prisoners, but there were roughly 40 railroad cars filled with the bodies of others who hadn't survived a four-week train trip there from Buchenwald.
James "Pete" Pettus, who was in one of two other 42nd battalions that arrived on the heels of the liberation, said that his group showed military footage of the atrocities at every German village and town they marched through afterward to sear the images in people's memories.
Yesterday, Pettus, now a 42nd Rainbow Division Veterans Memorial Foundation reunions officer, was on hand for a ceremony at Hurkamp Park in Fredericksburg to honor both those who took part in the liberation and all soldiers who sacrifice their blood and, in some cases, lives to preserve freedom and democracy.
He accepted a diamond-studded, 18-carat gold replica of the Purple Heart medal created by Dachau native and master goldsmith Ludwig Stoeckl, and presented it to Jay Ipson, executive director of the Virginia Holocaust Museum, where it will go on display along with Rainbow Division memorabilia.
"My gift shall be a sign of thankfulness and remembrance to the 42nd Rainbow Division," said Stoeckl, addressing a crowd of about 100 people as the division's flag fluttered behind him.
"It is also my wish that this Purple Heart Jewel is understood as sign of friendship between the people of the United States and Germany, a friendship that I want to affirm herewith," he said. "And it shall be also a sign of thanks and honor of all those who fought and presently fight for freedom, liberty and justice."
The hour-long ceremony also kicked off a fund drive to help the 42nd Infantry Family Readiness Group, a volunteer organization that provides a support network for soldiers and their families.
Stoeckl, who attended with his wife, Evelin, said afterward that he decided to create his one-of-a-kind version of the Purple Heart after his wife just missed being in New York City on Sept. 11, and German chancellor Gerhard Schröder opened his 2002 election campaign by saying he'd refuse to provide troops or money to invade Iraq.
Date published: 6/16/2008
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