The Accidental Reunion

[gsh341]

I read this and I just had to share. It's a great story.

After 63 Years, an Accidental Reunion

August 05, 2008
Chicago Tribune


WARRENVILLE, Ill. - Ed Hoy was stationed in Frankfurt, Germany, at the end of World War II when he and a fellow Soldier happened upon a little girl in the street.

Hoy gave the child her first orange and never forgot the joy of holding her in his arms. He has told the story many times over the years, never imagining he would see the child again.

But on Aug. 1, the "little girl" -- Gertrud Klaus, 67 -- walked into Hoy's life once more. And with just a few simple words, the German immigrant sent chills down the former GI's spine.

The ex-Army man, now 88, first met the little girl and her grandparents in 1945 as he was leaving an opera house where the Red Cross was distributing hot dogs and Coca-Cola to American Soldiers.

Hoy and his friend promised to bring the family some food the following day.

The grandfather told the Soldiers that if they made good on their promise, they were welcome to join the family for wine and song.

"I came back the next day and gave the hot dogs to the old folks and lifted the little girl up," Hoy said. "In my jacket was an orange. They were not available in the war. My wife sent me one dipped in paraffin wax to preserve it. I thought I'd take this to the little girl. She felt it in my jacket and asked, 'What is this?' I told her it was an orange. She took it. Of course I had chocolates for her too."

Last week Klaus visited Hoy's Warrenville stained-glass supply company with her daughter, Petra Kaiser, who is one of the company's vendors. Kaiser, 47, of Cape Coral, Fla., has known Hoy for 10 years, but never made the connection to her mother.

Hoy asked Klaus where in Germany she lived as a child, and she said Frankfurt.

"I asked if the opera house was still there across from the railroad station," he said. "She said yes and said, 'I remember how an American Soldier gave me my first orange.' Chills went down my spine."

Hoy said he didn't know what to say right then. But the next day when he saw Klaus' daughter again he peppered her with questions about her mother, including her age. He was stunned to learn that the dates and family facts matched up.

Klaus was not with her daughter that day, and the two have since returned to Florida. Hoy, whose daughter Lucy is a metro copy editor for the Tribune, said he doubts he'll ever see Klaus again because he's too old to travel and spends much of his time taking care of his wife.

But Klaus said Monday that she remembers Hoy fondly.

"My whole life, I remembered this moment," she said by telephone from Florida. "My love for America was born then."

Hoy sent Kaiser a memento to pass along to her mother: an old photo of Hoy dressed in his Soldier's uniform during the war.

Kaiser said she had heard the story about the orange all her life. She said her mother would often remark about how kind the American Soldiers were.

"She said the American Soldiers were really friendly and that they helped people when the war was over," Kaiser said. "Then the story of the orange came up, about how one of the Soldiers came and gave her the first orange of her life."

Kaiser said her mother was astonished to see Hoy again.

"She is amazed," Kaiser said. "What are the odds, you know?"

[b52ace]

Amazing!! Thanks for sharing!

[Radio Relay]

That is pretty cool.

My Dad was career Army (WWII, Korea, Vietnam). In 1956 he was stationed in Germany, and we got to go with him. The war had been over about ten years, but there were still a lot of abandoned, war ravaged buildings and bunkers around. The German economy was still rebuilding, and the Russians were invading the Eastern Block countries. The Germans were poor, and there were all kinds of Czeck, East German, and other refugees. It was amazing to be an American kid in the middle of all that.

People today don't realize the misery that was Europe for about 25 years after WWII. Particularly, Germany.