German war bride still proud of America

Cherished momentos Gertrude Schultenover, Staples, holds the American flag presented to her at the funeral of her husband, WWII veteran Harold 'Bud' Schultenover. In Gertrude's china cabinet are kept other treasured momentos, including Hummel figurines from her native Germany; and plates she hand painted after she immigrated to the U.S. and married Bud. (Staples World photo by Dawn Schimpp Timbs) Sixty some years ago, a young German woman, madly in love with an American ex-soldier, arrived in the U.S. to be reunited and married.

Gertrude Wild (pronounced Vild) knew no one in the U.S. except the handsome young army sergeant from Staples, Minnesota, whom she had worked with for about a year. She's never regretted leaving her homeland and starting life anew with Harold 'Bud' Schultenover.

Now, although Bud's no longer alive and she misses him very much, she's very appreciative of the U.S. "I have two good countries, that's how I feel. Germany and America, I've been very blessed."

She enjoys celebrating the Fourth of July, partially because she does not remember any similar patriotic celebration in Germany.

Young love Harold 'Bud' Schultenover, a sergeant in the U.S. Army; and Gertrude Wild met and fell in love in Germany during WWII. They worked together for a year; and then exchanged letters before Gertrude was able to come to America. The Schultenovers were married at Sacred Heart Church in Staples in 1947. Pictured above, the sweethearts sat on a stone fence near the Czechoslovakian border. (Submitted photo) "Every Fourth of July, I say a prayer that the principals of the U. S. will stay the same as it was when I first came to this great country."

Gertrude recalled her first impression of the United States, after a 1947 trans-Atlantic passenger flight brought her to New York City. "We drove through the city and I couldn't believe it. It was so big.. stores open at all hours, so many cars. People were so friendly, too.

"We stopped at a restaurant and I ordered a ham sandwich. It was wonderful. I asked Bud if I could order another one and his grandmother interrupted and said, 'You can order ten of them.'" Having lived with government controls and rationing for years, Gertrude was amazed at the abundance.

"I marveled at the wealth I saw. I don't mean money, I saw the fields, the harvests, they were so bountiful. It looked to me like the U.S. could feed the world."

"I was so grateful to be here," she thought, both then and now. She's always been impressed with American patriotism and the freedoms we enjoy. "I hope we can keep it," she said. She's always been impressed with the attitudes she found here. "I've appreciated the American optimism and enthusiasm, there is such a willingness to help one another in this country."

She was born in 1923 and is 86 years old now. She recalls growing up in Germany as Hitler came to power, having a good friend in school whose Jewish father was a medical doctor.She thinks the family left Germany and got to England before the Nazis herded them into concentration camps.

She managed to survive the war years, having been ordered to leave college classes and work in a mine where they liquefied coal, making it into fuel. Gertrude was 22 years old in early 1945 when she found herself in Ahweiler, part of the Rhineland, in western Germany. What was left of the German army was retreating, repulsed by the Americans and Gen. George Patton's Third Army as the Battle of the Bulge was pinched off and the American's crossed the Rhine at Remagen. Although not a nurse, she had been working in a hospital, treating wounded German soldiers. The hospital was ordered to pack up and move east. She tried to hitch a ride with retreating army units, but teenage German soldiers told her to stay. "The Russians are in the east, the Yankees are right behind us. Stay here, you will be better off," they told her.

"I wandered back into town and sat on my suitcase. You could hear their cannons. I hope those Yankees know how to shoot straight, I remember thinking."

A man tapped her on the shoulder and said for her to come home with him and his wife. They operated a hotel and gave her shelter. The next morning she remembers a huge American tank crossing the bridge into Ahweiler. Within a few days, the U.S. had a military government unit setting up offices in town. She went there and was sent upstairs, asking a G.I. coming down the stairs if they were hiring. When he found out she spoke excellent English, Sgt. Schultenover hired her. "They put me to work, I translated for the Americans and they treated me very well. I could pay the people who had taken me in."

Although safe, she soon worried about the rest of her family, her parents and younger sister. She told an officer she was worried about them and didn't know where they were. She was provided with a jeep and driver and went to a relative's farm where they had fled due to the Allied bombing of Cologne, where they had lived most of the war. "See, I told you she'd come with the Yankees," her father exclaimed when she arrived. There home, like the rest of the city of Cologne, was destroyed by fire.

Short ly afterward , Schultenover's unit turned over their territory to the French, as post-war Germany was carved in four regions, each governed by one of the main Allied powers. The Americans were headed east, near the Czech border, and they took their entire German civilian staff with them.

Gertrude recalls dealing with famous people of that time, including Konrad Adenhauer, who later becme head of the

West German gover nmen,

and General Patton "I never saw a unit snap to

attention like they did for Gen. Patton when he came through."

She and Bud had become good friends by this time when something happened that showed his character. There were many Ukrainians there, apparently Russian soldiers who had been taken as POWs by the Germans during the war. A Soviet officer showed up, announcing he was there to pick up all the Ukrainians. Bud and the Americans turned a few of the Ukrainians over to the officer. A day or two later they found several of the remaining Ukrainians had hanged themselves, Gertrude said.

They realized the Ukrainians were either headed for a firing squad or worse, Siberian labor camps. Bud went to his commanding officer and said he could not hand over any more Ukrainians to the Soviets. The officer said, what if he was ordered to do so. Bud replied he would refuse to obey the order. When the Russian officer returned, the Americans sent him back alone.

Bud was discharged and sent back to the 'States. Gertrude said she first planned to return to the university at Cologne, where she had studied prior to the war. The Labor Office however ordered her to come to work for a British commander who needed a 'Girl Friday.' He had his office in an underground mine and was a taskmaster. "The American WAC's refused to work for this commander, but for me, it was the experience of a lifetime. I spoke my mind, he spoke his and I did what I told him I was going to do."

Officially, any fraternization between Americans and Germans was discouraged, communication forbidden by some of the officers. So Bud and Gertrude had to exchange letters through a 'go-between,' a Belgian lieutenant who Bud had met before he left.

It took the better part of two years to get her papers in order, get a passport and for Bud to send tickets, all their letters delivered by the friendly Belgian officer. She was afraid of the water and ships, so she flew from Frankfurt to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to New York on what must have been one of the first trans-Atlantic passenger services. She remembered the flight included a nurse on board, with everyone being seated by weight.

Arriving at New York, she was questioned extensively by U. S. Immigration. She was informed she shouldn't be expecting any favors, she would need to find work and not qualify for any handouts. She's never asked for any, she said. Having met Bud when she was 22, she was 24 years old when they were married at Sacred Heart Church in Staples.

She gave up her citizenship in Germany, Gertrude said. "That was especially hard on my parents." Although she had hoped to be able to fly back and see them every couple of years, that didn't happen.

"I was able to see them a couple of times, but Bud and I didn't have a lot of money when we were first married and then we had our two boys. You know how it goes."

She and Bud, who like his father, was a railroad worker in both Staples and

Brainerd, had two sons - Ronald and Mark.They

both live in the Twin Cities area now and Gertrude now has three grandchildren. Her parents died when they were still in their 60's. Gertrude's younger sister, Ulrike, still lives in Germany.

Before Bud got sick and was moved to the Lakewood Care Center, Gertrude and he were able to travel, which she loved. "We traveled through all of the United States; we took six cruises; traveled to South America and Europe." Gertrude is especially fond of Ireland. "I love the Irish... they tell it the way it is."

CampFort Ripley military cemetery. 'I honored him the best that I could; he was willing to give his life for that flag," she said, holding the flag that was given to her at his funeral.

Bud started as a private and was promoted several times, ending the war as a master sergeant - and a very lucky man.