Wow - that is interesting. Wasn't some other guard (I thought a Lt.) accused of aiding Goering in fetching medication from his luggage?
To answer my own question, Lt. "Tex" Wheelis was his name. Anyone know if Tex was charged or what happened to him?
Interesting. In Butler and Young's book 'Marshal without Glory' Comment that it has been claimed that the capsule was passed in the lips of Goring's wife, Emmy, when they kissed. The official verdict of the tribunal on his death suggested the poison had been hidden in his person i.e. he had an incision on his body or had it sewn into his navel. Strange to say the least.
Paragraph three of the article: "Stivers, 78, a retired sheet metal worker from southern California, was a 19-year-old army private assigned to an honor guard that escorted Nazi defendants in and out of the courtroom during the post-World War II war crimes trials." An odd individual to have an "honor guard" wouldn't you say?
Just checked om some sources on this: When Goering killed himself two weeks later, Mr Stivers decided to keep silent for fear of facing prosecution. He went public only at the urging of his daughter, Linda Dadey, who told him he owed it to history. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1474964,00.html "The capsule was in all probability smuggled into his cell by Lt. Wheelis and Dr. Pflucker." BTW, was Lt Wheelis Irving´s discovery?
I cut an article out the papers about Goering's assisted suicide I will have to dig it up and see if it's the same article.
Before Goering was corrupted by Nazism he was capable of chivalry towards his enemies. In June 2006, I visited Perth, Western Australia, and spent time with the grandson of the Aussie World War One pilot to whom Goering gave his Iron Cross after shooting him down(he survived) as a token of his-Goering's esteem for the fight he had put up against Herman in his Nieuport Scout in 1917 over France. I also spent time in Perth W.A. with the nephew of the Aussie bomber pilot who was wearing Goering's very same Iron Cross around his neck when his Lancaster was shot down over France in June 1944-both he and the Iron Cross were incinerated. The Lancaster pilot had been given the Iron Cross by the W.W. One fighter pilot whom Herman had shot down in 1917. I wonder if Goering's defence team at Nuremburg would have tried to call these Aussies as defence witnesses had Herman not committed suicide and the W.W.2 Lancaster pilot survived the war?.
Thanx for the details Brian! However the reason why Göring would have been executed anyway was the fact he was guilty of starting the war in 1939 and also causing the bombings in Europe 1939-1945 where tens of thousands died. And more... So it would not have mattered if anybody stepped up to defend the man really. There was too much evidence to prove him guilty.
Hi Mr Paterson!- is that your picture or Tom Sizemore's face I see?-I like Sizemore-especially in his ''Saving Private Ryan'' role. Pittsburg? huh!-General Forbes, who captured Fort Dusquense during the Seven Years War (1756-63) and renamed it ''Pittsburg''birthplace and mansion house is just a short drive from where I live in Scotland.Forbes also gave his name to the former Forbes Field baseball park in Pittsburg which, I believe, no longer exists.
Goering was found guilty of 'Crimes Against Humanity' - which didn't include bombing - and this meant he would hang. Most of these crimes were committed by Goering in his role as 'Plenipotentiary of the Four-Year Plan' which covered included orders for use of slave labour, pre-planning of measures to be taken in Russia, and especially his signed decree of 31st July, 1941, instructing Heydrich and Himmler to 'bring about a complete solution of the Jewish question in the German sphere of influence in Europe'.
Hello Mr. Scotus. No, that is not my pic, that is Mr. Sizemore who, by the way, is really a rather sleazy type in real life but his work in Private Ryan was exemplary. As for Forbes, yes, Forbes Field hasn't been around since the 1960's. There is however a Forbes Avenue downtown and at least one school in the area with that name. Not to mention the famous Forbes Road from Fort Ligonier to Pittsburgh. Later
Thanks Mr Paterson for your reply-I like Sizemore the actor very much-he brings a William Bendixesque(I used to love Bendix in all those 1940's war movies like ''Wake Island'', Guadalcanal Diary etc) air of reality to those roles like Pvt Ryan.But back to World War Two-who was Pittsburg's geatest war hero?-a sincere question as I don't kmow the answer. Billy Conn, the boxer- who lived latterly in the Cherry Hill section of Pittsburg- was popular as he toured U.S. military camps in England in 1944, but he didn't see combat-who would you nominate as Pittsburg's most famous fighting son in W.W.2?
General George Marshall comes to mind first but he was born in Uniontown which is 40 miles east of Pittsburgh so I don't think that can count. Therefore, I'll have to nominate the 95 MILLION TONS of STEEL produced during the war. I believe that's more than all the other allied countries combined, and that came from one smokey city in western Pennsylvania. BTW, I hate to nitpick, but there is an "H" in Pittsburgh. Later
