Reply #22: I met a guy years ago who was an aide to Patton.

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He also spoke German. He turned me on to drinking scotch and as we proceeded to get shit faced, he told the following story:
They were advancing into Germany and getting some resistance. He was on foot, getting shot at when he jumped into a foxhole occupied by a german soldier whom he immediately stabbed in the chest with his bayonet. The guy didn't die right away and Bill started speaking with him, and actually expressed his remorse for having just stabbed the guy. The guy told him not to feel guilty for doing his duty as a soldier. Besides, he told him, if he had the chance, he would done it to Bill.
He asked Bill to visit his wife and tell her that he loved her, etc. Bill found her after the war.
His wife told me later that Bill sent a check to her every month!