Word: julitz
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Dates: during 1957-1957
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...West Germany's 19th Airborne Battalion marched through heavy spring rains one morning last week to the bank of the deceptively calm Iller River, just outside the Swabian city of Kempten. Commanding the platoon was a tough but well-liked Stabsoberjäger (staff sergeant) named Peter Julitz, 24. At the river's edge Platoon Leader Julitz made a quick decision: "We're going to ford the river," he told his men. "In battle, the bridge might be out, and we'd have to be able...
...Julitz, a good swimmer, led the way. He had not been present four months earlier when a battalion order was issued forbidding training troops to ford the Iller, and no one present thought to inform him of it. At midstream Julitz went under; only his helmet was visible. Within seconds the Iller's treacherous currents had caught the rest of the platoon...
Death. Sergeant Julitz and three others managed to make it to the opposite shore. But 19 more were carried, struggling and gasping in their heavy combat gear, downstream towards the Iller Bridge. Four were rescued. Fifteen went to their deaths. It was the first major training accident in the history of West Germany's nascent (96,000-strong) Bundeswehr...
Explanations. At Kempten, Platoon Leader Julitz' immediate superior, who had watched the troops enter the river, explained why he had not countermanded Julitz' order: "He had the same rank as I, and I didn't want to contradict him. My fears were for the possible damage to uniforms and boots. I didn't think for a moment that the life and health of the soldiers was endangered...
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