The Real Valkyrie: Du Quoin Man Lived
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ When Du Quoin resident and World War II veteran August "Auggie" Campanella, 88, entered the United States Army on November 29, 1941 then took 13 weeks of basic training at Camp Wolters, Texas, little did he know that by war's end he would walk in Adolph Hitler's footsteps at the "Eagle's Nest" only months after the failed plot to kill him.
It is the stuff that Tom Cruise's new movie, "Valkyrie" is made of, but a story that-- in part-- Campanella lived while working as a technical sergeant in Patton's 3rd Army.
Campanella's staff planned and tracked everything from troop movements to transportation and fuel, to intelligence, troop registration and graves. They were headquartered in towns all across France and Germany during Patton's forward motion for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. "After basic training, I was stationed at the 3rd Army headquarters in San Antonio, Texas," he said. "What saved me was the fact that I could type and knew shorthand and bookkeeping," he said. "I never saw the action some of the others did, and we were always heavily protected by the military police any time we moved," he said. "I went overseas in February 1943 and started out in Scotland, then England," he said. "I went into France two or three weeks after the invasion and went into Germany after the Battle of the Bulge," he remembers. "We set up in a town called Trier in Germany right across from the Belgium border," he said. "We moved all the time and at the end of the war we were stationed in the 3rd Army headquarters in Munich," he said.
"I was in a place called Erlangen, Germany doing my job when we heard that the Eagle's Nest had been taken," he said. "I guess it was about six months after that when we went up there for a tour. They had an elevator that went from the parking lot, all the way up to the top, but you had to be a major or better to use it. We had to walk up the mountain," he laughed it.
And, little did Campanella and the other American troops know that as they went about their work in France and Germany a group of high-ranking German officers hatched a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, and seize power of the military command in order to end the war.
The operation depicted in the just-released movie used Hitler's own emergency plan for defending the Nazi government against a revolt against the government.
Colonel von Stauffenberg, who had lost an eye and part of his right hand in North Africa, was brought into the plot to modify the plan Code named "Valkyrie", to use the German Reserve forces against Hitler's Elite forces, the SS.
On 20 July 1944, von Stauffenberg carried a small bomb into a meeting room, which had been changed at the last minute from a concrete bunker to an adjacent wooden hut at the Eagle's Nest compound.
Von Stauffenberg set the bomb under the conference table and exited the room to take a phone call.
Seeing the explosion, von Stauffenberg left the Wolf's Lair and flew to Berlin where he found that co-conspirators, General Friedrich Olbricht had not ordered the reserve troops into action against Hitler's SS.
More than 200 conspirators were put to death as a result of this assassination attempt. Nine months later, the allies reached Berlin and Hitler committed suicide.
The Kehlsteinhaus (in English,the Eagle's Nest), is a chalet-style building which when built was an extension of the Obersalzberg complex built by the Nazis in the German Alps near Berchtesgaden.
The Kehlsteinhaus was a 50th birthday present for Adolf Hitler. It was meant to be a retreat for Hitler and a place for him to entertain visiting dignitaries.
Written accounts say the stronghold was commissioned by Martin Bormann, with construction proceeding over a 13-month period prior to its formal presentation to Hitler in 1939. It reached by a spectacular 3.9-mile road that cost about $150 million (in current dollars) to build. The last 124 meters up to the Kehlsteinhaus are reached by an elevator bored straight down through the mountain and linked through a long granite tunnel below.
The inside of the large elevator car is surfaced with polished brass, Venetian mirrors and green leather (the elevator is still used daily).
Construction of the mountain elevator system cost the lives of 12 construction workers The main reception room is dominated by a fireplace of red Italian marble, presented by Mussolini.
The building is also often called "Hitler's Tea House", but this is a misnomer.
Although the site is on the same mountain as the Berghof, Hitler rarely visited the property. It has been suggested he only visited the Kehlsteinhaus around 10 times, and most times for no more than 30 minutes. Perhaps because of this lack of close association with Hitler, the property was saved from demolition at the end of the war.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe and later President of the United States, wrote that the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division was the first to take the Eagle's Nest.
General Maxwell D. Taylor, former Commanding General of the 101st Airborne Division, stated the same. Photographs and newsreel footage show 3rd Infantry soldiers relaxing on the Eagle's Nest patio, "drinking Hitler's wine", affirming that they were present at the house in May 1945
French general Georges Buis claimed two free French officers of the 2nd Armored Division, himself and Paul Repiton-Preneuf, were the first to arrive at the Kehlsteinhaus.
He said the two arrived early in the morning and slipped away shortly thereafter when they saw both French and American troops arriving.
The Kehlsteinhaus was subsequently used by the Allies as a military command post until 1960, when it was handed back to the State of Bavaria.
Today the building is owned by a charitable trust, and serves as a restaurant. It is a popular tourist attraction, particularly for Britons and Americans attracted by the historical significance of the "Eagle's Nest".
The house can be reached on foot (two hours of walking), or by bus.
After the return of the Kehlsteinhaus to German hands, an information centre was built on the foot of the hill to remind the public of Hitler and his regime. The Kehlsteinhaus itself does not mention much about its past.
Informal tours of Kehlsteinhaus are offered by a local guide to foreigners arriving by local bus at the lower elevator station. The tour is not offered in German, apparently a requirement due to previous trouble with neo-Nazis and post-war Nazi sympathisers.
The lower rooms, with spectacular views out of plate-glass windows, are not part of the restaurant but can be visited with a guide. Graffiti left by allied troops is still clearly visible in the surrounding woodwork. Hitler's small study is now a store room for the cafeteria.
Popular Culture
The popular TV series Band of Brothers depicts Easy Company of the 2nd Battalion 506th Regiment capturing the Eagle's Nest