20th Century Wars • The Unexplained

In 1958, realizing how traumatic it was psychologically for German American citizens of Wapakoneta whose ancestors were from Alsace area of Germany, since much of the WWI combat had taken place there, I decided to interview these veterans. I recall how many of these men who still spoke German had shed tears during my interviews! I recall one man through tears had said, “Jim, I’d promised my muter (mother) I’d one day return to Alsace and visit our German relatives…I kept my promise went back and killed my people in damned war!”

I interviewed veteran Philander Sammetinger who told me the following story:  “After serving, I’d traveled with other vets raising funds for our troops, for which I’d received a medal for patriotism. I gave medal to my niece, who wore it with pride. Soon after that niece had developed mysterious affliction of hearing a “booming” sound in both ears. The deafening sound was affecting that little girl emotionally! One night my sister removed the medal from sleeping daughter’s neck and for next two days not wearing the medal the “booming” had subsided! Then my niece put the medal back on and the “booming” had mysteriously returned. When medal off, “booming” sound seemed to stop. When I was informed of this strange phenomena which seemed to be related to the war medal by my sister, she asked me if I could think of any connection between the medal and daughter’s deafening booming sound? Jimmy, I went numb, cause I recalled what was written on back of medal which made connection!

“The medal read something about being awarded for patriotic service…then it read around its bottom, inner edge the words MADE FROM CAPTURED GERMAN CANNON! Jimmy, somehow in a way I, or no one can understand… there seems to be some kind of mystical connection between this medal made from a German cannon and the sound of “booming” my niece had heard when wearing that medal, and stopped hearing when the medal was removed!? When my niece died in a swimming accident, my sister returned the medal to me. Jimmy, I want you to have the medal and try to get people to believe this mysterious incident had actually happened!”