General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: Reinhard Hardegen¡ªAn Inspiration
Posted by:
Capt. George W. Dufy
()
Date: January 11, 2001 02:20AM
<HTML>Dear Ying and other repliers:
In September 1987, my wife and I visited Reinhard Hardegen. If you go to my Home Page at [www.usmm.org] in one of my articles you will find a photo of him and me taken by my wife. We found him to be an outspoken braggart who even argued with me as to the date I was taken prisoner by the Kriegsmarine. He inferred he knew more than I did about the incident! The man entertained us by serving wine in trophies he had won in golfing matches.
Several years later, I took a former World War II Kriegsmarine officer to visit Hardegen. This officer, naturally, had heard of Hardegen and as we were in Bremen at the time I called Hardegen to arrange the meeting. It was a disaster! Although both men were Kapitanleutnants, Hardegen acted as though he had been an Admiral. I\'ll tell you, my friend couldn\'t get out of there quickly enough. The ride home on the Autobahn was a near disaster, as my friend sputtered and fumed and spewed out German profanities.
Let\'s not canonize Herr Hardegen.
Cordially.
GWD. </HTML>
In September 1987, my wife and I visited Reinhard Hardegen. If you go to my Home Page at [www.usmm.org] in one of my articles you will find a photo of him and me taken by my wife. We found him to be an outspoken braggart who even argued with me as to the date I was taken prisoner by the Kriegsmarine. He inferred he knew more than I did about the incident! The man entertained us by serving wine in trophies he had won in golfing matches.
Several years later, I took a former World War II Kriegsmarine officer to visit Hardegen. This officer, naturally, had heard of Hardegen and as we were in Bremen at the time I called Hardegen to arrange the meeting. It was a disaster! Although both men were Kapitanleutnants, Hardegen acted as though he had been an Admiral. I\'ll tell you, my friend couldn\'t get out of there quickly enough. The ride home on the Autobahn was a near disaster, as my friend sputtered and fumed and spewed out German profanities.
Let\'s not canonize Herr Hardegen.
Cordially.
GWD. </HTML>
