General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
The Other Side of the Story
Posted by:
Ying
()
Date: January 11, 2001 08:55AM
<HTML>Hi Capt. Duffy,
You really shocked me! But as usual your comments are warmly welcomed.
I have to admit that after the reading of ¡°Operation Drumbeat¡±, Hardegen has definitely won my respect. And I do trust Gannon to be an objective and candid writer, thus I believe that all he has said of Hardegen is true.
However, I do think that you have a say regarding Hardegen because you have met him in person and I always respect your view. Whether Hardegen is a braggart, I have no right to judge, but I do think that he got to be proud, and may even be stubborn. The incident in the Wolfsschanze in which he had dinner with Hitler may best illustrate this. Well, if a person both excelled as a uboat commander and as a businessman (also he seems to be good at golf), we could hardly expect him to be modest. Maybe I have really been struck by Hardegen¡¯s charm to change my view completely for the time being, it seems that I have to meet him myself to be totally disillusioned. So Capt. Duffy, I¡¯m sure you know how to contact him? Could you please give me some hints?
BTW, according to Gannon¡¯s book, the last rank Hardegen held was Korvettenkapitaen. I¡¯m not suggesting that with this rank he was justified in treating his fellow Kriegsmarine Kamerad in an arrogant manner, I just want to clear some facts here.
Again thank you so much for your input, Capt. Duffy, I think it¡¯s always good to know the other side of the story, which will lead to a much more objective view of the person you appreciate.
Best regards,
Ying
</HTML>
You really shocked me! But as usual your comments are warmly welcomed.
I have to admit that after the reading of ¡°Operation Drumbeat¡±, Hardegen has definitely won my respect. And I do trust Gannon to be an objective and candid writer, thus I believe that all he has said of Hardegen is true.
However, I do think that you have a say regarding Hardegen because you have met him in person and I always respect your view. Whether Hardegen is a braggart, I have no right to judge, but I do think that he got to be proud, and may even be stubborn. The incident in the Wolfsschanze in which he had dinner with Hitler may best illustrate this. Well, if a person both excelled as a uboat commander and as a businessman (also he seems to be good at golf), we could hardly expect him to be modest. Maybe I have really been struck by Hardegen¡¯s charm to change my view completely for the time being, it seems that I have to meet him myself to be totally disillusioned.
So Capt. Duffy, I¡¯m sure you know how to contact him? Could you please give me some hints?
BTW, according to Gannon¡¯s book, the last rank Hardegen held was Korvettenkapitaen. I¡¯m not suggesting that with this rank he was justified in treating his fellow Kriegsmarine Kamerad in an arrogant manner, I just want to clear some facts here.
Again thank you so much for your input, Capt. Duffy, I think it¡¯s always good to know the other side of the story, which will lead to a much more objective view of the person you appreciate.
Best regards,
Ying
</HTML>
