Dachau...first American into the camp

Okay...so I'm wondering around the Memoriall taking pictures of Veterans and I stopped to jaw with a veteran who turned out to be Fletcher Thorne-Thomsen.  I asked him what he did during the War and much to my surprise, he said " I was the first American into the Dachau Camp!!  Wow...so anyway after I recover, I managed to get this picture of Fletcher. He was apparently was leading a forward artillery observation platoon when they stumbled across Dachau!  He had no idea what was going on and the Germans had abandoned the camp and left the prisoners so he went in by himself to find out what was going on. It's quite a story and it's why it's important that we get our Veterans to tell us what they saw.  Here's his pictures and he's 85 years young and runs a digital imaging business out of Louisanna.  It was great privlege to talk with him and we spent some time going over the details of his adventure.  

Comments

[Francille Hatchett]

My father, Robert Hollis of Alabama, was one of the liberators of Dachau. I wonder if there is anyone who remembers him or can tell me more than I know. He was in reconnaissance and intelligence, a Sergeant, a scout who went ahead to check the roads for mines.