“When we crossed the Rhine I obtained camera from captured German officers and my first German I learned was 'Hast du Photoaparath in dieser Haus?', that was: 'Do you have a camera or films at this house?' They were very happy to give me their cameras and their films and so on, particularly the German officers. The people in Germany they were taught, universally they were taught, that when the Americans would come, the Americans would rape the girls and kill the children. So people were so frightened that they would give us anything that we asked for. So obtaining cameras was easy. Obtaining film was very difficult. And I found it by going through people... When German houses were bombed... We didn´t go in, rarely did anyone go into a house that was occupied by German people. But if the house was bombed and there was nobody there, or it had been destroyed by artillery, we felt that it was OK for us to go in and look for things we might be interested in, souvenirs. Looting maybe is a word for it. And I would do film and I found much film over time and enough film after we crossed the Remagen bridge and we passed through big hills along the Rhine going to the east, as we came through villages then I would be able to find, I occasionally found some film. Much of it was very old film, very grainy, some of it have been exposed along the edges by light and so, but at least I could take pictures, very much of it. I began taking pictures when we reached the German plain, in the Ruhr, and I would be able to take some pictures. And I took perhaps a thousand pictures when we crossed Germany. But as I got more film I could take more pictures. And film became more and more available as we got closer and closer to Leipzig which was the first very big city. We bypassed Berlin, we were not to go to Berlin but the Russians. But in Leipzig I was able to obtain a quite a bit of film. So I had that film and then I learned that we were to go to Czechoslovakia. I saved my film and I was ready when we reached Sudetenland. And I took pictures of American troops in Sudetenland, very few people, because the people didn´t come, they were hiding in the woods or in their basements or whatever. They were Germans, you know, who had replaced the Czechs who would have been thrown out of Germany... Czechoslovakia, in Sudetenland in 1937, I think it was in 1938. But as we entered what was then Czechoslovakia proper, then there were people lining the streets and we talked and so on, and that was time for me to take my pictures.”
“I joined 2nd infantry division during the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium. We were done across the Rhine and eventually we captured Leipzig, and then were around Mulde river, and the Russians at the other side, they were not friendly. Suddenly then, we were put on a truck and headed south towards the border of Sudeten and then Czechoslovakia. We entered Sudetenland and there were some Germans who were still fighting and in fact one of them was able to knock out one of our tanks and five men got killed, those were the last American soldiers that I saw killed during the war. Several were wounded later but nothing very serious. As we moved through Sudetenland we saw very few people, those that we saw were obviously Germans and they were not happy with our presence. Then we crossed, I learned later it was the border of Sudetenland, marching towards Domažlice. The Czech people were lining the roads waving home-made American flags, flags made from pieces of paper, pieces of cloth, some with paint, some with children crayon markers, and offering us all kind of pastries and beer and cake, and all kinds of good food and we knew that the Czech people were sharing with us the last of their sugar, the last of their flour, the last of their foods so we were grateful.”
“That was pretty much the last we saw of the Nazis during the war, until we were near Pilsen, there were literally thousands of Nazis who were surrendering to the Americans to avoid being captured by the Russians, because they knew what would happened to them if the Russians would have capture them. Then on into Pilsen, and again on the road, we were on a small country road, instantly, it was our company, our unit, F company of the 38th Infantry, that liberated Domažlice. 180 American soldiers liberated Domažlice – that´s all we needed because the people were... they would greet us and also had chased out the Germans themselves, the partisans have. So we moved down towards Pilsen. And as we arrived in the suburbs, the outskirts of Pilsen, again hundreds and hundreds, maybe thousands of people – much like the parade here - were lining the streets, again, giving us the last of what they had as their gift to us, and it was perhaps the most joyful and emotional moment of my life, at 18-years-old, that I had ever accounted for. I think nothing have thrilled me more than that, except maybe my marriage to my wife Coleen, and my son who was born 3 years later. But only the first son, because I have six sons, my wife and I have 6 sons with 1 daughter in the middle.”
James H. Duncan Sr. Was born in 1925 in Kalamazoo in the U.S. state of Michigan. From 1944 to 1945, he had been serving as a sergeant of the 38th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army 2nd Infantry Division. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge, had crossed the Rhine with his unit, and at the end of the 38th Regiment´s German campaign, he participated in the capture of Leipzig. After that, he took part in in the occupation of Western Bohemia and liberation of Domažlice and Plzeň (Pilsen). As an amateur photographer, he also captured his adventures in Europe on a film, creating series of unique pictures. Upon his return to the United States and graduating from university, he had been involved in banking business. Nowadays – a father of seven – he has been living in Santa Fe in the U.S. State of New Mexico. James H. Duncan Sr. Was born in 1925 in Kalamazoo in the U.S. state of Michigan. From 1944 to 1945, he had been serving as a sergeant of the 38th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army 2nd Infantry Division. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge, had crossed the Rhine with his unit, and at the end of the 38th Regiment´s German campaign, he participated in the capture of Leipzig. After that, he took part in in the occupation of Western Bohemia and liberation of Domažlice and Plzeň (Pilsen). As an amateur photographer, he also captured his adventures in Europe on a film, creating series of unique pictures. Upon his return to the United States and graduating from university, he had been involved in banking business. Nowadays – a father of seven – he has been living in Santa Fe in the U.S. State of New Mexico. James H. Duncan passed away on April, the 1st, 2022.
Hrdinové 20. století odcházejí. Nesmíme zapomenout. Dokumentujeme a vyprávíme jejich příběhy. Záleží vám na odkazu minulých generací, na občanských postojích, demokracii a vzdělávání? Pomozte nám!
