🚩 — Hank Welzel was born in Ohio in 1926. In 1928, his family moved to Germany, and in the 1930s, Hank joined the Hitler Youth. In 1943, he was drafted into the army and sent to the Italian front. During the fighting on the Gothic Line, he was captured by the Americans, and remained in the United States. When the Korean War began, Welzel expressed a desire to reenlist, this time in the American army. He served 11 months as a medic with the 179th Infantry Regiment, and was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his combat service. After the war, he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, which he never fully recovered from, even in his old age.

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