Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
5:44 | Like many veterans, Ash Rothlein was drawn to service and charitable work in his return to civilian life. For him, it was an innocent question in a writing class that drew him out and got him involved.
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He was a truck driver behind the lines, but Ash Rothlein and the others in his unit experienced the joy of liberating a French town. On a street filled with boistrous residents, he felt it was a great moment of unity for mankind.
His work was behind the front but Ash Rothlein did make a couple of mistakes and drive into potential danger. "There were no signs saying, this is the front." After making close friends with a Belgian host family, he drove on into Germany as far as Mannheim before the surrender.
Serving in occupied Germany, Ash Rothlein was overwhelmed by the human devastation. When he finally sailed past the Statue of Liberty to his homecoming, it was a simple thing that made many of the troops cry, ladies dishing up apple pie.
Opposing the German Army was less of a challenge for Ash Rothlein than the fight he had against some unscrupulous contractors in Florida after the war. He was only a truck driver but he managed to unite all involved in a troubled construction project to oppose the cartel, leading to a transformational experience in his life.
