On the surface, this seems to be just a picture of 2 teenage girls, 2 children, one GI and one civilian, but it brings back sad memories. We are leaving this large town that our squadron had occupied for about a month. We were ceding it to the Russians per the Yalta agreement.
The original owner of the house was allowed to return home. We had used it as our Command Post for the length of our stay and now we were moving out. The two sad teenagers were watching their GI boyfriends pullout not knowing what to expect from their Russian conquerors. A sense of foreboding and anguish permeated the atmosphere of the whole town.
July 1945
Editor’s note: Troop A occupied the town of Ballenstedt, in the Harz Mountains. This may be the location in the picture above.