1946
Ralph was shipped out to Germany. He first arrived in Le Havre, France, at Camp Lucky Strike. He then traveled by train through Reims into Frankfurt and then to Erlangen. Ralph was there for about three weeks and then he was assigned to War Crime Trials Unit 7708 War Crimes group. The group was part of USAFE (US Air Forces in Europe). Ralph’s job was to maintain all the files that would be given to the lawyers.
August: All the files were moved to Oxburgh, Germany and put in a casern, or military barracks.
For safety reasons, all officers were stripped of their weapons, cameras and recording devices during the trial. They were treated like visitors in order to make sure no information was released without approval.
Ralph listened to Hermann Goering, head of the Nazis, as Goering attempted to rationalize his actions by stating during the trial, “I held high office. I was responsible for many people. I did what I thought was good for the German people just as your president would do for your people.”
1947
Ralph was honorably discharged from the US Army after completing his 18 months of service.
