Anderson nodded. “I’ve been busy. And I see you didn’t leave here after the war.”
Dresner laughed. “No, there was nothing in Germany for some of us and we decided to stay together down here. Thanks to you and what we did together some of the local townspeople offered me a job on the police force. It worked out very well,” he said before reaching over and pressing a button on his desk. A few minutes later a police sergeant stepped through the door. “You need me Herr Major?” the man said.
“You see, even after all this time, this one still calls me Major. You know how it is with German soldiers, you can’t re-train them.”
Al turned around in his seat to see another of Dresner’s group staring back at him in amazement. “How are you Feldwebel Betz?”
Betz looked at Anderson in amazement. “Major Anderson! It is good to see you again,” he said as he stiffened and clicked his heels. Anderson swore he almost saw the man’s arm go up for a salute, but he stopped it and simply held it out to him.
Anderson shook it warmly. “Sergeant, you don’t look like you have aged a day. This job must be good for you.”
Betz smiled. “Possible, but is a bit harder to move now. Besides, I have a family to look after. I must keep this job just to keep the children fed!”
“The bugger has seven kids now. I personally think we should cut them both off,” Dresner said using his fingers to indicate the use of scissors.
Betz held up a hand. “Now, now. An officer must look after the wellbeing of his men,” he cautioned.
“That’s what I mean,” said Dresner with a sly smile. The two men had remained together since the war and enjoyed the working relationship. Dresner had been like a grandfather to Betz’s children.
The men laughed and sat back to talk for a while. Dietz was amazed at the camaraderie the men shared even though they had been apart for sixteen years. Though they had been enemies, they kidded each other and laughed like old friends.
Dresner saw the puzzled expression on Dietz’s face. “Maybe I should explain, Herr Dietz. When the war ended, my company had been assigned the task of traveling throughout Bavaria and southern Germany to shut down some of the smaller operations and send the personnel to units in central Germany. I was also to make sure certain technical information was not discovered if the Soviets arrived in the area. By the time the word came down of our surrender, we had expanded our search into Austria.”
“Search?” Dietz asked.
Dresner nodded. “We were so fragmented by then; one group was not sure of what other groups might be doing. Parts of the Wehrmacht didn’t really talk to each other and the SS didn’t talk to anyone. Many of Germany’s leaders had special projects of their own going on. It was a mess. I got orders directly from Reichsminister Speer to shut everything down and destroy what was left. We bivouacked in Innsbruck the last few days when suddenly this group of Americans came into town. The group was led by this snot nosed major who acted like he hadn’t a care in the world. At first I wasn’t sure if I should surrender to him or shoot him,” he said. The men laughed.
“But he walked up to me and saluted. Then he told me since Germany had surrendered, he wanted to know if my men needed anything,” Dresner chuckled. “He wasn’t what I had expected. I had thought we would be interred somewhere. So from then on, we worked together. He asked what we were doing and then helped me to find a few more of the secret places in the area. The local people saw us working well together and he treated everyone with respect and dignity. From then on, we weren’t German soldiers. We were just people trying to get a job done. Anderson even saw to it we were paid for our efforts. For some of my people it gave them the means to return home. For the rest, we stayed here with people we had grown to respect and started fresh. I think we worked together over 6 months before Herr Anderson was transferred back home.” Dresner leaned forward and winked. “I still have my pistol. He didn’t even take our sidearms. That is the kind of man he is.”
Dietz nodded and looked at Anderson with a deeper respect.
Anderson laughed it off. “Hell, I was just a member of the Corps of Engineers. I had been sent in to find the same places this guy was trying to destroy. He made my job easier. Besides, there were only six of us in my unit. He had over twenty. It would have been a bad day.”
Again the men laughed as they remembered the past. After almost an hour, they had to get back to work. “Al, some of the men and I are going to get together in two nights at the beer hall. Why don’t you join us there?” Dresner suggested.
“Rolf, that would be fun. My son Eric has always had questions about what happened after the war. He’d like to meet the guys.”
“That little baby you had photos of is here too? I would like to meet him,” Dresner said.
“Eric’s all grown up now, Rolf, getting his engineering degree this spring. He’s actually taking us flying tomorrow morning. He wanted to see the Alps from a different angle. He’s a good kid,” said Anderson with pride.
“Then bring him along. We should all be there by 8 pm. We will save you a place,” Dresner said.
The men all shook hands warmly. The evening promised to be one of the happiest many would remember.
The small Beechcraft Bonanza glided slowly through clear blue skies above the Austrian Alps. Anna Dietz sat enraptured in the right seat, not so much from the thrilling view of the snow covered peaks around her, but because she had been invited by Eric Anderson, the 22 year old sitting in the pilot’s seat. Eric had come to Innsbruck to be with his family during the spring break of his senior year. His father, Al Anderson, did business with Anna’s father. Anderson Construction had building projects throughout Europe and especially here in Innsbruck preparing for the 1964 Winter Olympics. Al and his wife, Mary, were seated in the two rear seats in the aircraft gleefully looking out the window and taking photographs. Eric had earned his pilot’s license when he was sixteen and had wanted to take them all on a flying excursion. He had earned his wings in a “V” tailed Beech and this one was one of the company aircraft in Europe.
“Are you having a good time?” Eric asked over the drone of the single engine.
“It’s beautiful!” she exclaimed. “I’ve never flown in a plane before. I had no idea it could be this wonderful,” she said in his ear.
Eric beamed. Flying was a passion for him and he was glad she was enjoying it. He sat back and thought about when they had met. Anna’s father, Fritz Dietz had befriended his father a good five years earlier. On business trips to Europe, the two usually worked together. This was the first time Al had brought the family with him and Mr. Dietz had asked his daughter to show the family some of the highlights of Innsbruck and the surrounding countryside.
Eric and Anna had hit it off right away. She was very good looking, with shoulder length blond hair and blue eyes, and a smile which seemed to gleam in the sunlight. But most of all, she was smart. As a child she had become enthralled at the prospect of space exploration, especially the work of people like Von Braun. Now she was a senior at the Universität Innsbruck studying astrophysics and was determined to help explore the new frontier. She also spoke English as if she had been born in America.
Eric was finishing his civil engineering degree. On the first day, Eric and Anna became immersed in talking about things they had done and wanted to do. It had ended only when they were forced to go home for the evening. The second day she took Eric and his sister skiing. The combination of looks, smarts and a love for athletics had nearly bowled him over. When Eric’s sister had decided to go shopping, there had been no doubt who would be invited to fill the fourth seat in the plane.
Al and Mary Anderson had taken notice. Although he dated in high school, Anna was the first girl Eric had really taken an interest in. They saw the gleam appearing in his eye when the two were together and they grinned at each other when Anna reached over and took Eric’s hand for a brief time. After a quick, knowing glance, they returned to their sightseeing.
Eric had been flying in and out of a number of mountain passes. In mid-March the temperatures had begun to rise, but there was still snow on the trees and along the valley floors. The huge rocky peaks would still have snow for another month. All along the valleys were evidence of roads, homes, farms and small towns. The houses were painted in bright colors that stood out in the white landscape.
Watching his altitude, Eric skirted over several of the peaks to discover a different painted tapestry in each new valley. They were flying up one seemingly deserted valley when they caught sight of a magnificent waterfall cascading down from the middle of one mountain. Beside the falls was a garden-like flat area with a few picnic tables and trees. From there the water plunged several hundred feet into a crevasse before rushing out as a fast moving stream along the valley floor. All along the way, the mist had frozen into an array of what looked like sparkling prisms down the rocks and across the valley near the bottom of the falls. The sunlight caused the entire mountainside to shimmer in light.
“Wow, look at that!” exclaimed Al from the back seat. Mary leaned over him for a look and gasped at the sight. A second later she was snapping away with her camera. As she did so, Eric banked the plane for a better view, then circled back and flew lower to come up the valley again at a different altitude. It was just as awe inspiring as the first time.
Eric began a circling climb to work his way up and out of the valley. On one pass his Mom called out to him. “There’s another one!” she exclaimed.
The new waterfall was gushing out of the mountain above the first into a smaller valley not more than one-half mile long. But it wasn’t a valley. It was more like a hollowed-out section of rock between the peaks. It looked as if someone had used an ice cream scoop to remove a deep section of the mountain. The falls were emptying into a small lake which could barely be seen through a mist.
What was more impressive was the castle-like house sitting on a rocky ledge beside the small lake. It was in the shape of an inverted and squared “A” with pointed towers on three sides. There were what looked like woods surrounding the house and lake except for what appeared to be a large concrete patio along a portion of the lake next to the house. With the ice crystals on everything, the whole thing looked like something out of a fairytale picture book.
“Fly around the place again,” said Al to his son. “I want some pictures.”
“Oh, if we could have a home like that,” Mary said to her husband.
Even Anna was impressed. “I have never seen a place quite so pretty,” she said snuggling up to Eric.
Eric flew around again for a closer look. This time the house was a little easier to see despite the mist. It looked run down, with ivy growing up the walls and grasses showing up in a small courtyard. There were no tracks in the snow and it didn’t look like anyone had lived there for years. This mist from the falls gave the whole place a dream like quality and prevented anyone from seeing things clearly.
After a couple of circles around the little lake Eric’s father leaned forward. “Is there any way we can get an exact location for this place?” he asked. Eric nodded and pulled the plane’s nose higher to climb over the peaks and hopefully be in radar range of the Innsbruck airport. After getting a bearing and range, Eric wrote down the position and banked the plane toward home. It was a good time for them to go back. Nothing could compare to that little valley.
All the way back, Al sat silently staring out the window. He had a peculiar look on his face that he had only when he was concentrating on big plans. Mary continued to look out her side and comment on the wonders floating by. In the front two seats, Eric and Anna were sitting quietly. Although Eric was concentrating on flying the plane, he and Anna would occasionally glance at each other and smile. This time he reached over and took her hand, not in a fleeting squeeze, but intertwining his fingers in hers and holding gently. Anna squeezed back and didn’t let go. They held hands until Eric landed the plane 30 minutes later.
After refueling and securing the Bonanza, everyone went back to their rented Mercedes and made their way back to Innsbruck. This time Mr. Anderson drove, but he continued his quiet concentration while Mrs. Anderson had turned and was carrying on a conversation with Eric and Anna. Mary always had a bubbly personality and truly enjoyed conversations with her family and friends. Her problem was she always made friends everywhere she went, so she seemed to always be talking and laughing. Anna was holding her own and Eric simply wanted to listen to Anna’s voice. He also noticed the look on his father’s face. He was making plans — big plans. Usually that look was reserved for something that would make big money for the business. Until he had thought it through, Al Anderson would be in a world of his own. Eric wondered what that plan might be.
The big Mercedes pulled into the front of the hotel and stopped. As the others got out Al remained in the front seat. “I’m going to go talk to Anna’s father for a minute. You guys go on in. I’ll be back in about an hour,” he said. As the others closed their doors, he pulled away and turned back into the traffic.
Mary watched him leave and turned to the other two. “There he goes,” she said, “Money-bags has some new idea. Best we let him have his fun.”
Anna laughed. “I need to get to my dental appointment anyway,” she said while glancing at her watch.
“Are you doing anything tonight?” Eric asked. “I was hoping to have a little time for just the two of us before I have to go home. Would dinner be okay?”
Anna smiled broadly. “I would like that. What time should I be here?”
“I’ll come get you. How about seven this evening?”
Anna nodded. “How should I dress?”
“I plan on a coat and tie. I heard about this nice restaurant and afterward we can do whatever you like,” Eric said.
The idea of going to a fine restaurant pleased Anna enormously. She reached out and took his hand briefly. “I’ll be ready,” she said as she pulled away and headed for her parked Volkswagen.
Mary Anderson stared at her son. “Moving a little fast aren’t we?” she asked. The laugh lines on the sides of her eyes were tilting upwards with her growing smile.
“Have to,” Eric said with a wink. “I want this to last until I get back over here again.” They started walking into the hotel.
“She’s that special huh?”
Eric stopped before going through the door. He turned and looked his mother straight in the eye. “Mom, she’s that special.”
Mary Anderson was almost taken aback. She always knew Eric as intelligent. He was also very decisive, much like his father. Now it looked like he was making a decision that would influence the rest of his life. It appeared not to faze him in the least. She smiled at herself and followed him through the door.