Case Title: Wrong mayor
in "Band of Brothers"
Subject: Error in Stephen
Ambrose's "Band of Brothers"
Date: December 6th, 1991
Location: Gulfport, MS
Introduction: Stephen
Ambrose's "Band of Brothers",
Chapter "Postwar Careers", page
295 reads:
"In December 1991, Gordon saw a
story in the Gulfport Sun
Herald. It related that Mayor
Jan Ritsema of Eindhoven,
Holland had refused to meet
General H. Norman Schwarzkopf,
because the commander of the UN
forces in the Gulf War had "too
much blood on his hands. "Ritsema said of Schwarzkopf,
"He
is the person who devised the
most efficient way possible to
kill as many people as
possible."
Gordon wrote to Mayor Ritsema: "On
September 17, 1944 I
participated in the large
airborne operation which was
conducted to liberate your
country. As a member of Company
E, 506th PIR, I landed near the
small town of Son.
The following
day we moved south and liberated
Eindhoven. While carrying out
our assignment, we suffered
casualties. That is war talk for
bleeding. We occupied various
defense positions for over two
months.
Like animals, we lived
in holes, barns, and as best we
could. The weather was cold and
wet. In spite of the adverse
conditions, we held the ground
we had fought so hard to
capture. The citizens of Holland
at that time did not share your
aversion to bloodshed when the
blood being shed was that of the
German occupiers of your city.
How soon can we forget. History
has proven more than once that
Holland could again be conquered
if your neighbour, the Germans,
are having a dull weekend and
the golf links are crowded.
Please don't allow your country
to be swallowed up by
Liechtenstein or the Vatican as
I don't plan to return. As of
now, you are on your own."
Battledetective.com investigated the origin of Walter
Gordon's reaction and found out
that there never was a Mayor Ritsema of Eindhoven!
Time line
- November 6th, 2001
we wrote an e-mail to the Sun
Herald requesting information
about the source of the article.
- November 8th, 2001,we
wrote a letter to the
municipality of Eindhoven,
asking if the city had ever
received a letter from Walter
Gordon and if so, what the
city's response to that letter
was.
- November 21st, 2001, we
wrote a letter to the Sun
Herald, reminding them of our
e-mail of November 6th and
asking hem the exact text of the
article.
- November 30th, 2001, we
received an e-mail from Alma
Lewis of the Sun Herald
informing us that the paper's
microfilm machine was down and
that they would send the article
once it was repaired. Miss Lewis
did attach a
digital scan of the article.
- December 8th, 2001, we
received a
letter from the city of
Eindhoven, telling us that a
letter from Walter Gordon was
never received. It was never
registered and the Mayor's
personal secretary could not
remember seeing a letter from
Gordon either.
- December 11th, 2001, we
wrote a letter and also an
e-mail to the Association of
Netherlands Municipalities (VNG),
asking if there has ever been a
mayor or an alderman in a Dutch
municipality by the name of Jan
Ritsema in 1991.
We have never
received a reply. Neither by
mail, nor by letter.
- December 11th, 2001, we
wrote a letter and also an
e-mail to the Associated Press.
According to the scan, the
article was apparently written
by this agency. We asked who, or
what organization, was their
source in 1991.
- December 12th, 2001, we
received an e-mail from
Associated Press, Corporate
Communication, which read:
"Apparently, you were not the
first to catch this error. The
following corrective moved on
Jan. 8, 1992, more than one
month after the original story
was filed:
'AM-Schwarzkopf, CORRECTIVE
Netherlands-Schwarzkopf,
Corrective
EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (AP)_
in a story Dec. 5 about a visit
by Ret. Gen. H. Norman
Schwarzkopf, The Associated
Press erroneously reported that
the mayor of Eindhoven refused
to meet Schwarzkopf because of
the general's role as commander
of allied forces in the Gulf
War. It was Mayor Jan Ritsema of
Bergen who refused to meet with
Schwarzkopf."
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