[bobc10x]

Hello All,

After several message exchanges between myself and Gottfried and I've decided to post my final reply.

Please understand that Gottfried is now 82 years of age. In talking with him about trying to establish various dates of the many occurrences that took place more than 60 years ago I finally came to the reality that at the mere age of 43, I can’t even remember that date that I graduated high school and I’ve forgotten the majority of the names of my teachers and the majority of the names of my classmates, with the exception being my closest friends and favorite teachers. Now given my age is nearly half that of Gottfried’s I find it to be completely understandable that he can’t put specific dates on the events that took place so many years ago.

There was some mention made about how they couldn’t understand why Gottfried’s recollection about his time in captivity was so clear, but his time as an active pilot was so vague. This comes with a very good explanation. During Gottfried’s time with his squad he made no attempt to generate a daily dairy were he would have recorded many of the dates that so many have requested. However, shortly after his capture as a P.O.W. in the Russian Gulag, he carved a small wooded box and generated a concealed false bottom were he hide a daily dairy that he assembled used Russian cigarette papers. In extremely tiny tiny print he recorded many of the daily happenings of his horrifying experience. To this day he still has this carved wooden box and the very tiny dairy, which was referenced in great detail when he was writing his book.

During the fleeting months of the war countless records were lost due to bombing and strafing not to mention the records that were personal destroyed my of the German personal due to the collapsing front lines on both war fronts. I find it too be rather appalling that with the tens of thousands of Luftwaffe pilots that flew during the war that only a few several hundred were fortunate enough to have made it to an historical list. With the rationalization that is being used here one would be falsely lead to believe that the whole war was flown and fought by only the very select few pilots that were fortunate enough to make it to an ace list, and we all know that is not true!

For what it’s worth, over the last 10 years I’ve spent countless hours talking with and assisting Gottfried at numerous autograph and book signing sessions. His complete understanding of the plane he flew and the passion that he exudes when he is discussing the time he spent in the cockpit in of his precious Gustav is without any doubt completely true and genuine!

The following are two letters that I’ve received from Gottfried, he has encouraged me to include them here as a final reply from himself on this matter. I hope that after you read his second letter and you see that now the U.S. Air Force has completed a thorough background investigation on Herr Dulias that they have concluded that he is who he says he is, will that he has received a personal invitation to attend this year’s “Gathering Of Eagles” as a featured guest!

Sincerely, Bob C

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Hello, Bob.

You are absolutely right, the date of my crash landing is my best guess. I had to write a date of my crash landing in my book and to the best of my blurry recollections, I came up with that date.
I know for sure, that it was in the beginning of March 1945 and the exact date I was unable to recall, but I really thought, that it must have been the 4th of March for some reason or another. I don't remember even the day I was writing that part of my book in late 2004.

As you said, you can't remember your school teachers names or classmates, so how come, that those armchair historians expect me to remember exact pertinent facts and dates as well as locations from an 82 year old who wouldn't be able to remember those things even without having been brainwashed?

I was reading the replies after you posted my letter to you in the Forum and that one guy criticized me for having better recollections of my prisoner of war times, than of my time as a fighter pilot.
Well as I mentioned in my book, while being in the prison-hospital stays, I was writing a dairy in the form of letters to my family on Russian cigarette paper booklets I made. That I used of course as an aid to write my story. Some of those I wrote verbatim in my book, just look it up and you will find it on page 186.

These Know it Alls are picking on everything I wrote and are so eager to point out any imagined inaccuracies in my book, and therefore call me a liar, it's pathetic!

Well, as you said, let it go and rest, it's no use and surely impossible to try to satisfy all those doubting Thomas's and Know it Alls. They would have to consider all those circumstances of those bygone times, that I lived through long before most of them were born, and they completely ignore those facts and don't give a hoot, what damage they are causing me by making those accusations and demands for exact reporting.

From my short time as Fighter pilot I had no diary to fall back on as aid for the accuracy of my writing and have only my very limited memory to go on. But those armchair historians are constantly insistent that I have to be able to tell dates, locations and names for them to believe my story and for that they condemn me to be an imposter and liar or charlatan. They are not logically thinking and have no consideration whatsoever what they are doing to me in the form of damage foremost to my reputation and also to the creditability of my book, not to mention even a curtailment of me being invited as speaker or lecturer at events, like the WW II weekend in Reading.

They really owe me an apology!!!

Horrido !
Your friend Gottfried.

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Hello, Bob.

The US Air Force, has invited me to be honored as an Eagle at the “Gathering Of Eagles” among 14 heroes of the American Air Force and one Briton at this year's graduation ceremonies of their cadet class.

After writing humbly to the Air Force, thanking them for the invitation, I mentioned that I do not measure up to the Hero standard of the other 15 other invitees. Shortly after that I received a letter from the U.S. Air Force stating, that I am worthy to be an Eagle! After a careful investigation and consideration, their board made the decision to invite me as an honoree.

During their invitation two U.S. Air Force majors came to my house to interview me and told me that there are some dissidents who are making derogative accusations about me. They completed a thorough investigation and dismissed them as armchair historians who ought to know better.

The majors didn't tell me where the board got their information from, but they acknowledged, a lot of records got lost due to the bombing and strafing in the last few months of WW II in Europe. But, evidently they had enough info about me to make their considered decision.

The fact, that the USAF made a thorough investigation about me and found me worthy, this alone is proof, that those false accusations by the doubting Thomas's are just that: false.
The USAF could not risk an embarrassment of that magnitude and made sure, that it wouldn't happen.

With this being said I feel that I’m deserved an apology from those who sought to damage my honest reputation. I flew and did my duty, served and nearly died for my country and after all that I find myself still being persecuted by some doubters because my name didn’t find it’s way onto any historic list.

That's all I can tell you.
Cheers and HORRIDO !,
Gottfried