{"id":16594,"date":"2025-05-08T15:03:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T15:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/08\/this-american-soldier-witnessed-the-nazi-surrender-80-years-later-hes-still-happy-to-be-home\/"},"modified":"2025-05-08T15:03:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T15:03:40","slug":"this-american-soldier-witnessed-the-nazi-surrender-80-years-later-hes-still-happy-to-be-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/08\/this-american-soldier-witnessed-the-nazi-surrender-80-years-later-hes-still-happy-to-be-home\/","title":{"rendered":"This American soldier witnessed the Nazi surrender. 80 years later, he\u2019s still happy to be home"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/factbox\/instances\/cmaej7f0c000y3b6mg0ipvm5x@published\" data-component-name=\"factbox\" data-article-gutter=\"true\" class=\"factbox factbox__\">\n<h3 class=\"factbox__title\" data-editable=\"title\">    Anderson cooper 360  <\/h3>\n<ul data-editable=\"items\" class=\"factbox__items factbox__items--ul\">\n<li data-editable=\"items.0.text\" class=\"factbox__item inline-placeholder\"><em>Watch Louis Graziano\u2019s story on \u201cAnderson Cooper 360,\u201d tonight on CNN at 8 p.m. ET.<\/em><\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmaei0p8e001l27p6fnurae1t@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            He\u2019s believed to be the last surviving person from inside the room of the little red schoolhouse in Reims, France, where German officers agreed to end World War II in Europe.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmaeil1id000a3b6m83gbwb9l@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Eighty years ago, Luciano \u201cLouis\u201d Graziano witnessed history when the Nazis surrendered.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmaeil1id000b3b6mv7ntsv8t@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            But this former American soldier has no special plans for Thursday, when Victory in Europe, or VE Day, is commemorated, saying every day is special to him now.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmaeil1id000c3b6mqaefbg35@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            At 102, Graziano vividly remembers what he saw that day, when it was unclear whether the Germans would sign the surrender document.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmaeil1id000e3b6mx26t9f14@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            One man not there was Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was using the schoolhouse as the Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Expeditionary Force.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmaeil1id000f3b6mp6ty6xow@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            \u201cHe wasn\u2019t in the room, he didn\u2019t want to be in the room in case they decided not to sign the surrender,\u201d Graziano said, wearing a World War II veteran baseball cap.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmaeil1id000g3b6mao6nlvlp@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            But Eisenhower did want to see the defeated officers, so the young American soldier took them to him.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmaeil1id000h3b6m9spnbfle@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            \u201cHe wouldn\u2019t shake hands with them. They clicked their heels together and he dismissed them,\u201d Graziano said of the meeting.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmaeil1id000i3b6mf4c39os4@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Born in East Aurora, New York to Italian immigrants, Graziano was the youngest of five children. He left school after the eighth grade to work as a mason to help support his family.  His mother, sister and brother worked as hairstylists, and he decided to follow in their footsteps. But in 1943, weeks before his 20th birthday, he was drafted into the Army.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmaeil1id000j3b6mz48ehwou@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Graziano completed his military training at various bases across the United States, including Fort Dix, before being shipped to England on the Queen Mary.<br \/>On the ocean liner, he slept one night in a bunk but he chose to sleep on deck in a life vest because the quarters were so tight \u2014 he felt like he had a better chance of surviving an attack on deck.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmaeil1id000k3b6m9bhqi6fi@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            After spending months in England working in facility operations, Graziano was in the third wave of the D-Day attack on Omaha Beach.  \u201cI drove the gasoline truck onto the beach and got up under the cliff,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Germans were shooting down at us. I got my flamethrower out and shot up underneath \u2026 and got rid of that machine gun.\u201d    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmaeil1id000l3b6ml1d7f9z8@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Once in France, Graziano became the utilities foreman in the 102nd Infantry Field Artillery Battalion, meaning he oversaw American-occupied buildings, including the little red schoolhouse.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmaeil1id000m3b6mxe1cbyim@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            While in Reims, he met his future wife, Eula \u201cBobbie\u201d Shaneyfelt, then a Staff Sergeant in the Women\u2019s Army Corps. They married in Reims, honeymooned in Paris after the surrender, and eventually moved to Thomson, Georgia, where they raised their family.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmaeil1id000n3b6m44knguri@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            In the decades since the end of World War II, Graziano has never gone back to France, \u201cI\u2019ve been asked to go many times and have my way paid,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t care to go on that ocean again.\u201d    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmaeil1id000o3b6m7g8435d5@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Graziano isn\u2019t doing anything out of the ordinary to celebrate VE Day, though he has interviews lined up with news outlets around the world to share his story.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmaeil1id000p3b6md1lvh9w9@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            He plans to spend the day at home \u2014 fitting for a man whose thoughts were of the US even as he watched the European conflict end.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmaeil1id000q3b6mdzw5vny3@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            \u201cI was happy to be in that room,\u201d he said of the surrender. \u201cI knew I was going to get to go home soon after that.\u201d    <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<div>This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anderson cooper 360 Watch Louis Graziano\u2019s story on \u201cAnderson Cooper 360,\u201d tonight on CNN at&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16595,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}