In Memoriam:

Günther Rall

    Many years ago, I attended a presentation at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., featuring Luftwaffe 262 aces Günther Rall and Walter Schuck.  It was very early in my reenacting career and I brought with me my reproduction Luftwaffe Soldbuch.  At the conclusion of the presentation, I stood in line with hordes of fellow admirers of these two icons of combat aviation, hoping to obtain their autographs.  When it was finally my turn, I extended my soldbuch for their autographs.  Their reactions I remember vividly and with humor, characteristic of Rall (especially).  Schuck's reaction was non-verbal...he grinned from ear to ear and signed his autograph to the last page.  Rall smiled also and quipped, "...what are you going to do with THIS?"  "Not what you might think, Herr General..."  To this day, I carry that soldbuch in my reenacting persona.

    Fast forward to the Mid Atlantic Air Musuem's annual World War Two Weekend, 2006.  Thanks to substantial effort on the part of people like LARA member, Woody Barnes, Walter Schuck became a featured guest at that event and was presented with a shadowbox of his medals.  In one of the most poignant moments of my reenacting life, Schuck presented me with a Knight's Cross, stating, "...AND you must WEAR this!"  I follow orders and have worn that RK as part of my reenacting persona ever since.

    LARA friend and Advisor Gottfried Dulias was accompanied by LARA photo correspondent John Kunze on a unique trip to Germany in September of 2009.  Among their planned activities there was a visit to Günther Rall and to present him with a plaque declaring him an Honorary Member of the LARA.  Adorning the plaque was one of the limited edition bullion crests arranged for by LARA Deputy Director Ron Anderson.  Rall was unfortunately in hospital at the time of the visit, but John dutifully sent back photos of him accepting the plaque with a smiling fellow Luftwaffe aviator, Gottfried Dulias.  John and Gottfried had advised Rall that I would be in the Stuttgart area in November and my hopes were to be able to meet with him again and express my gratitude that he had honored the LARA with his acceptance of the plaque.

    At the conclusion of a particularly long day at work, I checked my e-mail before I left the office.  Submitted by LARA District Commander Tim Crist was a report by the EAA that Günther Rall had died of a heart attack.  This was followed by confirmation from Al Rubenbauer and condolences by many members of our community.

    Günther Rall was indeed an icon in aviation history and did great things to bring truth about Luftwaffe achievements to a global audience.  He deserves our salute and he most certainly gets one from me.

~Larry Mihlon