Josef at Audie Murphy Memorial Near Holtzwihr, France

In April, 2017, Viking Cruise guide, Josef, from Czechoslovakia, gave a moving tribute to Audie Murphy and a company of American soldiers, who made a valiant stand outside the village of Holtzwihr, France, in the winter of 1945. This took place during the Colmar Pocket Campaign, when both French and American forces fought in a coordinated effort to push German Nazis out of the in the Alsace Lorraine region in France. Tens of thousands of soldiers lost their lives on all sides during this campaign. Audie Murphy was only nineteen years old when he made his own heroic stand. He became the most decorated US soldier during World War II. Josef's commentary was punctuated by pouring rain.