Pilsen Daily: American veteran Joseph Thurmond returned to Klatovy. He experienced touching moments

Humility, tears, admiration, smiles, joy and a great experience. This is how one could describe Thursday, May 1, when Joseph Thurmond, a centenarian American veteran of the 94th Infantry Division who participated in the liberation of the Klatovy region, visited Klatovy after 81 years. He experienced many touching and joyful moments in Klatovy. He even reached a place that is just getting ready to open. As soon as noon struck on the Black Tower, a car began to approach Klatovy, with which the centenarian veteran had been to see other places in the Klatovy region that he remembered where he had been 81 years ago. His first steps in Klatovy led to the town hall, where he was welcomed by the deputy mayor Václav Chroust and Miloš Ryneš from the Klatovy 3rd Army Club and his friends. They laid a flower at the memorial plaque and followed him to the ceremonial hall of the town hall. "We welcomed Mr. Thurmond, who was here in 1945. He is a hundred-year-old young man. After 81 years, he got to Klatovy again and, as his son says, it was his great wish and he is glad that he could fulfill it. I was surprised myself, because the visit was originally signaled as private, so slightly secret, so many people gathered. And I think that all those who are here dressed in American uniforms made Mr. Thurmond happy. I hope that we will be able to show him a tiny part of our city. We have never forgotten the American soldiers who liberated our city and this region. We will never forget them. And of course we are very grateful," said Deputy Mayor Václav Chroust.

Veteran Joseph Thurmond signed the city's memorial book and then looked around from the balcony at the square and waved, just like Shirley Temple-Black did in the nineties. He looked around Klatovy and the monuments with interest and enthusiasm. "It's a nice opportunity to go back and see the area where I was able to stay for a while so many years ago. I really appreciate all the people who take such good care of us while we're here. I love it here. Thank you very much," said the veteran with emotion. His son Michael, who came to Klatovy with him, was also pleased. "You honored my father and I thank you very much for that. We are grateful that we were able to come here. Today is a day that he never thought would happen, that he would ever be able to return, but thanks to Jan Horský and several others who helped us and worked with us, we returned. He sees the places he has been, and he talked to me many times as a child about Klatovy and other towns. My dream has come true too, because I am here and the people of the town have told me amazing stories. My father is so grateful for the manner and the honor you have shown him. Thank you. It was very nice," said the son.

He toured the museum
There was no shortage of photos with military jeeps in front of the church, and then after lunch they visited some of the Klatovy monuments. The veteran had a wish to visit the Centrál hotel, which he remembered from the war. After that, he was welcomed at the newly planned museum, where he could be among the first to visit. He was excited about all the exhibits on display, which he looked at with interest, and even tried some of them. He went through the whole thing and sometimes even recounted a memory of his. He willingly took pictures with everyone, signed books or photographs as a souvenir. It was a powerful and moving experience for all those present. Among them was the witness Jana Poláková, who was three years old at the end of the war and remembered running among American soldiers. "It's an amazing experience, because when I remember that as a little three-year-old girl I actually experienced Americans here a little bit and now, with the passage of time, I've met one, it's just amazing, I have no words. I'm very happy," said Poláková with emotion, remembering how she received chocolate from Americans as a child.

The witness was surprised by the veteran
According to her words, she was surprised by the veteran. "I thought he might be a really old man, because a hundred years is a hundred years. But he surprised me with his vitality and his interest in all of this. So he surprised me pleasantly and was also nice when we sat there together. I have a very nice feeling about it. It was a beautiful experience," added the witness.

However, this day was a dream come true especially for Miloš Ryneš, who could not hold back tears in some touching moments. "Joseph Thurmond served in the 94th Infantry Division. Here in Klatovy, it was already a so-called occupation unit, so he did not come in the first wave, but in the second. Then he was engaged in guard duty. He was not only here in Klatovy, but was in Sušice, Rabí, around Žichovice, Střelecké Hoštice, Tedražice, all the way to Český Krumlov. We had the great honor of welcoming this World War II veteran to Klatovy with the participation of the Third Army Club in Klatovy and friends. I really appreciate that we managed to welcome Joseph Thurmond here in Klatovy," said Ryneš, whose dream has come true is the museum mentioned above. "I assume that a private museum will be opened in the fall, a new project will be born, a so-called new child. And Joe was welcomed in this museum. He is the first, perhaps essentially the last living World War II veteran who was really here in Klatovy, so he had the supreme right to open a makeshift exhibition with his son Michael. He looked through the entire exhibition, which, according to him, is probably not small. As others have commented, they really liked the exhibition. It is not just about the American army, as some might think, but the entire anabasis of World War II is completely covered here," said Ryneš.

Tears of emotion also flowed from his words, with which he assessed the meeting with the hundred-year-old, smiling and incredibly vital veteran. "For me, it's a matter of great importance and it's a dream come true, because this means a lot to me. It's one of the few dreams that have come true today and that's why people do it. It's the driving force that drives people forward and so that something remains here for future generations. That legacy. Back then, guys from the other side of the world went to save someone on the other side of the world. They didn't know what they were getting into, they went for it, and for that we are grateful to them and want to thank them," concluded Ryneš. The most touching end to the farewell was the column formed by soldiers, through which the veteran walked to his car, accompanied by applause and tears from the guests.

author: Daniela Loudová