Talk:Alexander A. Drabik

Sabotage
The article about the sabotage of the fuses  at the Bridge of Remagen by two Polish sappers appeared in 1993 in connection with the death in a car crash of Sergeant Deabik, the first American soldier to cross the bridge on March 7, 1945. He was of Polish decent, his parents having emigrated to the US from Poland. Hitler had nothing to do with the order to blow up the bridge; it was decided by the German command around Remagen to keep the bridge intact as long as possible to allow German troops retreating from the advancing American troops to get across the Rhine. Only at the last minute the bridge was to be blown up. It was a German sapper who prepared the fuses; he didn't have sufficient explosives resp. explosives of the wrong kind. So the Polish article seems sheer invention trying to put a little glamour on Polish military achievements. It is also not specific regarding the names of the two Polish sappers (which are not mentioned) and to who conducted the so-called investigation among the POWs. It is important to note that Drabik himself never mentioned anything like that, even though he was the one to take the first German prisoners.--Ruggero1 (talk) 23:33, 19 April 2010 (UTC)

Black Soldiers at Remagen
On the History Channel show "The last days of WWII" there are a number of black soldiers interviewed, including a guy named Haywood Campbell, who, from his description of the events, must have been with Drabik when they crossed. I am surprised that it is not mentioned anywhere. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.249.51.66 (talk) 22:25, 2 September 2011 (UTC)