(back to homepage)
11th Armored Division
Friends and Families

Dorfmeister (dorfmeisterdruck@t-online.de) has released my new book Valhalla Finale.

Dan O'Brien (current 11th Armored Division Association President) wrote the preface. As you may recall from the pictures I showed during the last reunion, the 11th AD is heavily represented.

In 1945, American intelligence officers debated a “Valhalla Finale” in the Danube region. General George Smith Patton was pacing the floor as his men seized the “Regensburg-Passau-Linz Corridor”. To indicate the complex operations, Valhalla Finale features photographic impressions from Bavaria’s border with Czechoslovakia and Austria. It reflects individual memories and the enormous power that American commanders applied with such remarkable restraint.

During combat, most soldiers neither owned nor carried a camera, film was hard to come by, and official images were divided among many locations. Fortunately, General Stanley Eric Reinhart, Jr., whose father captured Regensburg and Passau before he was appointed Military Governor of Upper Austria, was among those who offered his private treasure trove. 

Granting a greater public access to combined sources allows veterans to relive their own history, and civilians glimpses at a past they might have few clues about until reading the book. 

Readers can follow American soldiers from Camp Lucky Strike in France to Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia. In hundreds of previously unpublished photos from 1945, they see them marching, build bridges, evacuate casualties, take prisoners and help rebuilding a country. 

Valhalla Finale has 348 pages, bilingual subtitles, and a hardcover. It weighs four pounds, and is available for $95 (including shipping and handling). Schools and libraries might appreciate it as a teaching tool. It is also a nice gift idea for family, colleagues and friends. If you are interested, please contact Anna Rosmus via email at passau11@yahoo.com .

Thank you for coming in 1945!

Anna Rosmus