U-Boat veteran HANS WEISS (4860-1996) is a model builder and Member of SHARKHUNTERS since 1996. He has just finished a model of U-124, the Edelweiß boat of WILHELM SCHULZ (162-+-1986) which he will display, and he writes:
“I am proud to have it on display in a National Maritime Museum and to be a Member of Sharkhunters.”

MICHAEL YOUNGER (6678-2003) recently e-mailed:

“I have been delighted by the KTB Magazine! I just got my second issue yesterday. I want to thank you and your staff for their amazing work, cataloging the efforts of so many. As I look at the past (my father’s war) and study it, I am stunned by the devotion and sacrifice that those veterans displayed. They gave their youth and hopes (even their lives in so many million cases) to fight for their homes and families in distant lands and watery battlefields. Theirs was not a political war, but a matter of individual combat and survival. Recently in my classroom (yes I am a teacher) my students have asked me many questions since this current dispute in the Middle East began. They have no understanding of what warfare is, its magnitude or what effects it has had on world events. What better lasting gift could the men and women who fought in World War II have given their grandchildren and great grandchildren than this – a generation who knows nothing of the horrors of war.

I wanted to also thank Sharkhunters for doing so much to preserve the record of what actually happened then. I so often see such poor writing about the war, as so many writers and historians examine and over-analyze things they have no personal experience with and get it wrong. Worse, is the common problem of retelling incorrect information taken from previous mistakes. What better way to get the past correct than to have the veterans’ own stories and words preserved.”

EDITOR NOTE – That is the problem with things like the Dot-Not website which has absolutely no input from the German veterans, but only a bunch of guys who think they know what went on. Worse yet, the old stories of German U-Bootfahrer machine-gunning helpless men in the water for sport – it just did not happen, but the old propaganda stories continue. We try to set them straight.

We contacted JAMES COCKS (5772-1999), and he wrote:
“I love Sharkhunters and wouldn’t think of jumping ship.”

JEROME YOUNG (6074-2000) sent this e-mail:
“I sure do look forward to each issue of the KTB. Wish it was twice as thick and came twice as often. Thanks for the good work.”

JOE NAFTALI (6308-2001) changed his address, and he wrote:
“Thank you for your attention to this matter. Keep up the truly unique and wonderful publication!”

TONY GALAZ (959-LIFE-1989) has been on board for a lot of years, and every month his Sustaining Member pledge arrives here like clockwork. He writes:
“Best publication on the market for the historian. Keep up the fine work.”

Dr. MICHAEL SHMOOKLER (1217-A-1989) sent a lot of books for our library, and he wrote:
“I love the KTB and can’t wait to get it each month. Currently I am hooked on the Erich Gimpel story and I hope that more like it will be on the way.”

KARL-HEINZ HARTMANN (1211-1989) was a crewman on board U-4709 and he hand-signed a quantity of his photographs to help SHARKHUNTERS grow, and he wrote:
“I like very much what Sharkhunters is doing for us German veterans. No one in Germany likes to remember us anymore.”

And why do we publish these comments from our Members? It gives our Members a chance to express their feelings, to tell us what they like and dislike about their Membership and our KTB Magazine. Your comments, questions and suggestions are always welcome. This is the way we continue to grow and improve.