November 11, 1918
'I am running as fast as my legs will go, dodging artillery craters, bodies, and other debris. I joined the army only a few months ago after my eighteenth birthday. Now the German lines have collapsed, and the Allies are tearing through my comrades.'
'I can hear the whistle of bullets around me, impacting the ground, sending puffs of dirt into the air. I can feel the thunder of artillery explosions echo in my bones, a sound overpowering my racing heart.'
An explosion near him, sends him flying through the air and into a mud-filled crater. He lands hard in the mud, inhaling a mouthful. He quickly chokes and gags it up along with his meager breakfast. He crawls out of the mud and feels a sharp pain in his left leg, he checks it only to realize he had broken it in his fall.
"This sucks, am I really going to die in this dang muddy hole? I haven't even kissed a girl yet. I was a fool to listen to my grandfather's words about courage and glory. There is no glory in this dang war for us." A German soldier runs by the hole he is in and suddenly gets blown to pieces by an artillery shell, splashing all over him and getting into his mouth.
He swallows some by accident, causing him to gag at the taste and the thick, hot feeling of it. "Oh God, that's gross, I hope I don't get sick from that." 'A warm feeling suddenly spreads through my body in a way no fire or hot drink ever has before. The world slows slightly and I feel my body move a little more smoothly.' "What's happening, why is everything slowing down? Am I dying? Is this what death feels like?"
A soldier appears at the top of the crater I am in and points his rifle at me. "Don't shoot, I surrender." I stare at the gruff-looking man with all the pleading I can muster in my eyes. "You surrender huh. I could just kill you and make things easier on me. I have no reason to let you live." "I just don't wanna die, I am only eighteen and wish to marry and have a family." The man stares at me with an intense gaze while puffing on his cigar. "What's your name kid?" "My name is Matthias Karl Eisenblut." "I don't really need your entire name but whatever. I'm just going to call you Mat. Well Mat, I need to throw all your weapons away from you." I remove my knife from my chest rig and throw it out of the crater along with my single grenade.
"Alright kid, now I'm coming down there. If you do anything, I will kill you before you blink." He walks down into the crater and grabs me by my chest rig, pulling me out with surprising ease. He hauls me over his shoulder like I'm a sack of grain and walks towards other allied troops.
"So, what is your name?" He makes what sounds like a growl before huffing. "Name's James." "Well, nice to meet you I guess. Thanks for not putting a bullet in my skull." "Sure kid." I soon found myself placed in a pen with other captured comrades and James quickly left without a word.
Time quickly passed from then on. I got a splint for my leg and was soon hauled off in the back of a truck to a POW camp with everyone else. While I was there, my leg healed, and I chatted with others. I was released with others on June 21st and am now in Versailles for the signing of the treaty that will determine Germany's future.
After hearing the conditions we are forced into, I could only feel anger and sadness.
'Cursed greedy allies making such harsh demands of us. How is Germany supposed to survive? This is simply outrageous.'
I left in rage and got on a train back to Germany, to my hometown of Munich.