In full field kit and mottled grey-green camouflage battle dress, 28 men of West Germany's 19th Airborne Battalion marched through heavy spring rains one morning last week to the bank of the deceptively calm Iller River, just outside the Swabian city of Kempten. Commanding the platoon was a tough but well-liked Stabsoberjäger (staff sergeant) named Peter Julitz, 24. At the river's edge Platoon Leader Julitz made a quick decision: "We're going to ford the river," he told his men. "In battle, the bridge might be out, and we'd have to be able to do it."
Julitz, a good swimmer, led...
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