Brian Coppola :: Late 19th/Early-to-Mid 20th C cartoonists & illustrators

“Laid to Rest, Finally” (May 7, 1985) By Charles Phillip Bissell

Artist: Phillip Bissell (All)

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“Laid to Rest, Finally” (May 7, 1985) By Charles Phillip Bissell Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	“Laid to Rest, Finally” (May 7, 1985) By Charles Phillip Bissell
Artist:	Phillip Bissell (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Illustration
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	514
Likes on CAF:	1 2
Comments:	2
Added to Site:	9/4/2019
Comic Art Archive:

Description

“Laid to Rest, Finally” (May 7, 1985)
By Charles Phillip Bissell (1926 - )
8 x 14 in., ink and wash on board

In 1960, Boston Globe cartoonist Phil Bissell, working for $25 a day, was handed an assignment that would change his life—and the lives of fans of the brand-new AFL football team coming to Boston. “Sports editor Jerry Nason came to me and he said, ‘They’ve decided to call the team the Boston Patriots. You better have a cartoon ready for tomorrow’s edition.’” Bissel’s “Pat Patriot” cartoon was the Patriot’s logo from 1961-1992.

For the first part of this story, see the cartoon by Bill Crawford, “It Can’t Happen There,” from December 1944.

West German Chancellor Kohl invited US President Reagan to commemorate the reconciliation of the two countries, at the Kolmeshöhe Military Cemetery, near Bitburg, where the remains of German soldiers were interred, and it was a location suitably close to an airbase where 11,000 American soldiers were stationed.

The planned visit was greeted with a great deal of opposition outside Germany.

Although a visit to a concentration camp had been out of the question, originally, a trip to the Bergen-Belsen camp was added for May 5, preceding the 8-minute visit to the cemetery.

In his speech, Reagan said, “This visit has stirred many emotions in the American and German people, too. I have received many letters since first deciding to come to Bitburg cemetery, some supportive, others deeply concerned and questioning, others opposed. Some old wounds have been reopened, and this I regret very much, because this should be a time of healing. …

The hope we see now could sometimes even be glimpsed in the darkest days of the war. I'm thinking of one special story - that of a mother and her young son living alone in a modest cottage in the middle of the woods. One night as the Battle of the Bulge exploded not far away, three young American soldiers arrived at their door - standing in the snow, lost behind enemy lines. All were frostbitten; one was badly wounded. Even though sheltering the enemy was punishable by death, she took them in and made them a supper with some of her last food.

And then, they heard another knock at the door. This time four German soldiers stood there. The woman was afraid, but she quickly said with a firm voice, ''There will be no shooting here.'' She made all the soldiers lay down their weapons, and they all joined in the makeshift meal. Heinz and Willi, it turned out, were only 16. The corporal was the oldest at 23. Their natural suspicion dissolved in the warmth and comfort of the cottage. One of the Germans, a former medical student, tended the wounded American.

Now, listen to the rest of the story through the eyes of one who was there, now a grown man, but that young lad that had been her son. He said, ''Then Mother said grace. I noticed that there were tears in her eyes as she said the old, familiar words, 'Komm, Herr Jesus. Be our guest.' And as I looked around the table, I saw tears, too, in the eyes of the battle-weary soldiers, boys again, some from America, some from Germany, all far from home.''

That night, as the storm of war tossed the world, they had their own private armistice. The next morning the German corporal showed the Americans how to get back behind their own lines. They all shook hands and went their separate ways. That happened to be Christmas Day, 40 years ago.

Those boys reconciled briefly in the midst of war. Surely, we allies in peacetime should honor the reconciliation of the last 40 years.”

The boy, Fritz Vincken, his mother Elizabeth and his father Hubert, all survived the war. Elizabeth died in 1966, three years after her husband. Fritz had married in 1958 and then immigrated to Hawaii, eventually becoming a US citizen.

Fritz, the owner of Fritz’s European Bakery in Kapalama, HI, had written the story down and it was published as “Truce in the Forest” (Readers Digest, January 1973, pp 111-114). He had done interviews and made attempts to locate any of the soldiers, but with no success.

In 1977, a short 38-minute film was made, based on the story.

One of Reagan’s speechwriters clearly knew the story.

Because of the publicity generated by Reagan’s 1985 comments, the story was picked up by the TV program “Unsolved Mysteries,” and ended up being featured as a case on the March 24, 1995 episode of that show.

Eldridge Ward, a viewer who worked at a retirement home recognized Fritz's story as a one told by a seventy-five-year-old resident named Ralph Henry Blank. On January 19, 1996, Fritz and Ralph were reunited at Ralph's retirement home in Maryland. Fritz was also reunited with another one of the American soldiers soon afterwards. Ralph died in 1999, followed by Fritz in 2001, at age 69.

A dramatization of the story was filmed for the Lifetime TV network in 2002, called “Silent Night” and starring Linda Hamilton.

It seems to me that this story has never really gotten its

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Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
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Aidan (Re-Legion ) Lacy
Member Since 2005

Posted on 9/5/2019

I knew about the Christmas Eve night soccer match in WW1 but NEVER heard this story. How powerful. We can connect if humanity trumps(pun intended ) blind angry natiivism

Brian Coppola
Member Since 2009

Posted on 9/5/2019

Aidan (Re-Legion ) Lacy wrote:

I knew about the Christmas Eve night soccer match in WW1 but NEVER heard this story. How powerful. We can connect if humanity trumps(pun intended ) blind angry natiivism

I think it is a really great story. I never heard it before and I am glad to give it a little life, here. I have not sought out the films. My guess or fear is that they smell of Hollywood sensibilities, when the straight story is just so compelling.

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