With all the chatter about the upcoming game between our Tigers and the Kansas Jayhawks I happened to recall this story about a young GI from Kansas.
*********************************************************************************************** Silbaugh was one of the few men in the 3125th who did not have a nickname. I don't remember his given name but I have vivid memories of the blond, almost white haired young man from Kansas, He was a quiet sort, friendly, the kind that never got in trouble. He was on the radio operator team. He was usually around when we had a bull session and conytributed a few remarks from time to time, but never as adamant in his opinions as most of us.
I dont remembrer exactly where we were on April 12, 1945, but it was probably somewhere in France. Historical records show that President Franklin D. Roosevelt died that day in Warm Springs, GA. I donm't know the hour of his death.
Several of us, including Silbaugh, were having a bull session that evening. Suddenly, Silbaugh had a strange look on his face and we thought he was having an attack of some sort. One of the guys asked him if he was having a problem. Silbaugh said "no" and then he said "President Roosevelt has died". Well, we though Silbaugh had gone off his rocker. There had been no word of the President's death and Silbaugh had been with us for quite a while so he had not been near a radio if an announcement had been made.
This brought an abrupt end to our bull session about 9:00 PM. We were quite concerned about Silbaugh's condition and thouhght about contacting our CO. We did contact the OIC (Officer in Charge) and asked if he had heard any news from back in the states but did not mention to him what Silbaugh had told us. Early the next morning the word had filtered down to us confirming the death of President Roosevelt. By this time Silbaugh was back to his former self and when questioned about his comment re President Roosevelt's death, he said he just had a strange feeling and the words just seemed to "pop out". We were beginning to think Silbaugh had ESP and/or a psychic mind.
That was a weird evening and I shall never forget the look on Silbaugh's face before he told us President Roosevelt had died.