The Greatest Story Never told Part I

The Greatest Story Never told Part I
Wild Bill Cody
Copyright By Art Drentlau
I want to tell you the story of Wild Bill Cody, I first heard this story from my friend DR. Michael Ryce he said he read it in the book The Gentle Art of Blessing by Pierre Pradervand. I contacted Pierre and he told me he read the story in the book Return From Tomorrow by Ritchie/Sherrill. I got both books to start my research on this magnificent man because his story was very intriguing to me.
While in the Navy, before I turned 21, I went through a Simulated POW Camp for Navy men that had a chance of being captured in Vietnam. After going through the Simulated Camp myself I became one of the instructors and became an expert at doing Interrogations, Indoctrinations, and giving Impassioned Speeches reminiscent of those given by Hitler. Years later I was introduced to the story of Viktor Frankl the renowned Holocaust Surviver and author of Man’s Search for Meaning and I am now helping to see his dream of a Statue of Responsibility as a companion to the Statue of Liberty come true. I was also guided to another fascinating Death Camp Surviver story, that of Chetlahay a Native American Code Talker and how he learned forgiveness and recovered his Soul.
What you are about to read is a third story and the most powerful story I have ever heard a stunning example of what Human Beings can accomplish through the proper use of Universal Law!
Next time you get to thinking; life is not treating you right, or you are having a bad hair day remember this story and Choose Again Thoughts that reflect what this man did.
The time was May 1945 at the end of World War II. The scene was a Nazi Concentration Camp, George G. Ritchie, who later became an M.D. was part of the 123rd Evac. George was there to help get medical supplies to the newly liberated prisoners and process them for release. The camp was near Wuppertal Germany; the American soldiers found a man and gave him the name Wild Bill Cody because he had a long drooping handlebar mustache. It was obvious to George and the other soldiers that Wild Bill had not been in the camp very long: his posture was erect, his eyes were bright and his energy was indefatigable. He was fluent in English, French, German and Russian as well as Polish and he became the unofficial camp translator. He helped George and the other soldiers 15 to 16 hours a day with release paper work without showing signs of weariness. While everyone else was fatigued, Bill would say: these people have waited all day for our help, and George would even come to Wild Bill when his Spirits were low.
The camp had inmates from nationalities that hated one another almost as much as they hated the Germans yet Wild Bill was liked by all of them and was chosen to help mediate there disputes. Over the weeks they work together on liberating the camp Bill became their greatest asset.
One day while taking a short respite from processing the inmates paper work George commented to Wild Bill… it’s not easy for some of them to forgive, so many of them have lost members of their families.
Bill then told George that he lived in the Jewish section of Warsaw--- after weeks of time working together these were the first words Bill had spoken to George about himself.
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Bill said: one day the Germans came into our town and when they got to his street they lined everyone up against a wall including his wife two daughters and three little boys and machine gunned them. Bill said: I begged them to allow me to die with my family but because I spoke German they put me in a work Group. Bill paused--- perhaps seeing again his wife and five children in his mind.
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“I had to decide right then,” Bill continued, “whether to let myself hate the soldiers who had done this.” Bill said: it was an easy decision, really--- I was a lawyer and in my practice I had seen too often what hate could do to people’s minds and bodies. He said he watched as hate had killed the six people who mattered most to him in the world and I decided then that I would spend the rest of my life--- whether it was a few days or many years--- loving every person I come in contact with.
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Wild Bill Cody was not Bill’s real name it was seven unpronounceable syllables in Polish and he had been in the camp since sometime in 1939, six years or so of little food of any quality or quantity, surrounded by unbelievable depravation considered to be the worst treatment any humans have ever experienced.
George said this was a new kind of horror for him. He was watching some men that had just been liberated decide to die of slow starvation even though they were now free and had plenty of food and medicine.
On the other hand Wild Bill not only survived in this death camp he thrived--- how could that be? He was subjected to a man made hell for 6 years by the people that killed his family and he thrived--- his posture was erect, his eyes were bright and his energy was indefatigable and he loved every one--- how could that be?
This is where the story ended in the books I read, they only took up three pages, so I don’t know any more about what happened to Wild Bill Cody at this time except to tell you who he really is and how he was able to do what he did.
If you would like to know how Wild Bill was able to Thrive in the Death Camp please send me an e-mail and tell me why. Namaste! Art Drentlau drentlau@sbcglobal.net