WW2 ghost
By Corbin
At the time this happened, I was living with my parents in Germany. My dad was in the Air Force and had been assigned to Spangdahlem Air Base.
At the time of his transfer, I was 12 and excited about moving to a new county. After a year, it just became home. I loved Germany and my school. I went to Bitburg middle school. This was way before it became part of the high school and before it closed.
I don't remember thinking much about ghosts before my encounter; I thought of them as a Halloween thing. After my encounter, I thought a lot about ghosts and the paranormal.
My day started normally with breakfast and getting dropped off at school. It was a crisp spring morning, and I was excited about school. I went to class, and around 10 am, I asked to go to the bathroom. My teacher said yes, and I heard out. I was walking down the hall, minding my own business, when someone stepped out from a doorway into my path. It startled me, and I stepped back, "Sorry, sir…." Was all I got out before my voice came to a stop. My mind had a hard time understanding what I was seeing.
The man was standing slightly slouched and holding his neck with his right hand. He was in an old German-style muddy military uniform and a ww2 German helmet. He was standing facing to my left. When I said sorry and stepped back, he slowly turned my way and stared at me. When he turned, I could see he was holding most of the right side of his kneck together and had burn marks up the right side of his body up past his face. His right eye hung down out of a burnt socket.
After what felt like a lifetime of him looking at me with his one good eye, he turned and staggered across the hall and disappeared through the door. He didn't open it, he disappeared through it! I could feel my body shaking uncontrollably, but I couldn't move or scream for a long time.
I turned and ran back to class. I ran into class and started to sob uncontrollably. My teacher, in shock, grabbed me and walked me to the office.
Someone brought me a cup of cold water, and I started to calm down. When I explained what had happened, the teacher and principal looked confused and concerned. They called my mom and took me home. I tried explaining to my parents that night, but they kept telling me it wasn't possible and that I must be sick or dehydrated. Mom even took me to the Dr but couldn't find anything. It didn't take long to realize I couldn't share my experience without ridicule. Some of my classmates heard and would tease me. I haven't shared this in 20-some-odd years because of the ridicule.
I did because a believer and love hearing others' stories. This is how I got in contact with Author John Olsen.
What I find fascinating is my experience happened in daylight. Not that I'm glad I had my encounter, but for many years it scared me to death. I thought ghosts only showed themselves at night.
Author Notes; Bitburg middle school closed in 2017. It has many stories of ghostly encounters. I personally believe this was a German soldier looking for help, not knowing he had already passed. War ghosts have always fascinated me. It's easy to understand how something so brutal, so unholy, and frightening can create ghosts and phantoms.
Comments