(BATESVILLE, Ind.) -- There were five brothers from Batesville serving simultaneously in World War II. This story is how three of them met overseas in the most unsuspecting way:
It was the summer of 1944.
Staff Sgt. Alphonse “Butch” Mollaun knew two of his brothers were also stationed in the European theater but had no idea where they were. He hadn’t seen them in nearly two years.
Alphonse was fighting in Luxembourg when he was wounded on September 7th.
“I was standing on top of an armored tank when a shell hit. It threw me about 40 feet. I landed on my knee and crushed it,” he wrote to his parents.
Alphonse was taken to a hospital in England to recover.
His brother, Sgt. Albert Mollaun, was in Belgium and found himself fighting in the Battle of the Bulge a few months later.
Albert was shot and wounded in the right arm on December 20, 1944.
He was sent to a hospital in England for recovery.
“This is the second son of Mrs. Josephine Mollaun that has been wounded while in action in the European theatre of operations, in the last four months,” the Batesville Herald-Tribune reported in January 1945.
A third brother, Julius “Dude” Mollaun, was stationed in England. Julius found out Albert was in the hospital next to his base.
He stopped by to check on his brother and that's when they heard a rumor that Alphonse was also in England.
Matter of fact, only 18 miles away.
Julius and Albert decided to hitchhike to their brother's hospital for a surprise visit!
Alphonse almost jumped out of bed when he saw us, Julius wrote home.
“I don’t know how my brothers ever found me in the hospital. It’s most impossible. I didn’t even know where I was myself,” Alphonse told the Batesville Herald-Tribune.
The picture above was taken by a nurse on the day the three brothers reunited.
Not long after the surprise visit, Alphonse returned to the United States with a Purple Heart.
Julius and Albert returned to their military units.
Two other brothers, Paul and Eugene “Flud”, also fought during WWII. Paul was an electrician’s mate onboard the USS Maryland and Eugene was a seaman in the Asiatic-
Pacific theater.
All five brothers eventually received their honorable discharge and safely returned to
Batesville.
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