Talk:Manfred von Richthofen

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"...is still regarded today as a national hero of Germany." - By who? I've never come across anyone in Germany who does; and while the article technically doesn't say that he is regard a national hero *in* Germany, it sure sounds like. Should be deleted or at least cleared up (with a proper citation), I think.

Maybe is a hero for all WW1 veterans, the Luftwaffel, Old people, who knows maybe if we were Germans we coud have the answer. Long live those who saw History Channel as a child (talk) 15:22, 4 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

"kaputt"[change source]

This article talks about the common story that Richthofen was reported to have been pulled alive from the aircraft saying "Kaput", but some historians have considered this to be a much disputed legend; it seems unlikely that Richthofen was still alive due to the nature of his wound, let alone speak, as during the crash, (and this is shown in death photographs) he slammed his face on his gun butts, breaking his nose and some of his teeth. The stories given by Ernest Twycross and Ted Smout that Richthofen was alive and saying "kaputt", were spoken years after the war (I have yet to find any contemporary accounts by them that were made by when their memories would have been fresh) In addition, the article states that George Ridgway claimed Richthofen was alive. Contrary to this claim, Ridgway said Richthofen was already dead when soldiers reached his plane (a claim he maintained when interviewed for this documentary; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G6NzCgaum4); this even corroborates contemporary accounts of that day which state that the Baron was already dead when the plane was reached and not that he was still alive. Historians have encountered a number of examples where they had testimony or accounts by eyewitnesses from 1918 as well as from years or decades later. It became apparent that the testimony and writings from 1918 were superior. These were obtained when the event was still fresh in their memories, and as a result were clearer, usually more detailed, and consistent with what other people wrote or recalled at the time (even Brown or May describe Richthofen's plane as crashing rather than the myth that he landed it in one piece). As some eyewitnesses' account were so specific that they found the pilot already dead when they reached the triplane, we shouldn't place value on second-hand information based upon an interview with an eyewitness (in this case, Twycross to his son) which had occurred over five decades after the Baron's death.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.68.150.165 (talkcontribs) 16:00, 13 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]