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Past life war memory from childhood

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DreamAuthor

New Member
When I was a child, I was plagued by migraine headaches and a memory from a past life/death which was directly related to the pain. This began for me at an early age in the mid-1970's...way before the internet, before computers, and before cable. Unless you went to the library and pulled books on the war, you could not easily access images or film. I was never exposed to any war footage or photographs at that age, so the "memory" came out of nowhere right along side of the headaches in childhood.

I remember telling my mother about the memory when I was about 7 years old (the end of 1977). As open-minded as she was, there was no real response there or belief. But, for me, the memory persisted and never changed. I'm still haunted by the short POV film in my head to this day and never knew the location of this place until about ten years ago when I decided to study photos from WWII in Europe. And there there it was...

Nothing truly fantastic or recognizable to anyone. A simple ditch, laid out before the Hedgerows in Normandy. I couldn't believe the familiarity in the pit of my stomach when I saw the ditches that ran parallel to the hedges, with all that vegetation everywhere in the one or two photos available. Still, if you search engine the WWII hedgerows in Normandy, you only get a few photos and they aren't that good, so this "memory" in the 70's was not borne of some photos or war footage I saw on my little black & white TV at home. I watched cartoons, Godzilla, the Munsters, etc, and there were no war footage shows on our few channels available at the time. The worst thing to come on after 8pm was Rockford Files. Plus, I don't think there is any actual movie film of the fighting in those ditches like I remember it. I'm not sure there was a moving picture camera placed there during that period in the war.

Anyway... the memory is very short and goes like this:

I'm in an Army uniform with a helmet on and my rifle is long, heavy and brown wood. This was most likely an M1 Garand. I was in a drainage ditch with my buddies and we were all engaged in a firefight toward the hedges (a very thick, elevated, bunch of trees and bushes). The trees were probably half a football field away and we were actively shooting toward them with return fire coming back. I'm not sure if there was a low road bridge or drainage tunnel culvert, but the guy in front of me was ducking under it right when I got a bullet to the head as I exposed myself to the top ridge of the ditch to shoot. The only other instinctual memory I have of that situation, is that I was young, like 18.

I have no memory of insignia or clear picture of faces. But I have a clear memory of the trees and bushes, the many brownish leaves scattered in the ditch mud, and the desperation/fear of that moment before the bullet. I was not alone there, but I felt alone. I'm not sure that makes sense.

In my mid-40's now, I still cannot get that scene out of my memory. Am I convinced this is a past life memory? It could be and so I thought I'd share here.
 
Welcome to the forum. Yes, this sounds very real. I'm 20 years older than you and the 1950's were the same way. As far as the hedgerow country, have you seen the movie "Patton"? This was one of the best movies about WWII and came out about 1970. General Patton's unit was the one involved in the hedgerows. After being stuck with German's hiding in the hedges as you described, someone (maybe a farm boy?) came up with the idea of attaching a pitchfork looking device to the front of the first row of tanks. It worked. It allowed the tanks to push the hedges over. This battle was before Paris was liberated and after the Normandy invasion. You must have been there at Normandy. Have you ever visited Normandy or the hedgerows? Put that on your "bucket list". Normandy is not like Paris. The people living in Normandy today always thank Allied tourists for saving them from the Nazi's. In the 1980's I worked with a WWII veteran who was one of Patton's "Tankers". I asked him if Patton had really been like the movie portrayed. He said, "Yes, he could be a real SOB at times." Did you know that Patton believed in reincarnation?
 
I've watched "The Longest Day", filmed in 1962, countless times. No one understands the fascination I have with that film, including me. Yesterday, I watched footage of the Battle of the Bulge in my free time. There was a compelling story from a French woman who lived in the area. She was two years old, and her family was shot by the retreating German army, and left for dead. Her mother and two sisters died instantly, but she and her father were found by G.I.s, and taken to a hospital, where their lives were saved. She was an old woman, and still profoundly grateful. You may have been one of the G.I.s to whom she owed gratitude, DreamAuthor
 
DreamAuthor, Welcome to the forum and thanks for posting! Wow! It sounds like a past life recall to me with the headaches to boot. Now I would also recommend a trip to Normandy if you haven't done so.


Now my father fought in WWII. He was in the Battle of the Rhine, Battle of the Buldge, and Battle of Central Europe. But like a lot of vets from WWII, he never did talk about it. But it made such an impact on his life. Before the war he thought of becoming a minister but after the war with all that he saw and experienced had become a real agnostic on things. There were quite a few instances it seemed it was a miracle he even survived. I also remember growing up as a kid and watching all of those old WWII movies. My father could never watch them but he could tell you in detail everything little thing that occurred in those battles. My heart really goes out to these old vets from WWII.


And Dream Author ... Wishing You the Best!
 
Thanks for the warm welcome.


I'm not sure about that movie Patton. I looked it up and the movie was first telecast on ABC TV in 1972 in a three hour color showing. The DVD was released in 1999. I'll have to see if it's on Netflix or in the store so I can watch it.


There were no tanks or long distances across fields, just that row of trees and the muddy culvert ditch. The "memory" is very short, as if to simply illustrate the death and enough to realize the surroundings and reason.


I've done some reading on the tanks and found that they were in real trouble during the first move forward. They couldn't penetrate the hedges, get into ditches and were mortared heavily out in the open.


There is another aspect to this experience I haven't mentioned yet. I had a friend in this life, who was a WWII veteran on the European front, who was in Normandy and fought in the hedges. I met him in the mid-1990's. He passed away two years ago. I won't mention his name, but he was a bonafide hero and author. Our conversations were private, but there were some very painful experiences he detailed to me over the years. He often told me he never told anyone else about those experiences because they were too much to bear. He never talked to me about the hedges and I never asked. I remember one story about crossing the Rhine in a rowboat while taking fire from the other side. That one was especially hard to talk about and there were deep gut wrenching tears which stopped the conversation. Anyway, I miss him. I've always wondered if our souls in these lives, recognize others from previous lives without knowing it. I never mentioned my "memory" to him or even talked about reincarnation. The friendship happened naturally and I was always afraid to ruin it with something he might find ridiculous. That generation was very different, so I kept those topics to myself.
 
argonne1918 said:
Welcome to the forum. Yes, this sounds very real. I'm 20 years older than you and the 1950's were the same way. As far as the hedgerow country, have you seen the movie "Patton"? This was one of the best movies about WWII and came out about 1970. General Patton's unit was the one involved in the hedgerows. After being stuck with German's hiding in the hedges as you described, someone (maybe a farm boy?) came up with the idea of attaching a pitchfork looking device to the front of the first row of tanks. It worked. It allowed the tanks to push the hedges over. This battle was before Paris was liberated and after the Normandy invasion. You must have been there at Normandy. Have you ever visited Normandy or the hedgerows? Put that on your "bucket list". Normandy is not like Paris. The people living in Normandy today always thank Allied tourists for saving them from the Nazi's. In the 1980's I worked with a WWII veteran who was one of Patton's "Tankers". I asked him if Patton had really been like the movie portrayed. He said, "Yes, he could be a real SOB at times." Did you know that Patton believed in reincarnation?
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I did not know that he believed. Yes, I would love to visit and see if it brings up anything. I've been to the UK, and French territories, but not France itself.
 
When there is a true friendship between members of completely different generations, I think it's reasonable to think that a past life relationship existed.


"Patton" is for rent on Amazon, MGo, and vdu - $2.99. It's a fine movie. If I remember correctly, George C. Scott got the "Best Actor" Oscar, but refused to attend the ceremony, because of his scorn for the Oscars. It was a bit of a scandal. The character does make mention of Patton's belief in reincarnation in the film. I believe he thought he had been Alexander the Great.
 
The reason no one made a movie about Patton before 1970 was the family refused. He was very controversial, even after the War and his death. But when the 1970 movie was finished 20th Century Fox had the family preview it before the public debut. After seeing it they said, "YES! That's him!" Today George C. Scott is best remembered for portraying Patton. The History Channel even had Scott narrate the episode on the history of military tanks. But before this movie Scott was best known for his early movie as "Dr. Stangelove" in the mid 1960's. The character roles were sort of the exact opposite. I agree your veteran friend was probably someone you knew in a past life. There is no such thing as coincidence.


Patton grew up in Southern California. There is a Patton Museum somewhere down there. The military base at Twentynine Palms, Calif. was built during WWII for training the tank crews. After another brief look at the Normandy invasion info I think you may have been at the hedgerows before Patton got there. Patton actually went around the hedgerows. Maybe you were with the British units there.
 
Your story is very touching and has similar aspects to what a lot of us here have dealt with in dealing with past lives, especially those of us who fought in wars. The memories and wounds from that time can be very painful and still very clear to us all these years later. They never seem to heal and some even seem to grow larger as we dwell on them.


I truly believe that there is a shared bond with those of us fought in wars in both this lifetime and the last. I do believe we recognize each other and form friendships that share unspoken sentiment, no matter which side we were on. I have always been fascinated by the Soldier's story because there is common elements to each and every one of them. My Grandfather fought in WWII in Guam and I really felt like that was special to our relationship, to hear what he went through and it touched many places in my heart. I've had Vietnam Veterans and WWII Veterans both American and German who have come up to me to share in my experience of being a Soldier in this lifetime. None of them would have known that I was a German Soldier in WWI and WWII, but like I said, I feel drawn to hear the stories and share in the experiences of other Soldiers and I believe they feel that bond with a kindred spirit as well, even if they can't explain why.


I truly wish you the best on your path in this life and hope that you find some peace with your memories of that awful time and place.
 
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