Stephen Weiss RIP 1925-2000

[Tibs]

I lost a dear friend last week, a decorated military man, an intellectual and a humanist.

Never thought I'd befriend someone forty years my elder, but Steve was a dear friend to several of us American ex-pats living here in central Europe. He travelled frequently to Budapest and we saw him on visits to London. Steve was a man of valor and bravery who had a deep understanding of war and its affects on the human psyche. Even into his nineties he was a fantastic orator, recollected the various battles of WWII in great detail, kept us on the edge of our seats. We organized several speaking engagements for him here, which were well attended and always ended with a rousing round of applause.

Our mutual friend, a retired Brig Gen., commented on his passing:

An extraordinary American soul, 94-year-old Stephen Weiss, passed away last week. See short articles at link below. How does one even begin to credibly distill the life of a this teenage Brooklyn-born soldier who saw vicious WWII combat in Europe up close, caught behind German enemy lines becomes an OSS resistance fighter with the French maquis, and in 1999 received France’s highest award, the Legion of Honor in recognition of his wartime deeds and later for civic work becoming a tireless advocate for Post-Traumatic-Stress Disorder (PTSD). I had the honor, and unbridled pleasure meeting him in the ever-lively Iguana Bar in Budapest some years ago and later at my brother’s fun Florentine wedding. Steve regaled me with his fascinating personal stories and wise observations about our troubled world today. Always hopeful, always optimistic I hope many youth had a chance to benefit from his wisdom. He also had a wicked sense of humor always with a life-adoring twinkle in his eye as witnessed in this recent picture (lower right). RIP Steve, I so wish I had gotten to know you better, however in our short times together you were unforgettable ... a living true life screenplay ... in this existence and now always in afterlife.

He was a remarkable man. I will never forget his service to the country and his wacky sense of humor. But above all else, the fact he was still picking up chicks with gusto well into his eighties made us all feel unworthy. He was a renaissance man in every sense of the word.

Rest in peace my friend, you will not be forgotten.

France honors an American who fought behind enemy lines in WWII and went on to help others with PTSD
https://www.stripes.com/news/europe...and-went-on-to-help-others-with-ptsd-1.619235

France Gives Highest Honor to U.S. Hero of Resistance
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-nov-06-mn-30690-story.html

Dr. Stephen J Weiss, Officier, French Legion of Honor, Senior Visiting Research Fellow, Kings College London. (Goddard College, MA 1976; King’s College War Studies, MA 1990, PhD 1995), born in Brooklyn, 1925m was 18 when he landed in the south of France on D-Day, 15 August, 1944, from Italy, as part of the Allied Operation, Dragoon. Cut off from his unit during a night attack near Valence, and listed as Missing In Action, he linked up with French resistance fighters and American OSS special forces, as one of a minority of soldiers who survived many months of combat without serious physical wounds. Persistent personal mental wounding was another matter. His production work at CBS-Network T.V. & CFI Hollywood, and training later as a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles, 1968-1989, gave him a greater understanding of the psychology of warfare. Dr. Weiss states, ‘My generation is disappearing at an accelerated rate, and I, with all humility, remain, almost alone, to present and explain the life of the combat soldier. I believe that after a lifetime of researching and writing, a realistic story of “the fighting man” has emerged. Published were Allies In Conflict, 1995 & Second Chance, 2010.

 

[SteelerInLebanon]

I lost a dear friend last week, a decorated military man, an intellectual and a humanist.

Never thought I'd befriend someone forty years my elder, but Steve was a dear friend to several of us American ex-pats living here in central Europe. He travelled frequently to Budapest and we saw him on visits to London. Steve was a man of valor and bravery who had a deep understanding of war and its affects on the human psyche. Even into his nineties he was a fantastic orator, recollected the various battles of WWII in great detail, kept us on the edge of our seats. We organized several speaking engagements for him here, which were well attended and always ended with a rousing round of applause.

Our mutual friend Brig Gen. Peter Zwack commented on his passing:



He was a remarkable man. I will never forget his service to the country and his wacky sense of humor. But above all else, the fact he was still picking up chicks with gusto well into his eighties made us all feel unworthy. He was a renaissance man in every sense of the word.

Rest in peace my friend, you will not be forgetten.

France honors an American who fought behind enemy lines in WWII and went on to help others with PTSD
https://www.stripes.com/news/europe...and-went-on-to-help-others-with-ptsd-1.619235

France Gives Highest Honor to U.S. Hero of Resistance
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-nov-06-mn-30690-story.html

Sorry to hear that Tibs.

 

[Tibs]

He's published several books, his last one is a great read, for those interested in the psychology of war.

Despite the huge proliferation of books about almost every conceivable aspect of World War II, few accounts manage to recreate the personal experience of war in a combat zone. Each veteran brought his own memoir with him, ricocheting around in his head, but few have had the combination of literary skill, self-knowledge, and desire to get it down on paper. Private Steve Weiss of the 36th "Texas Infantry, U.S. Army, is one of the few who had that elusive combination, and even so, it took him almost a lifetime to put it all together.

In "Second Chance: In Combat with the US "Texas" Infantry, the OSS, and the French Resistance during the Liberation of France, 1943-1946," Weiss, a psychotherapist who possesses a doctorate in War studies, sheds much of that aspect of his life to explore the kid who hit the beaches of Southern France in 1944. Although this part of the memoir could easily make a rousing adventure story - Weiss and his buddies, separated from their unit, spend time with the French Resistance and the OSS and Weiss winds up with a Croix de Guerre from the former and a silver plaque from the latter - the author is too honest to make it just a series of clips from a Hollywood movie.

At the end of "Second Chance," the older Weiss, by now the only American to have received the Medaille de la Resistance Francaise and hold the rank of Officier in the French Legion of Honor, looks up many of the people he met during the war, from Resistance comrades to the officers whose incompetence contributed to his decision to desert. Some are changed and some are dead, but all are bound by a shared experience of war that transcends the decades and even mortality itself.

Few memoirs convey both the sordidness and exaltation of life in war more honestly than "Second Chance." It succeeds as an historical and psychological study, one of value to any serious student of the human side of war.

 

[Tim Steelersfan]

Sorry for your loss and ours.

 

[Steelworth]

Sounds like a wonderful human being who lived a very full (ups, downs and all-arounds) life. Sorry for the loss, Tibs.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Sympathies for the loss of your friend.

 

[Djfan]

Sorry man. He seems like a great guy

 

[hamster]

RIP Stephen. You earned it.

 

[madinsomniac]

Rip. so sorry Tibs!

 

[Confluence]

sorry for your loss Tibs

Sent from my SM-N950W using Steeler Nation mobile app

 

[Superman]

Sorry for your loss, Tibs

 

[deljzc]

Sounds like a blessing to have known such an interesting man who lived such a long and fulfilling life. The greatest generation.

Condolences Tibs.

 

[Troglodyte]

Not many WWII vets still living, sorry we just lost another one. The Greatest Generation lived through the depression and the war at a very young age.

 

[Tibs]

Thanks guys, appreciate it.

 

[Smash]

Sounds like a remarkable man Tibs. Condolences on losing a friend.

 

[scstillerfan]

Wow what an incredible life. RIP sir and sorry for your loss Tibs.

 

[Steeltime]

Sounds like an amazing person, Tibs. We are losing our WWII vets, my dad included about 14 months ago, every day, and soon they will be as remote as Civil War veterans as of WWII.

 

[Tibs]

Amazing twist of fate, he was able to take - what turned out to be his final - trip to Paris a few weeks ago on Valentine's Day, where he was given a hero's welcome. I'm glad he was able to go back one last time, to be recognized once again. Rest in peace, Steve.

 

[Steelr4evr]

Well god bless him. He lived a good life filled with good.deeds.Not many left from WW2. It's really hard to imagine the scale of that war. Which if you could call a war noble and just ,WW2 was it. So glad the good guys won.

My grandfather was a decorated veteran of WW2 101st Airborne Division. I lost him in 1976. I was pretty young. He never talked to my dad about the war much at all if ever.

He may have had PTSD. He wasn't fond of too many people outside of his family and pretty much didn't trust anyone. Kind of became a hermit.

 

[OhioSteel]

Sorry for your loss Tibs. Sounds like a true hero!!

 

[Steelin]

One of the greatest generation. RIP he sounds like a true hero. To spend his life studying PTSD and helping others cope with it is amazing. I'm sorry for your loss.