Fascinating story well told by the man who lived it: After D-Day, an Allied unit was pinned down by a sniper. Unable to move, and on an inspired whim, one of the American soldiers, Jack Leroy Tueller, took out his trumpet, and played “Lili Marlene.”
Jack Tueller holding his trumpet, at 90 (image from maniacworld/ Wearethemusic.com)
In the morning he was introduced to a German soldier, a sniper who had surrendered, unable to keep fighting after some mysterious trumpeter played the song that made him think of his home, his mother, his girlfriend, and love.
Two minutes of amazing history, vividly told and played, suitable for classroom use.
Go view “Taming a Nazi sniper with a trumpet,” at ManiacWorld.
[Is this the lost video from above? I think so.]
Videos say that Jack Tueller is 90 years old. I’m guessing the video is about a year old — does anyone know any more about Col. Jack Tuler, his story, or where he lives? Could this be the late Jack Tuler of Chicago? Hey, anyone: Where is Jack Tueller today? Who has his life details? (Tueller lives today in Bountiful, Utah, with his wife, Marjorie. He still plays the trumpet.)
Tip of the old scrub brush to Kenny, in China, and to Common American Journal, who had a YouTube copy. Special tip of the old scrub brush to J. A. Higginbotham, who tracked down the Deseret News stories.
(Our YouTube host misspelled the name of the song, I think.)
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Update, October 3, 2010: Reader J. A. Higginbotham tracked down two stories in the Deseret News, in Salt Lake City, about Col. Tueller. I’ve corrected the spellings above, and edited otherwise to point to the details. A new post is probably warranted. Go to the Deseret News site and read their fine work, especially the long story by Doug Robinson.
Update March 2019: Both video links above seem to have died; here’s a video from StudiesWeekly.com, put up on YouTube in 2015.
Sad to hear, Jack Tueller died in 2016, at age 95.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
oops, so if you can see one story you should be able to see both
if you can’t, send me an email and i will forward it
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they’re both from the desert news – the oldest comment (first article? second?) accidentally has and “and” stuck on the end of the html – paste likes to do that and i missed it – it’s just a brief reference to tv show on wwii stories
the most recent link is a reasonably lengthy story about him
yes, it is the same guy
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Great sleuthing, there! Is that the same guy? The first article is unavailable to me — do you subscribe to the Deseret News, J.A.?
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He still seems alive in mid-April:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700024381/World-War-II-veteran-still-hitting-the-high-notes.html
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I can’t find any evidence of the death of Colonel Jack Leroy Tueller. He seems to have been alive in March.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/print/700014737/Utah-WWII-veterans-share-shattering-memories.html
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