Fictional Character Biography
During the fighting in North Africa during World War II, Schultz, an armored company commander, is falsely accused of murdering his commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Stenik. Arrested by Stenik's father, a U.S. Army general, Schultz is convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
Escaping from custody and in desperation, he joins a German Army Tiger unit, passing himself off as a German tank crewman separated from his unit. Using his language skills and knowledge of German military customs, Schultz goes through several adventures. He changes sides again, joining British commandos in a raid on a German base. He is captured by the Germans and sent to a prisoner of war camp in Italy. He escapes when the prison train is destroyed in a British air raid.
Schultz subsequently joins up with Office of Strategic Services Major Jon Daurio, who promises to get him a pardon if he agrees to work with Daurio's band of Italian partisans. Schultz became the sole survivor of his partisan unit, escaping to once again join the Germans and being sent to fight on the Eastern Front.
By 1945, he has become completely immersed in the German military and could no longer go home to the United States. The last story sees Schultz meeting Lassiter Wilkes (the U.S. officer who prosecuted Schultz for Stenik's murder) after the surrender of Schultz's German unit, and calling out, "I didn't kill him" — but without Schultz knowing if he spoke in English or in German.
Despite an initial inclination to kill Schultz at the end of the war, writer Franz instead had him go off with the daughter of a German general to start a new life.
Read more about this topic: Captain Willy Schultz
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