American veteran was 19 when he helped liberate Europe. At 99, the Czechs he once saved returned the favor

In real life, heroes do not wear capes — they wear wrinkles with pride after fighting and winning wars against humanity. Something similar can be seen with Harry Humason, a 99-year-old World War II veteran who fought for the freedom of war-stricken countries during World War II, liberated the people and their future. The Iowa Capital Dispatch shared his heroic story and passion for returning to the lands he once walked as a warrior. What will surprise you the most is what the Czech citizens did for him. 

Harry Humason fought for Austria and Germany, up to the Czechoslovakian border with General George Patton’s 3rd Army, 5th Division, 2nd Infantry Regiment during World War II, and helped free Frankfurt. While the army was proceeding towards Prague for its liberation, the German regiment surrendered right before the forces had to cross a treacherous river trail. The ageing Harry had a lifelong desire to revisit Europe — this time as a traveler; however, the financial crunches in his life had prevented him from fulfilling his dream for years.

With immense contributions made by Czech historian and PhD candidate, Jiří Klůc, Harry received an invitation to Pilsen in the Czech Republic as an honored guest to participate in the Pilsen Liberation Festival, held from May 2 to 6, 2025. Harry’s daughter, Linda Humason, revealed, “Jiří has been making multiple trips to the United States to interview and record the war stories of US WWII vets. He has conducted extensive research for his PhD thesis on WWII veterans and has had the privilege of meeting over 500 of them from around the World.”

Considering this opportunity, Linda launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to check off his travel bucket list, including a visit to Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and perhaps even Paris or London. Unfortunately, she could not raise enough money; therefore, she applied for a travel loan to make it happen, but what happened next came as a surprise to them.

One random day, a Czech news outlet, Seznam Zprávy, featured Harry’s story, resulting in the dormant GoFundMe page regaining activity — in a major way this time. Czech citizens began flooding the fundraiser with whatever they could contribute and cheered for him and his heroism that helped save their nation decades ago. Within a few hours, they crossed their goal of raising $20,000. Harry could finally go on the trip he had been dreaming of, accompanied by his daughter.

During the festival, Harry was felicitated similarly to the Heads of State, where he waved to the honorable people in the Convoy of Liberty, and visited the Patton Museum. “I’m absolutely thrilled. I appreciate the way people shake my hand, thank me, ask for autographs and photos,” Harry told the Czech news outlet. “I’m deeply honored by how much you value the contribution of American soldiers.” In light of Harry’s situation, it is essential to understand the need for traveling for war veterans, especially those with PTSD. According to research on how traveling can help those with mental health disorders, Gerard Flaherty and others state, “Many positive experiences were reported, including maintenance of social contact; the opportunity to develop foreign language skills; enrichment of life resulting from enjoyment and cherishable memories; positive influence on self-esteem; and a departure from the monotonies of daily routine life.”

Another study by Joanna E Bettmann and others suggests, “Nature exposure may mitigate automatic physical reactions that accompany PTSD, allowing veterans to respond more effectively to previously distressing stimuli. This review suggested that participation in nature‐assisted therapies links to veterans’ improved sense of well‐being and ability to cope with PTSD symptoms.” Therefore, traveling to places where you can stay in touch with nature is even more helpful for a person with loud, traumatic baggage.

We are sure that Harry received what was due for him all these years — teamwork, when put in the right places, can do wonders.