Bernie Cobb was an American GI and a veteran of World War II (including the Battle of the Bulge). Like most American troops stationed in post-war Germany, Cobb was witness to various acts perpetrated by the German Freedom Front, and spent the next two years as part of the hunt for GFF leader Reinhard Heydrich. When Konrad Adenauer, former opponent of the Nazi Party visited Erlangen, Cobb was one of several soldiers assigned to protect him. Shortly after Adenauer began to speak, the GFF launched a mortar shell attack that killed Adenauer.