In April, 1945, less than a month before Hitler committed suicide in his bunker, effectively ending World War II; Lt. Bob Dole, a small-town Kansas boy was leading a patrol against the Nazis in Italy. A Nazi machine gun had pinned down his radio man, and Lt. Dole, being a member of the Greatest Generation decided to rescue the unfortunate soldier.   His reward for that courageous act was swift; his body was shredded by the very same machine gun. So shredded, the Medics, doing instant triage,    left him for dead, and moved on. When they doubled back, after saving the ones they thought could be saved, they found him still alive.   His right arm was useless; he was paralyzed and could not walk.   Dole had been assigned to the elite 10 th  Mountain Division, to replace a commanding officer who had been killed in combat. Dole never understood why.   “I thought it was mighty odd that a kid from Kansas who had seen a mountain up close only once in his life would be assigned to lead a platoon