sentences:  He entered military service in 1959 a few years after the "Bundeswehr" was founded.When he retired in 1996, he was Territorial Commander-in-chief in charge of Lower Saxony and Bremen and held the rank of Generalmajor (Major General).The year before, he gained prominence by publicly criticizing the verdict of the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling that the statement "soldiers are murderers" is protected free speech.