Walter Krueger

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Walter Krueger

Walter Krueger (born January 26, 1881 in Flatow , West Prussia , † August 20, 1967 in Valley Forge , Pennsylvania ) was an American general of German descent in the US Army . He led the US 6th Army during the Pacific War .

Life

Early years

Krueger was born as the son of the Prussian Colonel Julius OH Krüger and his wife Anna Krüger (née Hasse) in the West Prussian town of Flatow and lived there until he was eight. After his father's death, the family emigrated to the United States at the instigation of his mother and initially stayed with a relative who lived in St. Louis . The remaining childhood spent Walter in Madison , the US state of Indiana , where his mother and stepfather moved. There he attended, among other things, the Cincinnati Technical School .

Originally Krueger wanted to become a naval officer , but rejected this idea because of his worried mother. In 1898, during the Spanish-American War, he volunteered for service in the US Army and was stationed in Cuba for a year with the rank of private . He later fought as a sergeant in an infantry unit in the Philippine-American War . In 1901 he was transferred to the 30th US Infantry Regiment as a Second Lieutenant . In 1903 he returned to America and attended the Infantry and Cavalry School (graduation 1906) and General Staff College (graduation 1907) in Fort Leavenworth , Kansas . During this time he met George C. Marshall , with whom he has been friends since then. He spent the next few years with various units in the Philippines.

First World War

In 1916 Krueger took part in the punitive expedition against the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa under General John J. Pershing . After the United States entered World War I , he was transferred to France in February 1918, where he worked as a staff officer in the 26th and later the 84th Infantry Division , as well as in the Tank Corps . Towards the end of the war he served in the staff of the VI. and IV. US Corps , where he was promoted to colonel .

Interwar period

This was followed by some courses at the United States Army Infantry School in Fort Benning , Georgia , and short-term command of the 55th US Infantry Regiment stationed in Camp Funston , Kansas . In 1921 he graduated from the United States Army War College , where he also worked as an instructor for a few months. From 1922 to 1925 he was assigned to the US Joint Chiefs, where he served in the strategic planning department . He then graduated from Naval War College in Newport , Rhode Island , where he also taught from 1928 to 1932. After this teaching activity, Krueger was given command of the 6th US Infantry Regiment in Jefferson Barracks , Missouri . After two years he moved back to the department for strategic planning , of which he became head from May 1936, followed by promotion to Brigadier General the following October. In June 1938 he became commandant of the 16th US. Infantry Brigade at Fort George G. Meade , Maryland . He was promoted to major general in February 1939 and became commanding officer of the 2nd Infantry Division at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio , Texas , followed by command of the US VIII Corps .

In May 1941, the now Lieutenant General in command of the 3rd US Army and the Southern Defense Command , whose office he held for over a year.

Second World War

Lieutenant General Walter Krueger with General Douglas MacArthur , Commander in Chief of the Allied Forces in the South Pacific, and General George C. Marshall , Chief of Staff of the US Army , at a camp in New Guinea, 1943 (left to right).

At the request of General Douglas MacArthur , Walter Krueger was entrusted in February 1943 with the command of the 6th US Army , recently set up in Australia , to which the I , X , XIV and XXIV US Corps were subordinate during the war . His army fought the forces of the Japanese Empire as part of Operations Cartwheel and Dexterity . On November 28, 1943, Krueger founded the US 6th Army Special Reconnaissance Unit on Fergusson Island , New Guinea , which became known as the "Alamo Scouts".

Krueger's so-called "Alamo Force" continued to fight on the mainland of New Guinea (July – August 1944), conquering the island of Morotai and the islands of Leyte and Mindoro in the Philippines in September '44 . On January 9, 1945, the army landed in the Gulf of Lingayén and thus started the liberation of the main island of Luzón . Krueger was promoted to four-star general in March and prepared his units for Operation Downfall , the invasion of the Japanese motherland, which began in the fall . Due to the Japanese surrender , this plan was discarded and Krueger's army became an army of occupation.

retirement

In January 1946, the 6th US Army was disbanded and Krueger was briefly downgraded to Lieutenant General. Nevertheless, he was a four-star general the following July with the rank retired . During a farewell ceremony, General MacArthur gave a speech in which he said, among other things, the following about his colleague:

“When the final pages of history are written, Walter Krueger will go down as the ablest Army commander of the war. You have been a peerless soldier, you have been a great leader and you have been a great friend. "

“When the last pages of history are written, Walter Krueger will go down as the most capable army commander of the war. You have been an incomparable soldier and a great leader, you are and will remain a good friend to me. "

- General MacArthur : during an address

Nevertheless, MacArthur criticized his friend because his advances were usually too slow. He even considered replacing Krueger.

In addition to being an expert on discipline and training, Krueger was also a renowned military historian and scholar on military matters. He translated and published numerous German-language military articles. His memoirs about his service during World War II were published in 1953. Walter Krueger died on August 20, 1967 in Valley Forge , Pennsylvania and was buried in Section 30 of Arlington National Cemetery next to his wife Grace Aileen Norvell (born May 1, 1882; † May 13, 1956), who died in 1956. The couple married on September 11, 1904 and had three children together.

Trivia

Awards

Selection of decorations, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of Military Awards :

Fonts

  • From Down Under to Nippon: the Story of the 6th Army In World War II. ISBN 0-89201-046-0 .

literature

  • Kevin Holzimmer: General Walter Krueger: Unsung Hero of the Pacific War. ISBN 0-7006-1500-8 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Time magazine of January 29, 1945 - article 'Old Soldier', at: time.com Retrieved May 4, 2010
  2. ↑ spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk - Walter Krueger, at: spartacus-educational.com Retrieved June 1, 2007
  3. ^ University of Texas - Texas Archival Resources Online - Inventory of the General Walter Krueger Papers: 1943–1945 - Biographical Note, at: lib.utexas.edu Retrieved June 1, 2007
  4. ^ Arlington National Cemetery Website - Walter Krueger General, United States Army, at: arlingtoncemetery.net Retrieved June 1, 2007
  5. ↑ spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk - Walter Krueger
  6. ↑ Time magazine from January 19, 1953 - article 'Neurotic Explosion', at: time.com Retrieved June 1, 2007
personal data
SURNAME Krueger, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American four-star general
DATE OF BIRTH January 26, 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH Flatow, West Prussia, today Złotów , Poland
DATE OF DEATH 20th August 1967
Place of death Valley Forge , Pennsylvania