Ritchie Boys Wiki

Bernhardt, John P. (01180419): Difference between revisions

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|first=John
|first=John
|middle=P.
|middle=P.
|class_rank=2nd Lt
|class_rank=Second Lieutenant
|class_branch=FA
|birth_year=1899
|birth_year=1899
|death_year=1996
|death_year=1996
|nativity=Ge
|nativity=Germany
|religion=P
|religion=Protestant
|ipw_ge=36
|ipw_ge=36
|overseas=Y
|overseas=Y
|rank_final=2nd Lt
|rank_final=Lieutenant Colonel
|certificate=4039
|certificate=4039
|confidence=medium
|confidence=medium
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|photo=5949627958392409.jpg
|photo=5949627958392409.jpg
|birth_place=Reichenbach, Germany
|birth_place=Reichenbach, Germany
|arm_or_service=Field Artillery
}}
}}


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== Biography ==
== Biography ==
John Bernhardt was a Ritchie Boy! John (Johannes) Bernhardt was born in 1899 in Reichenbach, Germany and grew up in Chemnitz. He earned his Abitur, but with an interruption. He was drafted into the Germany Imperial Army at age 17 as a “one-year volunteer.” He was a Corporal in a horse-drawn artillery unit along the Western Front. After the war he attended the University of Hamburg, then began an apprenticeship in international banking in New York. He ended up moving to the Chicago area to help relatives recover from a train tragedy. He became a US citizen in 1929. During the 1930s he worked in accounting, income tax consulting, real estate, community service, local politics and even owned a deli. He was drafted into the US Army (age 42). He completed basic training at Fort Roberts CA, officer training at Fort Sill OK (Class #60), got married in September, 1943, then headed to Camp Ritchie, MD for military intelligence specialist training (Class #12). His upbringing in Germany in language, culture and military knowledge were going to be put to good use. After landing on Omaha Beach (June 24, 1944) he and his team began work for Combat Command B of the 3rd Armored Division. Captain Bernhardt interrogated POWs, served at court martials, and conducted searches in dozens of towns. At war’s end he worked for OMGUS, compiling disarmament statistical data and sorting through Nazi material as well as valuable Eastern Europe/USSR maps. In 1946 he worked at the Pentagon and Fort Holabird, MD evaluating maps and compiling Nazi membership lists. He then was transferred to Heidelberg, Germany (1948-1950) to help with the reorganization of the German government. During the Korean Conflict, John spent 17 months in Taegu, Korea as an intelligence advisor to the ROK. In 1953 he transferred to the US Army Reserves at 5th Army Headquarters in Chicago, working as Chief of Plans and Operations in the G-2 section with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He retired in 1958. He then worked as an accountant for the SSA, H&R Block and the IRS and he did international banking correspondence for Continental Bank. In 1990, after the Berlin Wall came down, John took his 3 daughters to see the family homestead in Schoemberg (near Weida) that had been behind the Iron Curtain for decades and legally got the property back. John died at a VA hospital near his Riverside, Illinois home in 1997. Three wars and a ton of history! John's family provided us with a number of photos and documents regarding his service.
Johannes “John” P. Bernhardt was born in 1899 in Reichenbach, Germany, and grew up in Chemnitz. Drafted into the Imperial German Army at seventeen, he served as a corporal in horse-drawn artillery on the Western Front, later studied at the University of Hamburg, and became a United States citizen in 1929.
 
Drafted into the U.S. Army at forty-two, Bernhardt trained at Camp Roberts and Fort Sill before completing military-intelligence training at Camp Ritchie (Class 12). He landed at Omaha Beach on 24 June 1944 and served with Combat Command B, 3rd Armored Division, interrogating prisoners, supporting courts-martial, and conducting searches. At war's end he worked for OMGUS on disarmament data, Nazi records, and captured maps.
 
Bernhardt later served at the Pentagon, Fort Holabird, Heidelberg, and as an intelligence adviser in Korea. He retired from the Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel in 1958, then worked in accounting and banking, and died near Riverside, Illinois, in 1996.


== Research notes ==
== Research notes ==
''No notes were in the source row. Add what you know.''
* Packet biography says 1997 while the live profile says 1996; retain the existing year pending an authoritative vital record. Curate the folder's 78 media files later.


== Technical record ==
== Technical record ==
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| row_source || both
| row_source || both
|}
|}
== Timeline ==
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed soldier-timeline">
<div class="soldier-timeline-body">
* 1899 — Born in Reichenbach, Germany; grew up in Chemnitz.
* World War I — Served as a corporal in the Imperial German Army on the Western Front.
* 1929 — Became a United States citizen.
* 1943 — Completed officer training at Fort Sill and Camp Ritchie intelligence training (Class 12).
* 24 June 1944 — Landed at Omaha Beach; served with Combat Command B, 3rd Armored Division.
* 1945–1950 — OMGUS, Pentagon, Fort Holabird, and Heidelberg intelligence assignments.
* Korean War — Served for seventeen months as an intelligence adviser in Taegu, Korea.
* 1958 — Retired from the Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel.
* 1996 — Died near Riverside, Illinois.
</div>
</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>


== Sources ==
== Sources ==
* Camp Ritchie class roster (classes 1–31), merged research file
* RB Archive captioned photograph: Intelligence Team 44 at Lorch, Germany, 4 July 1945
* RB Archive: “Biography John Bernhardt Ritchie Boy” family biography
* Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
* Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
* NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
* NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
* 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
* 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
* Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2022-12-12 (1 post)
* Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2022-12-12 (1 post)
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