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Kraemer, Fritz Gustav Anton (33741993): Difference between revisions

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|surname=Kraemer
|surname=Kraemer
|first=Fritz
|first=Fritz
|middle=G. A.
|middle=Gustav Anton
|birth_year=1908
|birth_year=1908
|death_year=2003
|death_year=2003
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|state=PUERTO RICO
|state=PUERTO RICO
|overseas=Y
|overseas=Y
|education=Doctor of Laws (Frankfurt University); PhD in political science (Rome)
|education=3 years of high school
|occupation=Authors editors and reporters
|occupation=Authors editors and reporters
|marital=Married
|marital=Married
|birth_place=Germany
|birth_place=Essen, Germany
|rank_final=Lieutenant colonel
|rank_final=Lieutenant colonel
|class_number=10
|class_number=10
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|awards_ribbons=Ribbon_Bronze_Star_Medal_ribbon.png
|awards_ribbons=Ribbon_Bronze_Star_Medal_ribbon.png
|awards_ribbon_rows=Ribbon_Bronze_Star_Medal_ribbon.png
|awards_ribbon_rows=Ribbon_Bronze_Star_Medal_ribbon.png
|death_place=Washington, D.C.
|death_date=8 September 2003
|birth_date=3 July 1908
}}
}}


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'''Fritz Gustav Anton Kraemer''' (July 3, 1908&ndash;September 8, 2003) was an American military educator, military-intelligence officer, and Senior Civilian Advisor to the Army Chief of Staff. Before World War II, he earned a Doctor of Laws degree at Frankfurt University and a PhD in political science in Rome.
'''Fritz Gustav Anton Kraemer''' (3 July 1908 &ndash; 8 September 2003) was a German-born American military-intelligence officer and educator who trained at [[Camp Ritchie]] in [[:Category:Class 10|Class 10]], served with the 84th Infantry Division, and later was Senior Civilian Advisor to the Army Chief of Staff.
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== Biography ==
== Biography ==
Fritz Gustav Anton Kraemer was born in Germany and left for the United States in 1939. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943 and arrived at Camp Ritchie as a private with German and Italian language knowledge. He began Class 10 but did not graduate, and later served with the 84th Infantry Division and in military intelligence.
Fritz Gustav Anton Kraemer was born on 3 July 1908 in Essen, Germany, the eldest child of Georg Kraemer and Anna Johanna (Jennie) Kraemer, née Goldschmidt, Jewish parents who later converted to the Lutheran faith; his father died at Theresienstadt in 1942. He attended the Arndt Gymnasium in Berlin, the London School of Economics, and the universities of Geneva and Frankfurt, and earned a Doctor of Laws at Frankfurt in 1931 and a PhD in political science in Rome in 1934. During most of the 1930s he was senior legal adviser at the League of Nations' legal institute in Rome, and he also worked as a researcher in international law with the American Philosophical Society. In 1933 he married Britta Bjorkander, a Swedish citizen.


Kraemer received a battlefield commission as a second lieutenant and the Bronze Star Medal. After World War II he continued his military career in the Army Reserve, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1963. He later served as Senior Civilian Advisor to the Army Chief of Staff and influenced military and government leaders, including Henry Kissinger and Alexander Haig. Kraemer died in Washington, D.C., and was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
Kraemer, a Lutheran opposed to the Nazis, left Germany for the United States in 1939, leaving his wife and son behind. He enlisted as a private at Fort Myer, Virginia, on 21 May 1943, became a U.S. citizen as an inductee, and joined the Army "with two PhDs and one monocle." He arrived at Camp Ritchie as a private in June 1943 with knowledge of German and Italian, trained with [[:Category:Class 10|Class 10]], and was assigned to Company G on 20 July 1943. Serving as an infantryman with the 84th Infantry Division, the "Railsplitters," he recruited the young Henry Kissinger into the division's intelligence work in 1944, and he fought in the Battle of the Bulge and the Rhineland and Ruhr campaigns, earning a battlefield commission as second lieutenant and the Bronze Star Medal. He was reunited with his wife and son in 1945 and returned to Washington, D.C., in 1947.


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Kraemer left active duty in 1948 and retired from the Army Reserve in 1963 as a lieutenant colonel. A graduate of the National War College, he served from the early 1950s until his retirement from civil service in 1978 as Senior Civilian Advisor to the Army Chief of Staff at the Pentagon, influencing Defense Department thinking during the Cold War, including Secretaries of Defense James R. Schlesinger and Donald Rumsfeld. He is often credited with discovering both Kissinger, whom he persuaded to attend Harvard and with whom he kept a close relationship, and Alexander Haig, whom he recommended in 1969 as military assistant to National Security Advisor Kissinger. He was known for his monocle. Kraemer died in Washington, D.C., on 8 September 2003, aged 95, and was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery on 8 October 2003.
Before emigrating to the United States, Kraemer earned a Doctor of Laws degree at Frankfurt University and a PhD in political science in Rome. In the 1930s, he worked as a legal adviser to the League of Nations and as a lecturer and translator. He also worked as a researcher in international law with the American Philosophical Society.
 
== Research notes ==
* Certain information from the NARA enlistment website differs from that found in Kraemer’s Wikipedia article and from the Camp Ritchie personnel cards. According to the official enlistment record for Fritz A. Kraemer (ASN 33741993) on the NARA website, he enlisted on May 21, 1943 (not April 1943) at Fort Myer VA.
* The Personnel card which normally provides information on assignment (Special Order), and on family or friend to be notified was not found (Box 24). OSS File not found at NARA.


== Gallery ==
== Gallery ==
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== Research notes ==
* http://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/nov/12/guardianobituaries.usa
* Lt.Col
== Timeline ==
== Timeline ==
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* 3 July 1908 — Born in Germany.
* 3 July 1908 — Born in Essen, Germany (Protestant).
* June 1943 — Arrived at Camp Ritchie as a private with German and Italian language knowledge.
* 1931 — Doctor of Laws, University of Frankfurt.
* 20 July 1943 — Assigned to Company G.
* 1934 — PhD in political science, University of Rome.
* July 1943 — Began Class 10; the timeline notes that he did not graduate, without explaining why.
* 1939 — Emigrated to the United States.
* 1944–1945 — Served with the 84th Infantry Division and received a battlefield commission as a second lieutenant and the Bronze Star Medal.
* 21 May 1943 — Enlisted as Pvt at Fort Myer, Virginia.
* 1963 — Retired from the Army Reserve as a lieutenant colonel.
* June 1943 — Arrived as Pvt at Camp Ritchie. Knowledge of German, Italian.
* 7/3/1908 Born in Germany (Protestant).
* 20 July 1943 — Assigned to Company “G”.
* 7/20/1943 Assigned to Company “G”.
* 1944–1945 — 84th Infantry Division; battlefield commission (2nd Lt.) and Bronze Star Medal.
* 7/23/1943 Started Class 10 (IPW Ge) but did not graduate (no explanation).
* 1948 — Left active duty.
* NOTE: Certain information from the NARA enlistment website differs from that found in Kraemer’s Wikipedia article and from the Camp Ritchie personnel cards. According to the official enlistment record for Fritz A. Kraemer (ASN 33741993) on the NARA website, he enlisted on May 21, 1943 (not April 1943) at Fort Myer VA. The enlistment record further states....
* 1963 — Retired from the Army Reserve as lieutenant colonel.
* 6/1943 Arrived as Pvt at Camp Ritchie. Knowledge of German, Italian,.
* 1978 — Retired as Senior Civilian Advisor to the Army Chief of Staff.
* Battlefield commission (2nd Lt.) Bronze Star Medal for effecting.
* 8 September 2003 — Died in Washington, D.C.
* Retired from Army Reserves as Lt. Col.
* TX (S.O. 209). Assigned to 84th Infantry Division (maneuvers at.
* The Personnel card which normally provides information on assignment (Special Order), and on family or friend to be notified was not found (Box 24). OSS File not found at NARA.
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== Sources ==
== Sources ==
* [http://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/nov/12/guardianobituaries.usa Fritz Kraemer | US news | The Guardian (theguardian.com)]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_G._A._Kraemer Wikipedia: Fritz G. A. Kraemer]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_G._A._Kraemer Wikipedia: Fritz G. A. Kraemer]
* Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
* Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
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* 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
* 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
* Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Fritz G. A. Kraemer for Camp Ritchie'' (private research document; 2 source documents reviewed)
* Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Fritz G. A. Kraemer for Camp Ritchie'' (private research document; 2 source documents reviewed)
* Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Kraemer, Fritz G. A. for Camp Ritchie'' (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 2 source files: FRITZ  G. A. KRAEMER.doc, FRITZ  KRAEMER.doc)
* Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Kraemer, Fritz G. A. for Camp Ritchie'' (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: FRITZ  G. A. KRAEMER.doc)
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