Gerst, Eric Frank (32416739): Difference between revisions

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== Biography ==

~~Eric Frank Gerst was a Ritchie Boy~~. Eric was born March 23, 1918 in Nuremberg, Germany, where he attended textile school in Reutlingen. Due to the rise of the Nazi party and Hitler's anti-Jewish policies, in 1937 he emigrated to the U.S. and worked in the textile industry at American Bemberg Corp in Tennessee. Determined to help his family escape Germany, Eric's efforts enabled his father Ernst, mother Annie and sister Lizelot to find asylum in the States too. Grateful for the refuge given him and his family, he wrote a letter published by the New York Times in 1942 objecting to the Selective Service ruling preventing German refugees from serving in the U.S. Army and requesting the right to defend his new homeland. He was subsequently able to enlist and trained as a radio operator at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he met and married Dawn Idarius of Chicago. Eric was then transferred to Camp Ritchie, MD. for intelligence training and was assigned in 1944 to the 63rd Infantry Division in Europe where he served in France and behind enemy lines in Germany until the end of the war, attaining the rank of Master Sergeant. Proud to have fought and also for being able to fit into his army uniform throughout his life, he would often wear the uniform on Veteran's Day~~. Eric passed away on June 21 2011~~.

. Eric was born March 23, 1918 in Nuremberg, Germany, where he attended textile school in Reutlingen. Due to the rise of the Nazi party and Hitler's anti-Jewish policies, in 1937 he emigrated to the U.S. and worked in the textile industry at American Bemberg Corp in Tennessee. Determined to help his family escape Germany, Eric's efforts enabled his father Ernst, mother Annie and sister Lizelot to find asylum in the States too. Eric was then transferred to Camp Ritchie, MD. for intelligence training and was assigned in 1944 to the 63rd Infantry Division in Europe where he served in France and behind enemy lines in Germany until the end of the war, attaining the rank of Master Sergeant. Eric passed away on June 21 2011. Grateful for the refuge given him and his family, he wrote a letter published by the New York Times in 1942 objecting to the Selective Service ruling preventing German refugees from serving in the U.S. Army and requesting the right to defend his new homeland. He was subsequently able to enlist and trained as a radio operator at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he met and married Dawn Idarius of Chicago. Proud to have fought and also for being able to fit into his army uniform throughout his life, he would often wear the uniform on Veteran's Day.

== Research notes ==

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 == Biography ==
-Eric Frank Gerst was a Ritchie Boy. Eric was born March 23, 1918 in Nuremberg, Germany, where he attended textile school in Reutlingen. Due to the rise of the Nazi party and Hitler's anti-Jewish policies, in 1937 he emigrated to the U.S. and worked in the textile industry at American Bemberg Corp in Tennessee. Determined to help his family escape Germany, Eric's efforts enabled his father Ernst, mother Annie and sister Lizelot to find asylum in the States too. Grateful for the refuge given him and his family, he wrote a letter published by the New York Times in 1942 objecting to the Selective Service ruling preventing German refugees from serving in the U.S. Army and requesting the right to defend his new homeland. He was subsequently able to enlist and trained as a radio operator at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he met and married Dawn Idarius of Chicago. Eric was then transferred to Camp Ritchie, MD. for intelligence training and was assigned in 1944 to the 63rd Infantry Division in Europe where he served in France and behind enemy lines in Germany until the end of the war, attaining the rank of Master Sergeant. Proud to have fought and also for being able to fit into his army uniform throughout his life, he would often wear the uniform on Veteran's Day. Eric passed away on June 21 2011.
+. Eric was born March 23, 1918 in Nuremberg, Germany, where he attended textile school in Reutlingen. Due to the rise of the Nazi party and Hitler's anti-Jewish policies, in 1937 he emigrated to the U.S. and worked in the textile industry at American Bemberg Corp in Tennessee. Determined to help his family escape Germany, Eric's efforts enabled his father Ernst, mother Annie and sister Lizelot to find asylum in the States too. Eric was then transferred to Camp Ritchie, MD. for intelligence training and was assigned in 1944 to the 63rd Infantry Division in Europe where he served in France and behind enemy lines in Germany until the end of the war, attaining the rank of Master Sergeant. Eric passed away on June 21 2011. Grateful for the refuge given him and his family, he wrote a letter published by the New York Times in 1942 objecting to the Selective Service ruling preventing German refugees from serving in the U.S. Army and requesting the right to defend his new homeland. He was subsequently able to enlist and trained as a radio operator at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he met and married Dawn Idarius of Chicago. Proud to have fought and also for being able to fit into his army uniform throughout his life, he would often wear the uniform on Veteran's Day.
 == Research notes ==