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Spiro, Herbert J. (38461724): Difference between revisions

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== Biography ==
== Biography ==
Born in Hamburg, Germany, where he attended the Wilhelm-Gymnasium, he and his family emigrated to the United States in 1938, fleeing Nazi persecution. In March 1944, he attended ASTP at University of Illinois. Herbert attended San Antonio Junior College (1 year). Spiro was born in Hamburg, Germany to Jewish parents. He received his master's degree in 1950 and his Ph.D. In 1961, Spiro moved from Harvard to Amherst College, where he was Associate Professor of Political Science until 1965. Afterwards he joined the University of Pennsylvania as Professor of Political Science, where he remained until 1970. He later returned to academia as a professor at the Free University of Berlin. There, Spiro attended Brackenridge High School, and went on to San Antonio Junior College. After returning to the U.S., Spiro entered Harvard University. He served in the US Foreign Service as Ambassador to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, and taught at the Free University of Berlin. Herbert John Spiro (September 7, 1924 – April 6, 2010) was an American political scientist and diplomat. He and his family emigrated to the United States in 1938, fleeing Nazi persecution. Formally an enemy alien, Spiro was not subject to the draft, but after naturalizing in 1944 he volunteered for a military intelligence position. He spent 1945 and 1946 as an administrative assistant to the United States Department of War, stationed in Vienna. in 1953, with a doctoral dissertation on accountability in government. He spent the following year in his native Germany as a Fulbright Fellow, and then returned to Harvard in 1954, where he continued as an instructor until 1957. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in political science in 1959, and lived in Rhodesia and the Central African Republic for the next year. He served with the United States Army in World War II. During the Ford administration, he served as United States Ambassador to Cameroon and to Equatorial Guinea, though the latter country declared him persona non grata. In the early 1990s, he ran for state and then national office as a Republican from Texas, but was not elected. His family name is a corruption of Speyer, a town in the Rhineland which once had a significant Jewish community, but he reminisced that in the U.S. it often led people to mistake him for a Greek American. His father worked for a distribution firm. He attended the Wilhelm-Gymnasium. He served with the 11th Armored Division and received the Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster. There, he wrote his senior honors thesis on Marxist critiques of democracy, with William Yandell Elliott as his advisor. He then joined the Department of State as a member of the Policy Planning Staff. After returning to Texas, he ran for the U.S. He was survived by his sons Peter Spiro and Alexander Spiro, his ex-wife Elizabeth Spiro Clark, and four grandchildren. He died in San Antonio in 2010, and was buried at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.
Born in Hamburg, Germany, where he attended the Wilhelm-Gymnasium, he and his family emigrated to the United States in 1938, fleeing Nazi persecution. Herbert attended San Antonio Junior College (1 year). Spiro was born in Hamburg, Germany to Jewish parents. He received his master's degree in 1950 and his Ph.D. In 1961, Spiro moved from Harvard to Amherst College, where he was Associate Professor of Political Science until 1965. Afterwards he joined the University of Pennsylvania as Professor of Political Science, where he remained until 1970. He later returned to academia as a professor at the Free University of Berlin. There, Spiro attended Brackenridge High School, and went on to San Antonio Junior College. After returning to the U.S., Spiro entered Harvard University. He served in the US Foreign Service as Ambassador to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, and taught at the Free University of Berlin. Herbert John Spiro (September 7, 1924 – April 6, 2010) was an American political scientist and diplomat. He and his family emigrated to the United States in 1938, fleeing Nazi persecution. Formally an enemy alien, Spiro was not subject to the draft, but after naturalizing in 1944 he volunteered for a military intelligence position. He spent 1945 and 1946 as an administrative assistant to the United States Department of War, stationed in Vienna. in 1953, with a doctoral dissertation on accountability in government. He spent the following year in his native Germany as a Fulbright Fellow, and then returned to Harvard in 1954, where he continued as an instructor until 1957. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in political science in 1959, and lived in Rhodesia and the Central African Republic for the next year. He served with the United States Army in World War II. During the Ford administration, he served as United States Ambassador to Cameroon and to Equatorial Guinea, though the latter country declared him persona non grata. His family name is a corruption of Speyer, a town in the Rhineland which once had a significant Jewish community, but he reminisced that in the U.S. it often led people to mistake him for a Greek American. His father worked for a distribution firm. He attended the Wilhelm-Gymnasium. He served with the 11th Armored Division and received the Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster. There, he wrote his senior honors thesis on Marxist critiques of democracy, with William Yandell Elliott as his advisor. He then joined the Department of State as a member of the Policy Planning Staff. After returning to Texas, he ran for the U.S. He was survived by his sons Peter Spiro and Alexander Spiro, his ex-wife Elizabeth Spiro Clark, and four grandchildren. He died in San Antonio in 2010, and was buried at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.


== Research notes ==
== Research notes ==

Revision as of 03:05, 1 September 2026

Herbert John Spiro
Herbert John Spiro
Personal details
Born7 September 1924
Hamburg, Germany
Died6 April 2010
San Antonio, Texas, United States
NativityGermany
ReligionJewish
Known forPolitical scientist
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch United States Army
ASN38461724
RankMaster Sergeant
Rank at RitchiePrivate
Camp RitchieClass 19 (16 May – 13 July 1944)
Section5B
TeamIPW 155
Teammates
Team — IPW 155
These are other soldiers listed on the same team roster. People moved between teams; overlapping service dates are not always documented.
Research notes on this page are compiled from the source file and later edits. They may be unverified, incomplete, or incorrect, and should not be treated as established fact. Please correct the article or add sources on the talk page. For class-roster terms, see About the data.
Sources & confidence: Treat Research notes as leads, not settled fact. Prefer NARA, the class roster, newspapers, Find a Grave, or published histories for contested claims. Mark unsourced claims with {{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.


Herbert John Spiro (1924–2010) was a Ritchie Boy (from Germany; Jewish) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 19 and served with IPW Team 155.

Biography

Born in Hamburg, Germany, where he attended the Wilhelm-Gymnasium, he and his family emigrated to the United States in 1938, fleeing Nazi persecution. Herbert attended San Antonio Junior College (1 year). Spiro was born in Hamburg, Germany to Jewish parents. He received his master's degree in 1950 and his Ph.D. In 1961, Spiro moved from Harvard to Amherst College, where he was Associate Professor of Political Science until 1965. Afterwards he joined the University of Pennsylvania as Professor of Political Science, where he remained until 1970. He later returned to academia as a professor at the Free University of Berlin. There, Spiro attended Brackenridge High School, and went on to San Antonio Junior College. After returning to the U.S., Spiro entered Harvard University. He served in the US Foreign Service as Ambassador to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, and taught at the Free University of Berlin. Herbert John Spiro (September 7, 1924 – April 6, 2010) was an American political scientist and diplomat. He and his family emigrated to the United States in 1938, fleeing Nazi persecution. Formally an enemy alien, Spiro was not subject to the draft, but after naturalizing in 1944 he volunteered for a military intelligence position. He spent 1945 and 1946 as an administrative assistant to the United States Department of War, stationed in Vienna. in 1953, with a doctoral dissertation on accountability in government. He spent the following year in his native Germany as a Fulbright Fellow, and then returned to Harvard in 1954, where he continued as an instructor until 1957. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in political science in 1959, and lived in Rhodesia and the Central African Republic for the next year. He served with the United States Army in World War II. During the Ford administration, he served as United States Ambassador to Cameroon and to Equatorial Guinea, though the latter country declared him persona non grata. His family name is a corruption of Speyer, a town in the Rhineland which once had a significant Jewish community, but he reminisced that in the U.S. it often led people to mistake him for a Greek American. His father worked for a distribution firm. He attended the Wilhelm-Gymnasium. He served with the 11th Armored Division and received the Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster. There, he wrote his senior honors thesis on Marxist critiques of democracy, with William Yandell Elliott as his advisor. He then joined the Department of State as a member of the Policy Planning Staff. After returning to Texas, he ran for the U.S. He was survived by his sons Peter Spiro and Alexander Spiro, his ex-wife Elizabeth Spiro Clark, and four grandchildren. He died in San Antonio in 2010, and was buried at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

Research notes

  • BS

Gallery

Technical record

Field Imported value
Approx Age at Death 86
Class_ASN 38461724
Class_Name SPIRO, Herbert J.
match_method asn_exact_name_exact
row_source both

Timeline

  • 6/1943 Basic training with 62nd Infantry Battalion.
  • 5 January 1944 — Became naturalized U.
  • 19.
  • Assigned to IPW team 155 attached to the First Army.

Sources

  • 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)
  • 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
  • Wikipedia: Herbert Spiro
  • Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2022-05-19 (1 post)
  • Facebook-linked source: bit.ly
  • Dan Gross, Timeline of Herbert J. Spiro for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
  • Dan Gross, Timeline of Spiro, Herbert J. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: HERBERT J. SPIRO.doc)
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