Oehmichen, Herbert K. (01166800)

Herbert Karl Oehmichen
Personal details
Born	1915 New York City
Died	1990
Nativity	United States
Religion	Protestant
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
Arm / service	Field Artillery
ASN	01166800
Rank	Captain
Camp Ritchie	Class 15 (4 January – 3 March 1944)
Section	5A
Specialty	POW interrogation
Unit / division	359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division
Team	IPW 49

Teammates

Team — IPW 49

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 K. Oehmichen (1915–1990) was a New York-born Army officer who grew up in Germany and returned to the United States before the war. A Camp Ritchie-trained interrogation officer with the 359th Infantry, 90th Infantry Division, he landed on Utah Beach on D-Day and earned the Bronze Star.

Biography

Herbert Karl Oehmichen was born in New York City in 1915. His father, Paul Oehmichen, came from Leipzig, and his mother, Erna Israelzik, came from Berlin. The family moved to Germany in 1920, and Oehmichen spent much of his childhood and youth in Naumburg and Gera during the troubled years between the world wars.

As Nazi rule tightened its hold on Germany, Oehmichen was sent back to New York City in 1934. His American birth gave him a refuge unavailable to many other members of the family. He rebuilt his life in the United States while his mother remained in Europe and eventually became a prisoner at Theresienstadt.

Oehmichen entered the Army at Camp Grant in October 1941. He attended Field Artillery Officer Candidate School and rose to captain. From January through March 1944 he trained at Camp Ritchie, where his German background prepared him for prisoner-of-war interrogation and frontline intelligence duties.

Assigned to the 359th Infantry Regiment of the 90th Infantry Division, Oehmichen landed on Utah Beach on June 6, 1944. Six days later, near Amfreville, he exposed himself to enemy fire while aiding wounded American paratroopers, an action for which he received the Bronze Star. He continued with the regiment as it fought through the Normandy campaign and beyond, using interrogation to turn captured information into immediate battlefield intelligence.

Family oral history records that Oehmichen reached Theresienstadt at the end of the war, found his mother alive, and helped secure her liberation and evacuation. The episode gave his military service an intensely personal conclusion after years of separation and uncertainty.

After returning to civilian life, Oehmichen worked as a brewmaster for Miller Brewing Company. He died in 1990. In 2023 a plaque was dedicated in Normandy to preserve the memory of his D-Day service and his valor near Amfreville.

See the full story.

His father, Paul Oehmichen, born in Leipzig, Germany, was a conscientious objector and in 1910 left Germany for NYC to avoid being drafted by the German government to fight in WWI. He attended Career (Master Brewer) with Miller Brewing Company. Oehmichen elinor, being a US citizen, was allowed to work in a labor camp as a foreign worker. He erna recovered and she and Paul returned to the US where they settled in Milwaukee along with Herbert, his wife Bette and infant daughter Cynthia. Oehmichen they returned to NYC and had two children, Herbert and Elinor.

Research notes

• 359th Infantry

Gallery

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Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	75
Class_ASN	166800
Class_Name	OEHMICHEN, Herbert K.
match_method	asn_partial_name_exact
row_source	both

Timeline

• Born 1915.
• The whole family moved back to Germany in 1920 and settled first in Naumburg and then in Gera in 1928 where Paul and his brother owned a leather goods and shoe repair shop.
• 23 October 1941 — Enlisted in Army at Chicago as Pvt (ASN: 36303561).
• 1 July 1942 — Commissioned as 2nd Lt. (ASN: 01166800).
• November 1942 — Regiment Mess Officer with 333rd FA as 1st Lt.
• 30 November 1943 — Promoted to Captain.
• November 1943 — With 777th Field Artillery Battalion.
• 12 June 1944 — Rescued wounded paratroopers behind enemy lines. Awarded BS.
• Assigned to IPW Team 49 attached to 90th Infantry Division.
• Career (Master Brewer) with Miller Brewing Company.
• They returned to NYC and had two children, Herbert and Elinor.

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)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2020-05-16 (1 post)
• The Stories essay
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Herbert K. Oehmichen for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 2 source documents reviewed)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Oehmichen, Herbert K. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 2 source files: HERBERT K. OEHMICHEN (2020).doc, HERBERT K. OEHMICHEN.doc)