Meyer, Alfred G. (0555182): Difference between revisions

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|religion=Jewish

|overseas=Y

|rank_final=~~T/4~~

|rank_final=Second Lieutenant

|certificate=7119

|confidence=medium

|class_number=18

|class_display=18

|birth_place=Germany

|birth_place=Bielefeld, Germany

|teams=MII 409-G

|birth_date=5 February 1920

|division=MII 409-G; 29th Infantry Division

|specialty=IPW (interrogation of prisoners of war)

|story=The Stories/My Life as a Fish

}}

'''Alfred G. Meyer''' (1920–1998) was a ~~United States Army Technician Fourth Grade who trained at [[~~Camp Ritchie]], ~~Maryland, in~~ [[Class 18]].

'''Alfred G. Meyer''' (5 February 1920–1998) was a German-born Jewish refugee, Camp Ritchie interrogator, and later a scholar of Soviet politics. After [[Class 18]] and a commission on D-Day, he served with an MII team attached to the 29th Infantry Division.

</div>

== Biography ==

Meyer ~~member~~ of ~~MII 409~~-~~G attached~~ to 29th Infantry Division.

Alfred G. Meyer was born on 5 February 1920 in Bielefeld, Germany. As Nazi persecution closed in, he left for the United States in 1939 after a first sailing on the MS ''Donau'' was turned back, then crossed via Belgium and a Dutch ship and settled with relatives in Santa Ana, California.

Eager to serve, he volunteered into the draft in 1941 and entered the Army from Los Angeles (enlisted ASN 39162439). After early duty that included clerical work and an assignment to the Army Specialized Training Program’s Russian-language course at Harvard, the Army recognized his German and sent him to [[Camp Ritchie]] for prisoner-of-war interrogation training in [[Class 18]].

At Ritchie he finished a demanding course that mixed order-of-battle study, aerial-photo work, map reading, Morse code, and field craft on a ten-day “Ban-Day” cycle. During a culminating exercise in early summer 1944 he was pulled aside for commissioning; on 6 June 1944—D-Day, and his father’s birthday—he became a second lieutenant after a counterintelligence interview cleared a mistranslated “Cuban cause” letter from his refugee efforts to help his parents. He soon sailed for Liverpool with other newly commissioned Ritchie graduates.

After months waiting at Broadway in Worcestershire, he crossed to Omaha Beach and was assigned in the Paris area to an intelligence team under Capt. Hans Kohler with four other Camp Ritchie graduates, then joined the 29th Infantry Division. In the field he developed a deliberately humane interrogation style and a “show of knowledge” technique drawn from Ritchie training. Roster research places him with MII Team 409-G with that division.

After the war Meyer entered Harvard graduate study under the GI Bill, earned a doctorate, and became a scholar of Marxism and Soviet politics. He died in 1998. Longer Camp Ritchie and wartime passages from his autobiography are on [[The Stories/My Life as a Fish]].

== Research notes ==

* My Life as a Fish

* Scholar of Communism / Marxism (postwar academic career)

* ASTP

* ASTP Russian at Harvard before Camp Ritchie

* Scholar of Communism

* ~~Marxism~~

== Gallery ==

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* ~~Born~~ 5 February 1920 in Germany.

* 5 February 1920 — Born in Bielefeld, Germany (Jewish).

* ~~8 April~~ 1941 — ~~Drafted~~ into Army in Los Angeles as ~~Pvt~~ (ASN: 39162439).

* 1939 — Emigrated to the United States after a first sailing was turned back; settled in Santa Ana, California.

* ~~Member of~~ MII 409-G ~~attached to~~ 29th Infantry Division.

* 1941 — Volunteered into the draft; entered the Army from Los Angeles as a private (ASN 39162439).

* Assigned to the ASTP Russian-language program at Harvard University.

* Entered Camp Ritchie [[Class 18]] for IPW / military-intelligence training.

* 6 June 1944 — Commissioned second lieutenant at Camp Ritchie (D-Day).

* Summer 1944 — Sailed to Liverpool; staged at Broadway, Worcestershire.

* September 1944 — Crossed to Omaha Beach; assigned to Capt. Hans Kohler’s intelligence team (four other Ritchie graduates) with the 29th Infantry Division; roster: MII 409-G.

* 1944–1945 — Interrogation and related intelligence duty with the 29th Infantry Division in Northwest Europe.

* 1946 — Began graduate study at Harvard; later scholar of Soviet politics / Marxism.

* 1998 — Died.

* 2000 — Autobiography ''My Life as a Fish'' (excerpts concerning Camp Ritchie later shared by his daughter Vera Meyer).

</div>

</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>

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* Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Alfred G. Meyer for Camp Ritchie'' (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)

* Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Meyer, Alfred G. for Camp Ritchie'' (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: ALFRED G. MEYER.doc)

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 |religion=Jewish
 |overseas=Y
-|rank_final=T/4
+|rank_final=Second Lieutenant
 |certificate=7119
 |confidence=medium
 |class_number=18
 |class_display=18
-|birth_place=Germany
+|birth_place=Bielefeld, Germany
 |teams=MII 409-G
+|birth_date=5 February 1920
+|division=MII 409-G; 29th Infantry Division
+|specialty=IPW (interrogation of prisoners of war)
+|story=The Stories/My Life as a Fish
 }}
 <div class="soldier-lead">
-'''Alfred G. Meyer''' (1920&ndash;1998) was a United States Army Technician Fourth Grade who trained at [[Camp Ritchie]], Maryland, in [[Class 18]].
+'''Alfred G. Meyer''' (5 February 1920&ndash;1998) was a German-born Jewish refugee, Camp Ritchie interrogator, and later a scholar of Soviet politics. After [[Class 18]] and a commission on D-Day, he served with an MII team attached to the 29th Infantry Division.
 </div>
 == Biography ==
-Meyer member of MII 409-G attached to 29th Infantry Division.
+Alfred G. Meyer was born on 5 February 1920 in Bielefeld, Germany. As Nazi persecution closed in, he left for the United States in 1939 after a first sailing on the MS ''Donau'' was turned back, then crossed via Belgium and a Dutch ship and settled with relatives in Santa Ana, California.
+Eager to serve, he volunteered into the draft in 1941 and entered the Army from Los Angeles (enlisted ASN 39162439). After early duty that included clerical work and an assignment to the Army Specialized Training Program’s Russian-language course at Harvard, the Army recognized his German and sent him to [[Camp Ritchie]] for prisoner-of-war interrogation training in [[Class 18]].
+At Ritchie he finished a demanding course that mixed order-of-battle study, aerial-photo work, map reading, Morse code, and field craft on a ten-day “Ban-Day” cycle. During a culminating exercise in early summer 1944 he was pulled aside for commissioning; on 6 June 1944—D-Day, and his father’s birthday—he became a second lieutenant after a counterintelligence interview cleared a mistranslated “Cuban cause” letter from his refugee efforts to help his parents. He soon sailed for Liverpool with other newly commissioned Ritchie graduates.
+After months waiting at Broadway in Worcestershire, he crossed to Omaha Beach and was assigned in the Paris area to an intelligence team under Capt. Hans Kohler with four other Camp Ritchie graduates, then joined the 29th Infantry Division. In the field he developed a deliberately humane interrogation style and a “show of knowledge” technique drawn from Ritchie training. Roster research places him with MII Team 409-G with that division.
+After the war Meyer entered Harvard graduate study under the GI Bill, earned a doctorate, and became a scholar of Marxism and Soviet politics. He died in 1998. Longer Camp Ritchie and wartime passages from his autobiography are on [[The Stories/My Life as a Fish]].
 == Research notes ==
-* My Life as a Fish
+* Scholar of Communism / Marxism (postwar academic career)
-* ASTP
+* ASTP Russian at Harvard before Camp Ritchie
-* Scholar of Communism
-* Marxism
 == Gallery ==
@@ Line 56: / Line 66: @@
 <div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed soldier-timeline">
 <div class="soldier-timeline-body">
-* Born 5 February 1920 in Germany.
+* 5 February 1920 — Born in Bielefeld, Germany (Jewish).
-* 8 April 1941 — Drafted into Army in Los Angeles as Pvt (ASN: 39162439).
+* 1939 — Emigrated to the United States after a first sailing was turned back; settled in Santa Ana, California.
-* Member of MII 409-G attached to 29th Infantry Division.
+* 1941 — Volunteered into the draft; entered the Army from Los Angeles as a private (ASN 39162439).
+* Assigned to the ASTP Russian-language program at Harvard University.
+* Entered Camp Ritchie [[Class 18]] for IPW / military-intelligence training.
+* 6 June 1944 — Commissioned second lieutenant at Camp Ritchie (D-Day).
+* Summer 1944 — Sailed to Liverpool; staged at Broadway, Worcestershire.
+* September 1944 — Crossed to Omaha Beach; assigned to Capt. Hans Kohler’s intelligence team (four other Ritchie graduates) with the 29th Infantry Division; roster: MII 409-G.
+* 1944–1945 — Interrogation and related intelligence duty with the 29th Infantry Division in Northwest Europe.
+* 1946 — Began graduate study at Harvard; later scholar of Soviet politics / Marxism.
+* 1998 — Died.
+* 2000 — Autobiography ''My Life as a Fish'' (excerpts concerning Camp Ritchie later shared by his daughter Vera Meyer).
 </div>
 </div><div style="clear: both;"></div>
@@ Line 69: / Line 88: @@
 * Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Alfred G. Meyer for Camp Ritchie'' (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
 * Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Meyer, Alfred G. for Camp Ritchie'' (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: ALFRED G. MEYER.doc)
+* [https://ritchieboys.com/DL/fish203.pdf Chapter 3 excerpt PDF (Camp Ritchie) — My Life as a Fish, © 2000 Alfred G. Meyer]
+* [https://ritchieboys.com/DL/fish204.pdf Chapter 4 excerpt PDF (Europe) — My Life as a Fish, © 2000 Alfred G. Meyer]
+* [https://ritchieboys.com/DL/fish205.pdf Chapter 5 excerpt PDF (postwar) — My Life as a Fish, © 2000 Alfred G. Meyer]