Grombacher, Gerd S. (36730162)

Gerd S. Grombacher
Personal details
Born	1923
Died	2006
Nativity	Germany
Religion	Jewish
Awards	Silver Star
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	36730162
Rank	Private First Class
Camp Ritchie	Class 18 (13 April – 10 June 1944)
Section	5A
Teams	IPW 100, IPW 185

Awards and honors

Silver Star

• Listed in By The Numbers/Awards (from Ritchie Boy Secrets by Beverley Driver Eddy).

Teammates

Team — IPW 100

Team — IPW 185

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.

Gerd S. Grombacher (1923–2006) was a Ritchie Boy (from Germany; Jewish) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 18 and served with IPW Team 100;185.

Biography

"Hank" Hauser was a Ritchie Boy. Hauser was born May 18, 1918 in Kerrville, Texas. He was educated in Kerrville schools and graduated from Tivy High School in Kerrville in 1937. He attended Texas A&M University on a football scholarship where he was an All-American guard and tackle play-ing on A&M's undefeated and untied National Championship Team of 1939. He played in both the Sugar and Cotton Bowls during his four years at Texas A&M University. He also lettered in golf while at Texas A&M University. His Texas A&M University Class of 1941 was commissioned 2nd Lieutenants and ordered immediately to active duty in June 1941. Hauser was commissioned an infantry officer and was sent to Camp Wolters, Texas. While there, he met and married the Commander's daughter, Jane Freeman. During World War II, he served on General Douglas MacArthur's Staff in the South Pacific Theater of Operations. He had duty assignments at Camp Wolters, Texas, Camp Ritchie, Maryland, Ft. Riley, Kansas, and United Forces in Austria, Ft. Holibird, Maryland, and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and at Ft. Huachuca, Az., where he retired as a Colonel on June, 1, 1961. Hauser served with the Army Electronic Proving Ground and was responsible for the testing and evaluation of airborne day and night surveillance radar systems, and for day and night infrared photographic systems for the SD-1, SD-2, SD-3 drone aircraft, and the Army's Mohawk aircraft. As a surveillance image interpreter and a photometrical engineer, he evaluated the imagery derived from aerial surveillance. He was instrumental to the Pentagon and to President Kennedy in identifying and locating Soviet missiles during the Cuba Missile Crisis. He spent the last three years of his civil service career under General Gerd Grombacher for the Army's SAFEGUARD Program. "Hank," as his many family, friends, and colleagues affectionately knew him, attended several military schools including the Commanding General Staff College in 1943. After his military career, he served in Civil Service for 12 1/2 years retiring on June 1, 1973. His military decorations included the Bronze Star, three Army Commendation Medals, the American Defense Medal, and the Philippine Liberation Medal with two Campaign Stars, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the Army CG-4 Glider Badge. He also received numerous citations and letters over his two careers. Hank received many lifetime achievement awards and recognitions for his Masonic and Shrine work. He was selected for induction into the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame Class of 2003. Army Retired) Henry F. "Hank" Hauser died December 18, 2006, at the age of 88.

Research notes

• Silver Star; to Maj.Gen.; Cmdt. Fort Huachuca

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	83
Class_ASN	36730162
Class_Name	GROMBACHER, Gerd S.
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Sources

• Camp Ritchie class roster (classes 1–31), merged research file
• 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 2022-12-06 (1 post)