| Ralph Henry Baer | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Rudolph Baer |
| Born | 8 March 1922 Rodalben, Germany |
| Died | 6 December 2014 Manchester, New Hampshire |
| Nativity | Germany |
| Religion | Jewish |
| Known for | Inventor, Video Game Designer, Engineer |
| Awards | Bronze Star Medal |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| ASN | 32887607 |
| Rank | Private First Class |
| Rank at Ritchie | Private |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 10 (23 July – 20 September 1943) |
| Section | 5D |
| Enlisted | New York City, New York |
| Specialty | Order of battle; weapons instructor |
| Unit / division | Military Intelligence, Tidworth And Normandy |
|
| Bronze Star Medal |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Ralph Henry Baer (born Rudolph Baer; 8 March 1922–6 December 2014) was a German-born American order-of-battle specialist and weapons instructor. After Class 10 at Camp Ritchie he trained Allied troops in England and Normandy, then became a pioneering electronics engineer known as the father of home video games.
Biography
Ralph Henry Baer was born Rudolph Baer on 8 March 1922 in Rodalben, in the Pirmasens region of southwestern Germany. His Jewish family escaped Nazi Germany and settled in New York City. He taught himself electronics through a National Radio Institute correspondence course, worked as a radio repairman, and ran radio service shops on the East Side before the draft.
Inducted in March 1943, he reported through Grand Central Terminal to Fort Dix and began combat-engineer training in Virginia that April. In early February 1944 he crossed on the British freighter Mataroa with a group of military-intelligence graduates that included Hans Otto Mauksch.
In England the group worked first around Bristol and from May 1944 at Tidworth on the Salisbury Plain. With Mauksch, Baer helped build a German-weapons instructional collection and lecture program; their courses reached large numbers of American and British troops staging for the Continent, and a Yank magazine feature of 3 November 1944 focused on Mauksch’s demonstrations. Separated by faulty orders in late May 1944, Baer missed the group’s early Normandy movement but was recovered to Tidworth. Later he joined the instructional work in Normandy; on 20 April 1945 a nearby German ammunition dump was sabotaged and burned. He was discharged in New York on 2 April 1946 with a Bronze Star for meritorious service (along with Good Conduct and European-theater awards he already held overseas).
After the war Baer earned a bachelor of science in television engineering from the American Television Institute of Technology in Chicago (1949) and built a career as an electronics engineer and inventor. His interactive-television experiments led to the first home video game console and recognition as the father of video games; President George W. Bush awarded him the National Medal of Technology and Innovation on 13 February 2006. He died in Manchester, New Hampshire, on 6 December 2014.
Research notes
- MIS London
- Tidworth
- OSS
- “Father of Video Games”; Odyssey; Pong
Gallery
Technical record
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 92 |
| Nara ASN | 32887607 |
| Nara Name | BAER RALPH H |
| Nara State | 23 |
| Nara County | 61 |
| Nara POE | 2364 |
| Nara DOE | 120443 |
| Nara Grade Alpha | PVT |
| Nara Grade Code | 8 |
| Nara Branch Alpha | NO |
| Nara Branch Code | 2 |
| Branch | No branch assignment |
| Nara Term or Enlistment | 5 |
| Term of enlistment | Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law |
| Defer. Date | 0 |
| Nara Source | 0 |
| Nara Nativity | N1 |
| Nara Year of Birth | 22 |
| Nara Race | J |
| Nara Race Description | White not yet a citizen |
| Nara Education | 4 |
| Nara Civilian Occupation | 583 |
| Nara Marital Status | 1 |
| Nara Height (inches) | 0 |
| Nara Weight (lbs) | 124 |
| Class_ASN | 32887607 |
| Class_Name | BAER, Ralph H. |
| match_method | asn_exact_name_exact |
| row_source | both |
| Census_HISTID | BA90D884-AFC9-48F6-B2E2-D53318E31A25 |
| Census_State | NEW YORK |
| Census_Relate | Child |
| Census_Sex | Male |
| Census_Age | 18 |
| Census_BirthYear | 1922 |
| Census_Marital | Never married/single |
| Census_Race | White |
| Census_BPL | 453 |
| Census_MBPL | 0 |
| Census_FBPL | 0 |
| Census_Citizen | Not a citizen |
| Census_Educ | Grade 11 |
| Census_OCC | 226 |
Timeline
- 8 March 1922 — Born Rudolph Baer in Rodalben, Germany (Pirmasens region).
- March 1943 — Inducted; Fort Dix; combat-engineer training in Virginia.
- 5 October 1943 — Naturalized in Hagerstown, Maryland.
- Early February 1944 — Sailed on Mataroa; MI group with Hans Otto Mauksch.
- May 1944 onward — Tidworth weapons instruction; later Normandy training duties.
- 3 November 1944 — Yank magazine feature on the Tidworth MI weapons program.
- 20 April 1945 — German ammo dump near Normandy camp sabotaged and burned.
- 2 April 1946 — Discharged in New York; Bronze Star for meritorious service.
- 1949 — B.S., television engineering, American Television Institute of Technology.
- 13 February 2006 — National Medal of Technology and Innovation.
- 6 December 2014 — Died in Manchester, New Hampshire.
- July–September 1943 — Camp Ritchie Class 10 (order of battle).
Sources
- Wikipedia: Ralph H. Baer
- 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 2016-09-30 (1 post)
- Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2026-02-27 (1 post)
- The Stories essay
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Ralph H. Baer for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 2 source documents reviewed)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Baer, Ralph H. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 2 source files: RALPH H. BAER (2020).doc, RALPH H. BAER.doc)