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John W. Kluge

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John W. Kluge
John W. Kluge
Personal details
Birth nameJohn Werner Kluge
Born21 September 1914
Chemnitz, German Empire (today Chemnitz, Germany)
Died7 September 2010
Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
NativityGermany
ReligionProtestant
Known forChairman, Metromedia
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch United States Army
Arm / serviceTransportation Corps
ASN01577435
RankColonel
Rank at RitchieSecond Lieutenant
Camp RitchieClass 7 (15 April – 12 June 1943)
Section8
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.


John W. Kluge (1914–2010) was a Ritchie Boy (from Germany; Protestant) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 7.

Biography

On 15 April 1943, Returned to Camp Ritchie. Kluge, John “The Metromedia Story” Newcomen Society if North America (1974). Economics from Columbia University, after getting a. University, after getting a ‘double’ scholarship. Worked at various jobs in Dallas and other cities. When his father died in World War I, his. When his father died in. World War I, his mother married Oscar Leitert and family moved to Scheinau. He mother married Oscar Leitert and family moved to Scheinau. John W. Kluge trained at Camp Ritchie and served in military intelligence. A 2015 article in Rubrica Contemporanea (Vol. 8), a journal of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona — Simona Tobia, "Close Encounters: The Role of Culture in Interrogation and Questioning in the Second World War" — describes interrogation methods taught in the United Kingdom and at Camp Ritchie, and the effectiveness of using emigres from Germany and other Axis-occupied countries to gather human intelligence (HUMINT) by interrogating captured soldiers near the front. The article discusses the work of Ritchie Boys including John Kluge and Gerd Miller.

Research notes

  • Also Class 5 OB MIRS
  • Metromedia owner; billionaire philanthropist
  • Portrait and summary from Notable Ritchie Boys slides (source).

Technical record

Field Imported value
Approx Age at Death 96
Class_ASN 577435
Class_Name KLUGE, John W.
match_method asn_partial_name_exact
row_source both

Timeline

  • 9/1942 As 2nd Lt, assigned to head Army Transportation Unit in Aleutian Islands.
  • 9/1942 As 2nd Lt, assigned to head Army Transportation.
  • 15 April 1943 — Returned to Camp Ritchie.
  • 7.
  • Chemnitz, Germany. When his father died.
  • Placed in charge of black engineer aviation unit in California.
  • Placed in charge of black engineer aviation unit in.
  • Unit in Aleutian Islands.
  • When his father died in World War I, his.
  • When his father died in.
  • World War I, his mother married Oscar Leitert and family moved to Scheinau.
  • mother married Oscar Leitert and family moved to Scheinau.

Sources

  • Wikipedia: John Kluge
  • 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 2017-09-03 (1 post)
  • Dan Gross, Timeline of John W. Kluge for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 2 source documents reviewed)
  • Dan Gross, Timeline of Kluge, John W. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 2 source files: JOHN W. KLUGE - 18.doc, JOHN W. KLUGE.doc)