Herman Salinger

Herman Salinger
Personal details
Born	23 December 1905 Saint Louis, Missouri
Died	22 January 1983
Nativity	United States
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
Arm / service	Air Corps
ASN	0913812
Rank	Captain
Rank at Ritchie	Second Lieutenant
Camp Ritchie	Class 6 (13 March – 11 May 1943)
Section	2

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Herman Salinger (23 December 1905 – 22 January 1983) was a St. Louis–born scholar and poet who taught at Camp Ritchie (Class 6) and served in G-2 with Twelfth Army Group and Seventh Army.

Biography

Herman Salinger was born on 23 December 1905 in Saint Louis, Missouri. After study at Stanford and time at the Universities of Berlin and Cologne, he taught German at Princeton (1932–1935) and completed a Ph.D. at Yale in 1937. He later taught at the University of Wisconsin before entering the Army Air Corps as a second lieutenant in 1942.

Promoted to first lieutenant in March 1943 and to captain in October 1944, Salinger served on the staff and faculty of the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie (Class 6 era) and then in G-2 with Twelfth Army Group in Verdun and Wiesbaden and with Seventh Army headquarters in Augsburg and Heidelberg. He left active duty on 14 January 1946.

A published poet and translator—including Heine’s Germany: A Winter’s Tale (1944)—he taught at the University of Kansas City and then as associate professor of German at Grinnell College. He died on 22 January 1983.

Gallery

• 
  Herman Salinger biographical sketch page (RB Archive)

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	78
Class_ASN	913812
Class_Name	SALINGER, Herman
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Timeline

• 23 December 1905 — Born in Saint Louis, Missouri.
• 1932–1935 — Taught German at Princeton; Ph.D. Yale 1937.
• 1942 — Entered Army Air Corps as 2nd Lt.; Kelly Field / Lubbock instruction.
• 1943–1945 — Staff and faculty, MITC Camp Ritchie; then G-2, Twelfth Army Group and Seventh Army.
• 17 March 1943 / 11 October 1944 — Promoted 1st Lt.; then Captain.
• 14 January 1946 — Left active duty.
• 1946–1947 — University of Kansas City; then Grinnell College.
• 22 January 1983 — Died.

Sources

• Herman Salinger biographical sketch page (RB Archive)
• RB Archive biographical OCR (Grinnell / wartime service sketch)
• Find a Grave — Herman Salinger
• Prabook — Herman Salinger
• 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 2022-12-29 (1 post)