Walter Gerson

Walter Gerson
Personal details
Born	20 January 1922 Frankfurt, Germany
Died	8 December 2007 San Diego, California
Nativity	Germany
Religion	Jewish
Awards	Purple Heart
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	13122046
Rank	First Lieutenant
Rank at Ritchie	Private First Class
Camp Ritchie	Class 17 (11 March – 8 May 1944)
Section	5D
Enlisted	State College, Pennsylvania
Unit / division	80th Infantry Division
Teams	IPW 111, IPW 180

Awards and honors

Purple Heart

Teammates

Team — IPW 111

Team — IPW 180

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.

Walter Gerson (20 January 1922–8 December 2007) was a Frankfurt-born Ritchie Boy (Class 17; IPW Team 111) who served as a first lieutenant with the 80th Infantry Division and later taught marketing in San Diego.

Biography

Walter Gerson was born on 20 January 1922 in Frankfurt, Germany. In 1927, at age five, he was adopted from a Jewish orphanage and brought to the United States, growing up in Scranton and Williamsport, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Penn State University in 1943 he enlisted in the U.S. Army; with his German he trained as an interpreter at the University of Pennsylvania and then at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, in Class 17.

He served as a first lieutenant with IPW Team 111 (also rostered to IPW Team 180) attached to the 80th Infantry Division as a translator and interrogator, and he also served as a Jewish chaplain for fellow soldiers. He received the Purple Heart. For about two years after the war he worked as a civilian at the Pentagon investigating German industry’s ties to the Nazi war effort.

In 1953 he earned a master’s in business from American University and founded Walter Gerson and Associates, a marketing research firm (to 1972). At age sixty-five he earned a doctorate in speech communications from the University of Maryland, moved to San Diego, and taught marketing at San Diego State University until shortly before his death. He died on 8 December 2007; burial was at Arlington National Cemetery on 16 May 2008. In 2020 Warrior Canine Connection named a service-dog puppy Walter in his honor.

Research notes

• DEML

Gallery

• 
  Wartime portrait of 1LT Walter Gerson cropped from Warrior Canine Connection tribute art.
• 
  Memorial dedication page for Dr. Rabbi Lt. Walter Gerson (1922–2007); Arlington burial noted.
• 
  Warrior Canine Connection “Unity Litter” graphic naming puppy Walter for 1LT Walter Gerson.
• 
  Walter Gerson memorial / memoir booklet page 3 (RB Archive).
• 
  Walter Gerson memorial / memoir booklet page 6 (RB Archive).
• 
  Walter Gerson memorial / memoir booklet page 10 (RB Archive).

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	85
Nara ASN	13122046
Nara Name	GERSON WALTER
Nara State	32
Nara County	69
Nara POE	3914
Nara DOE	100842
Nara Grade Alpha	PVT
Nara Grade Code	8
Nara Branch Code	99
Branch	Judge Advocate General's Department
Nara Term or Enlistment	0
Term of enlistment	Unknown
Defer. Date	9993
Nara Source	0
Nara Nativity	N1
Nara Year of Birth	22
Nara Race	1
Nara Race Description	White citizen
Nara Education	6
Nara Civilian Occupation	992
Nara Marital Status	6
Nara Height (inches)	65
Nara Weight (lbs)	149
Class_ASN	13122046
Class_Name	GERSON, Walter
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both
Census_HISTID	D5487AD9-2A77-47BF-A0A0-848519EFB8FC
Census_State	PENNSYLVANIA
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	Foreign born, citizenship not reported
Census_Educ	Grade 11
Census_OCC	998

Timeline

• 20 January 1922 — Born in Frankfurt, Germany.
• 1927 — Adopted and brought to the United States (Pennsylvania).
• 1943 — Graduates Penn State; enlists; interpreter training; Camp Ritchie Class 17.
• WWII — 1LT, IPW Team 111 / 80th Infantry Division; Purple Heart.
• Postwar — Pentagon civilian investigator; American University M.B.A. (1953); marketing firm; later Ph.D. and SDSU teaching.
• 8 December 2007 — Died; Arlington National Cemetery burial 16 May 2008.

Sources

• Blurb — Walter Gerson 1922–2007
• Legacy / San Diego Union-Tribune obituary listing
• Warrior Canine Connection — puppy Walter named for 1LT Walter Gerson
• 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)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Walter Gerson for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Gerson, Walter for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: WALTER GERSON.docx)