Henry R. Janzen

Henry R. Janzen
Personal details
Born	1919
Died	1964
Nativity	United States
Religion	Catholic
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
Arm / service	Infantry
ASN	01016309
Rank	Second Lieutenant
Camp Ritchie	Class 14 (2 December 1943 – 31 January 1944)
Section	5B

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Henry R. Janzen (1919–1964) was a Ritchie Boy (from United States; Catholic) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 14.

Biography

Henry Raymond Janzen was a Ritchie Boy. Henry Raymond Janzen was born August 11, 1919 in Cloud Chief, Oklahoma. Janzen received his commission at Fort Knox. Kentucky in Feb., 1943. He was then assigned to duty in a tank division in the armor corps at Camp Polk, Louisiana. Next he went to Camp Barkeley, Texas, for six weeks training. From there he went to Washington, D. C., for military Intelligence instruction. Reporting to Washington, he was assigned to Camp Ritchie for further instruction and graduated Jan. After a ten-day furlough which he and Mrs. Janzen spent in New York, he was shipped overseas in March 1944. Serving with the Fifth Army in Italy, Janzen was promoted to First Lieutenant in August 1944. A month later, word was received that Lt Janzen and a fellow interpreter succeeded in capturing a German 30 miles behind the Fifth Army's front lines in Italy. With Sergeant Eric A. Hurst of Jersey City, N. J., the Dinuban picked up a hitch-hiking stranger dressed in green cotton trousers and khaki shirt carrying an American rifle. He conversed with them in Italian, but "I caught a Teutonic Accent in his speech when he tried to explain that he belonged to an Italian volunteer organization," said Janzen, who studied for the ministry. After they led their captive to the nearest Military Police station, the hitchhiker admitted he was a German and had been masquerading as an Italian for ten days after being stranded 30 miles behind American lines. Henry Raymond Janzen passed away on March 25, 1964 at the age of 44. His headstone indicates he was promoted to Major, and earned a Bronze Star Medal as well as a Army Commendation Medal.

Research notes

No notes were in the source row. Add what you know.

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	45
Class_ASN	16309
Class_Name	JANZEN, Henry R.
match_method	asn_partial_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 2022-12-22 (1 post)