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Fred W. Hellman
| Fred W. Hellman | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1912 |
| Died | 1991 |
| Nativity | United States |
| Religion | Protestant |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Arm / service | Air Corps |
| ASN | 0907226 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 20 (19 June – 16 August 1944) |
| Section | 5A |
| Teams | IPW 411, IPW 164 |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Fred W. Hellman (1912–1991) was a Ritchie Boy (from United States; Protestant) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 20 and served with IPW Team 411;164.
Biography
Ronald Friedman, the son of the late Rudolf (Rudy) Friedman, a Ritchie Boy who served on IPW Team 164, connected with us on November 12 with this message, "My dad, Rudolph E Friedman, was an April 1944 graduate of Camp Ritchie in the 16th graduating class. By June, he had become a Master Sergeant in the US Army serving in IPW 164 along with Harold Bergstrom, Andrew Akos, Jack Hillesum and Fred W. Hellman, serving in France and later into Germany. The momento that he and his unit had prepared still sits on my desk today. It is a cross section of an 88 mm howitzer used by US forces in the Battle of Germany (which this item commemorates). which,I believe, is the name they used at the time to talk about the incursion of the US military into Germany which led to the end of the war. I would love to hear from any of my dad's other unit members or their progeny." Incredibly, a relative of one of Rudy Friedman's IPW teammates, Fred Hellman, learned about the post and reached out to us to share his brother's story The picture below of Rudy Friedman was taken March 25, 1945 at the entrance to St. Ingbert, a city in the Saarland.
In response to the posting of November 12, 2017, we received the following response from Mark Hellman, the son of the late Fred Hellman! "Hello, Ronald Friedman. What a pleasant surprise! I am the older son of Fred W. The momento you shared a photo of (see below) was a familiar object in our home in Indiana. Unfortunately, I don't think my brother Paul or I still have Dad's. But we do have a lot of other material and plan to share a photo that may include your father and a report on the activities of IPW Team 164 that Dad wrote after V-E Day."
Here is some information on RB Captain Frederick (Fred) Hellman, provided by his sons, Paul and Mark Hellman. "Fred Hellman, our father, served on IPW Team 164; he was the officer in charge. Dad was teaching at Kemper Military School, Boonville, MO when he heard about jobs teaching German and other subjects to pilots in training at Maxwell Field in Montgomery, Ala. He did that initially as a civilian but soon enlisted and completed officer training. After a couple of years at Maxwell Field, he was assigned to Camp Ritchie for training in 1944 and graduated that August in the 20th Class." More to follow
Mark Hellman writes that his Father "had grown up in a German-speaking Lutheran farm family in Nebraska, gone to the Univ of Nebraska, graduating at age 19 and then getting an MA there in the mid-1930's in Latin and German. The momento that Ronald Friedman shared a photo of (below right) was a familiar object in our house.... One sad thing about the momento: 2nd Lt. Shafer was a replacement....2nd Lt. Alfred Kupferschmidt, was killed in action on February 25, 1945, three days after the photo (below left)...was taken." According to RB historian Dan Gross, "Captain Fred W. Hellman (1912-1991) graduated Class 20 (German) and was officer in charge of IPW 164 attached to XXI Corps. At end of October 1944, fifteen IPW teams (30 officers and 60 enlisted men) were transported to Camp Shanks and then embarked on the SS Aquitania to ETO (Scotland). (RB Max Horlick was on same shipment) I didn’t know that Karl Schafer was a replacement for Alfred Kupferschmidt."
Fred Hellman "was discharged in early 1946 and soon began a high school teaching career at Howe Military School in Howe, Indiana where he lived for the rest of his life. He was also a military intelligence instructor in the Army Reserve (5th Army) almost every summer until retiring as a Colonel in 1972. Despite all the military involvement, Dad was not military minded in his day-to-day life. He saw himself mainly as a high school teacher, primarily of Latin, his favorite subject." The photo below is of Fred Hellman (far left) and the IPW 164 Team interrogating a German POW on February 22, 1945. Thank you, Mark, for sharing these wonderful stories about your late Father.
Research notes
- to Colonel
- Fr 410
Gallery
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According to Mark Hellman, in the photo below Fred Hellman is at the far left along with some unidentified soldiers from IPW 164, during an interrogation.
Technical record
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 79 |
| Class_ASN | 907226 |
| Class_Name | HELLMAN, Fred |
| match_method | asn_exact_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 2018-01-10 (5 posts)