Robert A. Potash
| Robert A. Potash | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1921 Boston, Massachusetts |
| Died | 2016 |
| Nativity | United States |
| Religion | Jewish |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| ASN | 31224431 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Rank at Ritchie | Technician Fourth Grade |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 19 (16 May – 13 July 1944) |
| Section | 6A |
| Enlisted | Boston, Massachusetts |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Robert A. Potash (1921–2016) was a United States Army soldier who trained at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, in Class 19 and later became a historian of Argentina.
Biography edit
Robert A. Potash was born in 1921 in Boston, Massachusetts. He studied history at Harvard College and later continued graduate work there. He enlisted from Boston and trained at Camp Ritchie (Class 19), serving overseas as a technician fourth grade; roster records also associate him with Japanese order-of-battle work (Class 18 JapOB).
After the war Potash became a historian specializing in Argentine political and military history (including work associated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in later summaries). His memoir Looking Back at My First Eighty Years appeared in 2008. He gave an oral-history interview to the Yiddish Book Center in 2012. Potash died in 2016.
Research notes edit
- Also Class 18 JapOB
- OB 41
- Interview candidate: Yiddish Book Center oral history (2012) — add to Ritchie Boy Interviews watchlist. Live page once linked MIT; confirm institutional affiliation against memoir/obituary before asserting a single postwar employer.
Gallery edit
-
Robert A. Potash portrait (RB Archive)
Technical record edit
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 95 |
| Nara ASN | 31224431 |
| Nara Name | POTASH ROBERT A |
| Nara State | 13 |
| Nara County | 17 |
| Nara POE | 1306 |
| Nara DOE | 171042 |
| Nara Grade Alpha | PVT |
| Nara Grade Code | 8 |
| Nara Branch Alpha | BI |
| Nara Branch Code | 0 |
| Branch | Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA |
| Nara Term or Enlistment | 5 |
| Term of enlistment | Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law |
| Defer. Date | 0 |
| Nara Source | 0 |
| Nara Nativity | 13 |
| Nativity.1 | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Nara Year of Birth | 21 |
| Nara Race | 1 |
| Nara Race Description | White citizen |
| Nara Education | 4 |
| Nara Civilian Occupation | 992 |
| Nara Marital Status | 6 |
| Nara Height (inches) | 69 |
| Nara Weight (lbs) | 141 |
| Class_ASN | 31224431 |
| Class_Name | POTASH, Robert A. |
| match_method | asn_exact_name_exact |
| row_source | both |
Timeline edit
- 1921 — Born in Boston, Massachusetts.
- Class 19 — Trained at Camp Ritchie; also associated with Class 18 Japanese order-of-battle work.
- 2008 — Published memoir Looking Back at My First Eighty Years.
- 2012 — Recorded an oral history with the Yiddish Book Center.
- 2016 — Died.
Sources edit
- Robert A. Potash portrait (RB Archive)
- RB Archive packet for Robert A. Potash (source links)
- Yiddish Book Center oral history interview with Robert A. Potash (2012)
- Robert A. Potash funeral/obituary notice (Douglass Funeral)
- 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 2016-09-30 (1 post)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Robert A. Potash for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Potash, Robert A. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: ROBERT A. POTASH.doc)