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Lewis M. Bloom
| Lewis M. Bloom | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 December 1917 New York. Parents |
| Died | 2016 |
| Nativity | United States |
| Religion | Jewish |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Arm / service | Coast Artillery Corps |
| ASN | 01057681 |
| Rank | Second Lieutenant |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 15 (4 January – 3 March 1944) |
| Section | 6D |
| Unit / division | 28th Infantry Division; 100th Infantry Division |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Lewis M. Bloom (9 December 1917–2016) was a U.S.-born Ritchie Boy (Rutgers College ’42) who trained at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, in Class 15 and served as an order-of-battle analyst with the 28th and 100th Infantry Divisions in the European Theater.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Lewis M. Bloom was born on 9 December 1917 in New York to Polish-born parents. He attended Middlesex Junior College and earned an A.B. in economics at Rutgers University (Class of 1942).
While serving as an antiaircraft officer, Bloom was ordered to Camp Ritchie, Maryland—the Military Intelligence Training Center—ostensibly as an assistant S-2 for a new brigade. He later described the assignment as a personnel ruse to assemble specialists for the Military Intelligence Service ahead of the invasion of Europe. At Ritchie he trained first in aerial photo interpretation (he recalled finishing near the top of that course) and took required electronics and radio instruction; after a hospital stay for pneumonia during a maneuver he returned to makeup work and was directed into order-of-battle analysis.
Bloom served in the European Theater as an order-of-battle analyst attached to the 28th Infantry Division in northern France—including the fighting around Saint-Lô and the drive toward the Falaise Gap—and later with the 100th Infantry Division in the Vosges under Seventh Army. His oral history also describes temporary duty connected with higher headquarters in London and Paris.
Research notes[edit | edit source]
- See notes
- Ob 30
- Chambers footnote cites Bloom’s Rutgers Oral History Archives interview as an MITC trainee account.
Gallery[edit | edit source]
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Technical record[edit | edit source]
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 99 |
| Class_ASN | 57681 |
| Class_Name | BLOOM, Lewis |
| match_method | asn_partial_name_exact |
| row_source | both |
Timeline[edit | edit source]
- Born 9 December 1917 in New York. Parents were Polish.
- Trained at Camp Ritchie (MITC), Class 15 — aerial photo interpretation, then order-of-battle analysis.
- European Theater — order-of-battle analyst with the 28th Infantry Division (northern France).
- Later attached for duty with the 100th Infantry Division (Vosges / Seventh Army).
Sources[edit | edit source]
- Dan Gross research archive (miscellaneous notes; not uploaded): NOTES citing Chambers footnote on MITC trainees
- John Whiteclay Chambers II, “OSS Training Areas in the National Park Service” (footnote citing MITC trainee accounts by Richard Warren Seltzer, Sr., and Lewis Bloom); see also Chambers, “Bang-Bang Boys, Jedburghs and the House of Horrors.” MITC formally activated 19 June 1942
- Lewis M. Bloom oral history interview, Rutgers Oral History Archives (21 June 1994); PDF transcript
- 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 Lewis M. Bloom for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Bloom, Lewis M. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: LEWIS M. BLOOM.doc)