John Friedrich Krasny
| John Friedrich Krasny | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | John F. Krasny |
| Born | 1914 Vienna, Austria |
| Died | 8 April 2005 Gaithersburg, Maryland |
| Nativity | Austria |
| Religion | Catholic |
| Awards | Bronze Star |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| ASN | 34170536 |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Rank at Ritchie | Technician Fourth Grade |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 10 (23 July – 20 September 1943) |
| Section | 5B |
| Enlisted | Ft Bragg, North Carolina |
|
| Bronze Star |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
John Friedrich Krasny (c. 1915 – 8 April 2005) was a Vienna-born Ritchie Boy (Class 10) interrogator with Fifth Armored Division who later researched textile flammability for NIST.
Biography edit
John Friedrich Krasny was born in Vienna and worked in his mother’s textile factory in Czechoslovakia before immigrating to the United States in 1938. He labored in North Carolina textile mills until entering the Army in September 1941 and training in intelligence at Camp Ritchie (Class 10).
Attached to the 5th Armored Division from D-Day through the end of the war, he interrogated German prisoners and civilians. Krasny later wrote that Ritchie Boy teams warned SHAEF of the German buildup before the Battle of the Bulge and felt those warnings went unheeded. He received the Bronze Star.
After the war he earned a physics degree at the University of Denver (1948) and a master’s in statistics at American University (1958), working on textile research for the National Bureau of Standards / NIST and Gillette. Author of more than eighty technical papers, he died of congestive heart failure on 8 April 2005 at Asbury Methodist Village in Gaithersburg, Maryland, at age 90.
Research notes edit
- Class 10 GerOB NBS/NIST
- OB 29 BS
Technical record edit
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 91 |
| Nara ASN | 34170536 |
| Nara Name | KRASNY JOHN F |
| Nara State | 46 |
| Nara County | 21 |
| Nara POE | 4625 |
| Nara DOE | 130941 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Term of enlistment | Unknown |
| Defer. Date | 0 |
| Nara Source | 0 |
| Nara Nativity | N2 |
| Nara Year of Birth | 14 |
| Nara Race | J |
| Nara Race Description | White not yet a citizen |
| Nara Education | 7 |
| Nara Civilian Occupation | 50 |
| Nara Marital Status | 1 |
| Nara Height (inches) | 67 |
| Nara Weight (lbs) | 140 |
| Class_ASN | 34170536 |
| Class_Name | KRASKY, John F. |
| match_method | asn_exact_name_compatible |
| row_source | both |
Timeline edit
- c. 1915 — Born in Vienna (age 90 at death in 2005).
- 1938 — Immigrated to the United States; North Carolina textile work.
- September 1941 — Entered U.S. Army; Camp Ritchie Class 10.
- 1944–1945 — 5th Armored Division interrogator; Bronze Star.
- 1948 / 1958 — B.S. physics, University of Denver; M.S. statistics, American University.
- NBS / NIST / Gillette — Textile flammability research.
- 8 April 2005 — Died in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Sources edit
- RB Archive: John_F._Krasny.docx / Textile Technologist obituary OCR (Washington-area death notice)
- 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 2022-12-06 (1 post)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of John Friedrich Krasny for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Krasny, John Friedrich for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: JOHN F. KRASNY.doc)