Hans N. Tuch

Hans N. Tuch
Personal details
Birth name	Tom
Born	15 October 1924
Died	September 2020
Nativity	Germany
Religion	Jewish
Awards	Bronze Star
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	37525881
Rank	Staff Sergeant
Rank at Ritchie	Private First Class
Camp Ritchie	Class 18 (13 April – 10 June 1944)
Section	5B
Team	IPW 87

Awards and honors

Bronze Star

Teammates

Team — IPW 87

These are other soldiers listed on the same team roster. People moved between teams; overlapping service dates are not always documented.

Research notes on this page are compiled from the source file and later edits. They may be unverified, incomplete, or incorrect, and should not be treated as established fact. Please correct the article or add sources on the talk page. For class-roster terms, see About the data.

Sources & confidence: Treat Research notes as leads, not settled fact. Prefer NARA, the class roster, newspapers, Find a Grave, or published histories for contested claims. Mark unsourced claims with {{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.

Hans N. Tuch (15 October 1924–September 2020), also known as Tom Tuch, was a German-born Ritchie Boy (Class 18) who served as a paratrooper-interrogator with the 101st Airborne Division and later as a U.S. Foreign Service Career Minister.

Biography

Hans N. Tuch (known as Tom) was born in Berlin on 15 October 1924. As a secular Jew he attended a Catholic school until he was expelled in 1938; that year he reached relatives in Kansas City on an affidavit and U.S. visa, and his mother joined him about three years later. After high school and early university work he was drafted, became a naturalized citizen following basic training, and entered the Army Specialized Training Program at the University of Illinois before graduating with Camp Ritchie Class 18.

Shipped to Britain in March 1944, he volunteered for the 101st Airborne Division and parachuted near Carentan, France, early on 6 June 1944, serving as a German-language interrogator in the fighting that followed. He jumped again into Eindhoven during Operation Market Garden on 17 September 1944 and later moved with the 101st to Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. He received the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Bronze Star.

After the war he earned a B.A. from the University of Kansas City and an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, then spent more than thirty-five years in the Foreign Service and U.S. Information Agency—including Director of Amerika Haus in Wiesbaden/Frankfurt (1949–52), posts in Moscow, Sofia, Brasilia, and Bonn, and service as Acting Director of the Voice of America—retiring in 1985 as a Career Minister. He wrote Communicating with the World: U.S. Public Diplomacy Overseas and other books, received the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, and held an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Missouri. He died in September 2020.

Research notes

• Amerika Haus
• USIA
• USHMM oral history interview by Gail Schwartz, Bethesda, MD, 7 November 2013

Gallery

• 
  Hans N. Tuch in uniform (Staff Sergeant; Combat Infantryman Badge; airborne insignia)
• 
  Book cover: Arias, Cabalettas, and Foreign Affairs by Hans N. Tuch
• 
  Book cover: Communicating with the World: U.S. Public Diplomacy Overseas by Hans N. Tuch
• 
  Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (decoration associated with Tuch)

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Class_ASN	37525881
Class_Name	TUCH, Hans N.
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Timeline

• Born 1924.
• 1936 — Remembers seeing Jesse Owens win 4 Olympic gold medals.
• Died 1936.
• 22 October 1943 — Naturalized in New Orleans in order to be accepted into ASTP.
• 22 March 1944 — Entered Camp Ritchie as Pfc. Languages: German, French, Spanish.
• 10 June 1944 — Graduated with Class 18. Classified as Linguist #1 IPW.
• 14 June 1944 — Promoted to T/3.
• In 1938 — He got an affidavit and U.S. visa and moved to join relatives in Kansas City; three years later his mother was able to join him.
• January 1985 — Retired after 35 years of diplomatic service as ‘Career Minister’.
• January 1985 — Retired after 35 years of diplomatic service.
• After the war Tuch returned to the States, earned a BA from the University of Kansas City and a MA degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced Studies.
• Back in Washington, Tuch was assigned to prepare “Atoms for Peace” exhibition in Italy, Japan, Portugal. Studied Russian, then took course at USIA.
• Following basic training he became a naturalized citizen, so that he could participate in the Army Specialized Training Program at the University of Illinois.
• International Studies). Joined Chase National Bank for service in Europe. Went to Bad Homburg (Amerika Haus) and had a career as Foreign Service Officer. Assigned first to Wiesbaden, then to Frankfurt (5 years).
• Joined Chase National Bank for service in Europe. Went to Bad Homburg (Amerika Haus) and had a career as Foreign Service Officer. Assigned first to Wiesbaden, then to Frankfurt (5 years).
• Then flew back to England. Assigned to jumping regiment.

Sources

• Dan Gross research archive (miscellaneous timeline-adjacent documents; not uploaded): Hans Tuch - sidebar.doc
• 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 2019-09-02 (3 posts)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2022-03-19 (2 posts)
• Facebook-linked source: bit.ly
• Facebook-linked source: bit.ly
• Facebook-linked source: bit.ly
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Hans N. Tuch for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 4 source documents reviewed)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Tuch, Hans N. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 4 source files: HANS (TOM) TUCH (2020).docx, HANS (TOM) TUCH (2020A).docx, HANS (TOM) TUCH.doc, TOM TUCH.doc)