Peter Robert Viereck

Peter Robert Viereck
Personal details
Born	5 August 1916 New York City
Died	13 May 2006 South Hadley, Massachusetts
Nativity	United States
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	32869364
Rank	Private
Camp Ritchie	Class 7 (15 April – 12 June 1943)
Enlisted	New York City, New York

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.

Peter Robert Viereck (5 August 1916–13 May 2006) was an American poet, historian, and political writer who entered Camp Ritchie’s Class 7 (IPW German) on 27 April 1943 but did not graduate; after the war he taught history at Mount Holyoke College and won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

Biography

Peter Robert Viereck (also known as Peter Robert Edwin Viereck) was born on 5 August 1916 in New York City and educated at Harvard University and Oxford (M.A., history; later a Harvard Ph.D.). He enlisted in the U.S. Army (ASN 32869364) and on 27 April 1943 entered Camp Ritchie’s Class 7 (IPW German) but did not graduate.

A prolific poet and essayist from the late 1930s, Viereck won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for the collection Terror and Decorum. He taught briefly at Smith College (1946–1947) and joined Mount Holyoke College in 1948, remaining on the history faculty for nearly five decades (formally retiring in 1987 but continuing to teach into the 1990s). He was an early voice for a “new conservatism” (notably in a 1940 Atlantic Monthly essay) while later criticizing what he saw as right-wing excesses in postwar American conservatism. He died on 13 May 2006 in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

Research notes

• PhD Harvard
• Birth date 5 August 1916 (New York Times obituary; Columbia University finding aid; Wikipedia). Earlier roster/import year 1918 was incorrect.

Gallery

After you are autoconfirmed, upload a photo and add [[File:Example.jpg|thumb|caption]] here, or set |photo=Example.jpg in the infobox.

Technical record

Field	Imported value
MRBC1	1
Approx Age at Death	88
Nara ASN	32869364
Nara Name	VIERECK PETER R
Nara State	13
Nara County	17
Nara POE	2364
Nara DOE	200343
Nara Grade Alpha	PVT
Nara Grade Code	8
Nara Branch Alpha	NO
Nara Branch Code	2
Branch	No branch assignment
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	23
Nativity.1	NEW YORK
Nara Year of Birth	16
Nara Race	1
Nara Race Description	White citizen
Nara Education	4
Nara Civilian Occupation	6
Nara Marital Status	6
Nara Height (inches)	23
Nara Weight (lbs)	130
row_source	demographics

Timeline

• Born 5 August 1916 in New York City.
• 27 April 1943 — Entered Class 7 (IPW German) but did not graduate.
• 1948–1997 — Taught history at Mount Holyoke College (retired 1987; continued teaching into the 1990s).
• 1949 — Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (Terror and Decorum).
• 13 May 2006 — Died in South Hadley, Massachusetts.
• Enlisted as Pvt. (ASN 32869364).

Sources

• Dan Gross research archive (miscellaneous timeline-adjacent documents; not uploaded): PETER VIERECK - Wikipedia.doc
• Wikipedia: Peter Viereck
• 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 Peter Robert Viereck for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Viereck, Peter Robert for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: PETER R. VIERECK.doc)