Werner Paul Zwigol

Werner Paul Zwigol
Personal details
Born	11 November 1906 Germany
Died	29 January 1953
Nativity	Germany
Religion	Protestant
Awards	Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	36350183
Rank	Private
Camp Ritchie	Class 13 (30 October – 23 December 1943)
Section	E
Enlisted	Chicago, Illinois

Awards and honors

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign	American Campaign	Philippine Liberation

Good Conduct	World War II Victory

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.

Werner Paul Zwigol (11 November 1906 – 29 January 1953) was a German-born United States Army soldier who began Class 13 at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, before transfer to field artillery and Pacific service.

Biography

Werner Paul Zwigol was born in Germany on 11 November 1906 (Protestant). After grammar and incomplete high school in Germany he immigrated to the United States, studied English in night school in Chicago, and worked managing automatic phonograph machines. He became a naturalized citizen in Chicago in February 1942.

Drafted as a private (ASN 36350183) at Chicago on 16 June 1942, he took basic training at Fort Sill and served as a radio operator at Camp Hood before transfer to Camp Ritchie in September 1943 for Class 13 (German IPW). On 3 December 1943 he was dropped from the class for unsatisfactory grades and on 3 January 1944 transferred to a field-artillery battalion at Fort Bragg. He later served in the Pacific with the 89th Field Artillery Battalion. His decorations included the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one bronze star, the American Campaign Medal, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one bronze star, the Good Conduct Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. Discharged at Camp Grant, Illinois, in late November 1945, he died on 29 January 1953.

Research notes

• Do NOT publish daughter email/phone from packet contact file. Correct prior bio that implied Class 13 completion—he was dropped.

Gallery

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  Werner Paul Zwigol honorable discharge, Camp Grant, Illinois, 30 November 1945 (RB Archive)
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  89th Field Artillery Battalion unit-history image from the Zwigol packet (RB Archive)

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	47
Nara ASN	36350183
Nara Name	ZWIGOL WERNER
Nara State	61
Nara County	31
Nara POE	6120
Nara DOE	160642
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	N1
Nara Year of Birth	6
Nara Race	1
Nara Race Description	White citizen
Nara Education	4
Nara Civilian Occupation	240
Nara Marital Status	6
Nara Height (inches)	68
Nara Weight (lbs)	149
Class_ASN	36350183
Class_Name	Zwigol, Wernar
match_method	asn_exact_name_compatible
row_source	both

Timeline

• 11 November 1906 — Born in Germany.
• February 1942 — Naturalized in Chicago.
• 16 June 1942 — Drafted at Chicago as private.
• June–November 1942 — Basic training Fort Sill; radio operator Camp Hood.
• September 1943 — Entered Camp Ritchie Class 13 (German IPW).
• 3 December 1943 — Dropped from Class 13 (unsatisfactory grades).
• 3 January 1944 — Transferred to field artillery, Fort Bragg.
• 30 November 1945 — Honorable discharge, Camp Grant, Illinois.
• 29 January 1953 — Died.

Sources

• 89th Field Artillery Battalion unit-history image from the Zwigol packet (RB Archive)
• Werner Paul Zwigol honorable discharge, Camp Grant, Illinois, 30 November 1945 (RB Archive)
• RB Archive 89th Field Artillery Battalion unit-history image
• RB Archive honorable-discharge documents, Camp Grant, Illinois (November 1945)
• Family A/C-card summary shared with Ritchie Boys of WWII project (RB Archive packet; permission noted)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page — Werner Paul Zwigol discharge / service summary
• 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 2022-10-03 (19 posts)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Werner Zwigol for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Zwigol, Werner for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: WERNER ZWIGOL.doc)