Stanley Eric Reinhart

Stanley Eric Reinhart was a Major General in the United States Army.

Early life

He was born on September 15 1893 in Polk, Ohio (pop. 250). Stanley Eric Reinhart worked briefly as a rural school teacher, in North Red Haw, Ohio, until 1911.

After he graduated from the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York in 1916, he was commissioned in the Field Artillery at Camp Fort Bliss, Texas.

World War I

As ADC to General Payton C. March, Reinhart sailed for France on June 30, 1917, where he commanded Battery "A", 17th FA, 2nd Division, AEF, from February 12, 1918 to July 10, 1918 (in action during the defense of sector from 21 March to 12 May, Battle of Bois de Belleau). Next, Reinhart commanded 1st Bn, 17th FA, 10 July, 1918 (Battles of Soissons, Ypres-Lys, and Meuse-Argonne).

Stanley Eric Reinhart was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his actions in combat.

On 4 August 1919, Reinhart returned to the U.S., where he married Jeannette Crane of Toledo, Ohio, on May 5 1920, at West Point, New York.

Between World War I and World War II he served three years as an instructor of Field Artillery tactics at the United States Military Academy; four years in the Command and General Staff School, and Army War College; two years as instructor at the Field Artillery School; three years General Staff with troops in Hawaii; and four years as Treasurer, also at West Point.

As a Brigadier General from February 16 1942 on, he commanded the 25th Division Artillery, defending the shores of Oahu. On December 6 1942, Reinhart sailed for Guadalcanal to participate in operations which would ultimately help terminate hostilities there. Ordered home to the U.S. by the War Department on April 22, he landed at San Francisco on April 26, 1943.

From July 1 1943 to December 18 1944, Reinhart organized and trained the 65th Infantry Division at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. On January 10, 1945, as the Commanding General of the 65th, he sailed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO), where he joined General George Patton's Third Army on the Sarre River and fought with it across Germany and Austria.

Under his leadership, the 65th Infantry managed forced crossings of the Fulda, Werra, Danube, Inn, Traun, and Enns Rivers. His men took the German cities of Saarlautern, Neunkirchen, Oberursel, Friedberg, Hattenback, Bebra, Rottenburg, Treffurt, Langensalza, Neumarkt, Regensburg, and Passau; as well as Schärding, Eferding, Linz, and Enns in Austria. His soldiers captured the German Danube Flotilla and the Hungarian Navy, consisting of 25 armed ships and over 400 other craft.

At the end of combat, General Reinhart and the 65th Infantry Division were over 100 miles (160 km) east of a north and south line through Berlin. Fighting in Europe was to end at midnight on 8 May. Major General Stanley Eric Reinhart arrived in Erlauf, a hamlet in Austria, where he met the Soviets and shook hands with his counterpart. In addition to commanding his own troops, Major General Stanley E. Reinhart was also soon appointed as the Military Governor of Upper Austria.

Major General Reinhart continued to reside in Linz, where the 65th Infantry Division and subsequently the 26th Infantry Division had its headquarters.

Hospitalized on 15 October 1945, Major General Reinhart returned to the U.S. as a patient on 15 November, 1945. On 30 September 1946, he retired due to physical disability. He died in 1975 and is survived by his two children, Stanley E. Reinhart Jr., a retired Brigadier General living in Atlantic Beach, Florida, and his daughter Virginia, now Mrs. Lawrence H. Pomeroy, who lives in Osprey, Florida.

Among Major General Reinhart's decorations and honors are ten battle stars, the Army Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster; the Silver Star; the Legion of Merit; the Bronze Star; the Legion d'Honneur (France) and the Croix de Guerre with palm (France); the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class (USSR). He also became an honorary member of the Russian Guards.

External links

* [http://www.65thdiv.com 65th Infantry Division Association]
* [http://www.lonesentry.com/65thbook/index.html "Right to be Proud: History of the 65th Infantry Division's March Across Germany" (WWII unit history booklet published in 1945)]