Search Registry
◂ Return to Registry Homepage
Disclaimer: Information in the Registry is unofficial and not intended as a substitute for any official government record of military service.
Francis Jacob Herzog |
|
Born | January 21, 1917, Austin, MN |
Gender | Male |
Parents | Jacob J. Herzog and Martha M. Herzog |
Schools Attended | Austin Pacelli High School |
Branch of Service | Army |
Additional Identifiers | Commissioned or Warrant Officer |
Service Timeframe | 1941 - 1945 |
War/Conflict | World War Two 1939-1945 |
Principal Units and Locations | 3rd Armored Division, Division Service Company Supply Officer, Europe Theater of Operations. |
Military Awards and Decorations | Bronze Star, Presidential Unit Citation, Distinguished Unit Citation, Officers Candidate School, Belgian Fourragere, Victory Medal WW ll, European - African - Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal. |
Narrative1st Lt Francis J. Herzog started his journey in WWll reporting for active military service in mid November 1941 at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. He was assigned to the 3rd Armored Division at Camp Polk in Louisiana shortly before Pearl Harbor was attacked. Shortly thereafter he was assigned to Division Service Company as a Sergeant. He was promoted to Staff Sergeant in July 1942, and the Division relocated to the Mojave Desert Training Center. Training stops included Camp Pickett, Virginia, Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, and eventually Armored Force School at Fort Knox, Kentucky where he graduated Officer Candidate School as 2nd Lieutenant in April of 1943. From there it was onto Camp Kilmer, where they trained until embarking from New York on the ‘John Ericsson’ in September 1943. Training continued until D-Day in England. He would arrive at Omaha Beach on July 4, 1944. Their path was through St. Lo Breakthrough, Falaise Gap, where he received a promotion to 1st Lieutenant. The Division continued through Mons, Charleroi, Liege, Aachen, and he was at The Battle of Hotton during the Battle of the Bulge. After the Ardennes, they would head to Cologne and later crossing the Rhine River. From there it was on to Marburg, Paderborn, and east to the Elbe. In early April they help discover the Nordhausen Death Camp (Boelcke-Kaserne). As the war came to a close they were in the area of Sangerhausen, Germany and occupied Darmstadt until returning to the United States. The Division was visited by President Truman and General Eisenhower on July 26, 1945 in Darmstadt, Germany. 1st Lieutenant F. J. Herzog would return to the United States in October 1945, and officially separated from the Army in late December. He would meet his future wife weeks later on New Years Eve, and they would marry a year later and go on to have 6 children, residing in Austin, Minnesota. |