Emil F. Reinhardt
United States Army general (1888-1969)
Emil Fred Reinhardt (October 27, 1888 – July 24, 1969) was a United States Army officer who served from 1910 to 1946 and attained the rank of major general. He is most noted during World War II as commander of the 69th Infantry Division, which became the first American unit to come into contact with units of the Soviet Red Army.
Early life and military career
Emil Fredrich Reinhardt was born in West Bay City (now Bay City, Michigan) on October 27, 1888, the son of Christoph L. Reinhardt and Seyville L. (Tomhafe) Reinhardt. He graduated from Bay City Western High School in 1906 and subsequently he attended the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York. He graduated four years later in June 1910, at the age of 21, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Infantry Branch of the United States Army. Among his fellow graduates were Ernest J. Dawley, David McCoach Jr., Burton O. Lewis, John Millikin, Jack W. Heard, Oscar Griswold, Durward Saunders Wilson, James Muir, Oscar Solbert, Harry Chamberlin, all of whom would, like Reinhardt, become general officers in the future.
After his graduation, Reinhardt served initially with the 26th Infantry Regiment at Fort Wayne, Michigan. Subsequent assignments included Texas City, Texas and the Philippines as a member of the 8th Infantry Regiment. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1916 and captain in 1917.
During World War I, which the United States entered in April 1917, Reinhardt was promoted to temporary major.
The public source identifies “Emil F. Reinhardt” as united States Army general (1888-1969). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Emil, Reinhardt and United.
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This entry incorporates text from “Emil F. Reinhardt” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.