Walter S. Kienzle, an unmarried office clerk, with two years of high school, a Protestant native New Yorker, born on Tuesday, November 18, 1924 in the Bronx, was the second son of Frederick Christian Kienzle and Hazel Dean Whiting-Kienzle.
A resident of the borough of Queens, New York, young Walter, who stood only 5 foot 1 inch and weighed 106 pounds, decided on February 12, 1943, at the tender age of 18, to proudly enlist in the United States Army to serve his country during World War II. He soon received his orders to ship out to Italy.
It was in Italy, on the cold and freezing night of January 21, 1944, when with less than one year of military service to the United States Army, that 19 year old Private First Class Walter Kienzle lost his life dying for his country.
He was an enlisted man, part of the 5th Army Texas 36th Division, Entry Unit: 141st Infantry Regiment, Company B.
For his heroism, Walter was awarded the Purple Heart Medal.
Walter was one of the valiant soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Rapido River during the cold and dark days and nights of January 20, January 21 and January 22 in 1944. Due to the heavy military causalities, the soldiers called the battle the "Bloody River".
The well-prepared Germans fought the American soldiers who were exhausted and out of ammunition. Under the weight of German counterattacks, The Battle of the Rapido River was a failure. The battle was a disaster on the scale of Omaha Beach, but without the success.
According to the U.S. WWII Hospital Admission Card Files on Walter, he sustained the following injuries during the Battle of the Rapido River massacre which lead his death:
"Diagnosis: First Location: Back, generally; Causative Agent: Artillery Shell, Fragments, Afoot or unspecified."
Walter was predeceased by his loving mother Hazel Dean Whiting-Kienzle who died in 1938.
He was survived by his father Frederick Christian Kienzle and his stepmother Mary Bellingham-Kienzle and his older, intellectually disabled brother Douglas Frederick Kienzle and younger sister Ruth M. Kienzle, as well as many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
At the request of his family, he was buried in Nettuno Permanent Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy Grave #A-5-24.
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Biography lovingly written by Find A Grave Member GWTWQUEENIE. Please do not reprint without permission. Thank You.
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Engraved forever at ANZAC Cove are these words from Kemal Ataturk, the Commander of the Turkish 19th Division during the Gallipoli Campaign and the first President of the Turkish Republic from 1924-1938:
"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives. You are now living in the soil of a friendly country therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."
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A resident of the borough of Queens, New York, young Walter, who stood only 5 foot 1 inch and weighed 106 pounds, decided on February 12, 1943, at the tender age of 18, to proudly enlist in the United States Army to serve his country during World War II. He soon received his orders to ship out to Italy.
It was in Italy, on the cold and freezing night of January 21, 1944, when with less than one year of military service to the United States Army, that 19 year old Private First Class Walter Kienzle lost his life dying for his country.
He was an enlisted man, part of the 5th Army Texas 36th Division, Entry Unit: 141st Infantry Regiment, Company B.
For his heroism, Walter was awarded the Purple Heart Medal.
Walter was one of the valiant soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Rapido River during the cold and dark days and nights of January 20, January 21 and January 22 in 1944. Due to the heavy military causalities, the soldiers called the battle the "Bloody River".
The well-prepared Germans fought the American soldiers who were exhausted and out of ammunition. Under the weight of German counterattacks, The Battle of the Rapido River was a failure. The battle was a disaster on the scale of Omaha Beach, but without the success.
According to the U.S. WWII Hospital Admission Card Files on Walter, he sustained the following injuries during the Battle of the Rapido River massacre which lead his death:
"Diagnosis: First Location: Back, generally; Causative Agent: Artillery Shell, Fragments, Afoot or unspecified."
Walter was predeceased by his loving mother Hazel Dean Whiting-Kienzle who died in 1938.
He was survived by his father Frederick Christian Kienzle and his stepmother Mary Bellingham-Kienzle and his older, intellectually disabled brother Douglas Frederick Kienzle and younger sister Ruth M. Kienzle, as well as many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
At the request of his family, he was buried in Nettuno Permanent Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy Grave #A-5-24.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Biography lovingly written by Find A Grave Member GWTWQUEENIE. Please do not reprint without permission. Thank You.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Engraved forever at ANZAC Cove are these words from Kemal Ataturk, the Commander of the Turkish 19th Division during the Gallipoli Campaign and the first President of the Turkish Republic from 1924-1938:
"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives. You are now living in the soil of a friendly country therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Walter S. Kienzle, an unmarried office clerk, with two years of high school, a Protestant native New Yorker, born on Tuesday, November 18, 1924 in the Bronx, was the second son of Frederick Christian Kienzle and Hazel Dean Whiting-Kienzle.
A resident of the borough of Queens, New York, young Walter, who stood only 5 foot 1 inch and weighed 106 pounds, decided on February 12, 1943, at the tender age of 18, to proudly enlist in the United States Army to serve his country during World War II. He soon received his orders to ship out to Italy.
It was in Italy, on the cold and freezing night of January 21, 1944, when with less than one year of military service to the United States Army, that 19 year old Private First Class Walter Kienzle lost his life dying for his country.
He was an enlisted man, part of the 5th Army Texas 36th Division, Entry Unit: 141st Infantry Regiment, Company B.
For his heroism, Walter was awarded the Purple Heart Medal.
Walter was one of the valiant soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Rapido River during the cold and dark days and nights of January 20, January 21 and January 22 in 1944. Due to the heavy military causalities, the soldiers called the battle the "Bloody River".
The well-prepared Germans fought the American soldiers who were exhausted and out of ammunition. Under the weight of German counterattacks, The Battle of the Rapido River was a failure. The battle was a disaster on the scale of Omaha Beach, but without the success.
According to the U.S. WWII Hospital Admission Card Files on Walter, he sustained the following injuries during the Battle of the Rapido River massacre which lead his death:
"Diagnosis: First Location: Back, generally; Causative Agent: Artillery Shell, Fragments, Afoot or unspecified."
Walter was predeceased by his loving mother Hazel Dean Whiting-Kienzle who died in 1938.
He was survived by his father Frederick Christian Kienzle and his stepmother Mary Bellingham-Kienzle and his older, intellectually disabled brother Douglas Frederick Kienzle and younger sister Ruth M. Kienzle, as well as many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
At the request of his family, he was buried in Nettuno Permanent Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy Grave #A-5-24.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Biography lovingly written by Find A Grave Member GWTWQUEENIE. Please do not reprint without permission. Thank You.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Engraved forever at ANZAC Cove are these words from Kemal Ataturk, the Commander of the Turkish 19th Division during the Gallipoli Campaign and the first President of the Turkish Republic from 1924-1938:
"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives. You are now living in the soil of a friendly country therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
A resident of the borough of Queens, New York, young Walter, who stood only 5 foot 1 inch and weighed 106 pounds, decided on February 12, 1943, at the tender age of 18, to proudly enlist in the United States Army to serve his country during World War II. He soon received his orders to ship out to Italy.
It was in Italy, on the cold and freezing night of January 21, 1944, when with less than one year of military service to the United States Army, that 19 year old Private First Class Walter Kienzle lost his life dying for his country.
He was an enlisted man, part of the 5th Army Texas 36th Division, Entry Unit: 141st Infantry Regiment, Company B.
For his heroism, Walter was awarded the Purple Heart Medal.
Walter was one of the valiant soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Rapido River during the cold and dark days and nights of January 20, January 21 and January 22 in 1944. Due to the heavy military causalities, the soldiers called the battle the "Bloody River".
The well-prepared Germans fought the American soldiers who were exhausted and out of ammunition. Under the weight of German counterattacks, The Battle of the Rapido River was a failure. The battle was a disaster on the scale of Omaha Beach, but without the success.
According to the U.S. WWII Hospital Admission Card Files on Walter, he sustained the following injuries during the Battle of the Rapido River massacre which lead his death:
"Diagnosis: First Location: Back, generally; Causative Agent: Artillery Shell, Fragments, Afoot or unspecified."
Walter was predeceased by his loving mother Hazel Dean Whiting-Kienzle who died in 1938.
He was survived by his father Frederick Christian Kienzle and his stepmother Mary Bellingham-Kienzle and his older, intellectually disabled brother Douglas Frederick Kienzle and younger sister Ruth M. Kienzle, as well as many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
At the request of his family, he was buried in Nettuno Permanent Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy Grave #A-5-24.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Biography lovingly written by Find A Grave Member GWTWQUEENIE. Please do not reprint without permission. Thank You.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Engraved forever at ANZAC Cove are these words from Kemal Ataturk, the Commander of the Turkish 19th Division during the Gallipoli Campaign and the first President of the Turkish Republic from 1924-1938:
"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives. You are now living in the soil of a friendly country therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Gravesite Details
Private First Class of the United States Army. Entered the service from New York, New York.
