Harold J. Walkenbach Papers

Collection

Identifier: M2197

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Original correspondence and postcards from Harold Walkenbach to his parents, dated June 1, 1944 to February 27, 1946 (55 pages).

Dates

June 1, 1944 - February 27, 1946

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Copyright

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from material in the collection should be discussed with the appropriate librarian or archivist. Permission for publication may be given on behalf of the Denver Public Library as the owner of the physical item. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained by the customer. The Library does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or publication rights of the manuscript held by the writer, heirs, donors, or executors. Reproduction restrictions are decided on a case-by-case basis.

Biographical / Historical

Harold Walkenbach was born in Hermann, Missouri on February 19, 1926 to William Walkenbach, a butcher, and Anna Walkenbach, a homemaker. He completed one year of high school before being drafted into the Army on June 10, 1944 and was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division at Camp Swift, Texas where he joined Company K of the 87th Infantry Regiment. Walkenbach was sent with the 10th to Italy to fight in World War II and served as a scout in the assault on Mt. Belvedere in February of 1945. He was wounded in Tole, Italy on April 16, 1945 and earned a Bronze Star for his actions. After the war ended Walkenbach returned to the United States where he drove trucks and was a member of the Military Police at prisoner of war camps. He left the Army on May 28, 1946 having attained the rank of Private First Class and was employed on barge lines on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers before beginning work for his father and brother as a meat cutter in Hermann, Missouri.