Too often obituaries do not adequately tell the measure of a deceased. Such was the case last week with an obituary in the Leavenworth Times. It was that of one of the 1,600 WW II veterans who die each day across this great land. The obituary said he was a WW II veteran, but said little else.
He was a man who could tell a tale, and some he told them to took them with a grain of salt. But no one could argue that he was one of the most patriotic veterans in all of Leavenworth. One fellow WW II veteran told the mortician “You may not know it but you have one of the finest patriots in the city back in the viewing room.” I agree.
The Old Soldier was Master Sgt. (retired) Walt Riner, a valued friend of many years. He attended the first Veterans’ Salute sponsored by those patriotic librarians across the river, and almost all of the ensuing dozen Salutes.
I knew he was a three-war veteran, one of very few in Leavenworth, but I’d never gotten him to tell of his experiences. Last year I invited him to speak at the KC Military Collectors Club and he readily agreed.
I had to introduce him, so on the drive to Westport I asked what division he’d been in WW II. He thought a minute and said “I wasn’t in a division.” Puzzled, I pressed for more information. Finally he said “I was initially in the 1st Ranger Battalion.” I almost ran off the road with excitement and said “You were in Darby’s Rangers, the first Ranger battalion in the Army?” He said yes.
I pressed him for details and he said he’d been wounded at Anzio and evacuated to England to be patched up. Did he return to the Rangers? “No,” he said, “the battalion was full, so I was assigned to the 1st Special Service Force.” Another almost drive off the highway. “You went from Darby’s Rangers to the Devil’s Brigade?” I asked. He said he did.
He also said he was a ninth generation soldier. When I said that by WW II there hadn’t been nine generations of American soldiers, he said “Oh, I was only the second American soldier in my lineage. My father served in the Imperial German army in WW I before migrating to America and joining the U.S. Army. The other seven generations were German or Prussian soldiers.”
Due to speaking perfect German he was assigned to the War Crimes Trials in Nuremberg, Germany, after the war. He was on the detail that carried Hermann Goering’s body from his cell after his suicide. And he interrogated Rudolf Hess and Albert Speer, two former high ranking Nazis.
He was in Korea when that war began and his whole unit was captured. He spent his second war as a POW, but wouldn’t talk about his experiences with anyone.
He was a master sergeant by Vietnam and spent three tours in his third war. But he said he was kept close to Saigon and didn’t engage in any fighting.
His final assignment was Fort Leavenworth. He had joined both the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars and held state offices in the Legion. If there was a patriotic event in the area he and wife Pat, an Air Force Vietnam veteran, were usually there.
When he figured he was too old for active participation he moved to the sidelines and Pat became a state officer. The first time I needed to find his house he said “It’s easy. We live in the only house on Kickapoo with a flag pole in the front yard. Piece of cake finding it after that hint.
The organizer of that first Veterans Salute, retired Weston librarian Jerry Ann Beadles, treasures some military items he gave her several years ago. Now living near Branson, she’s coming to visit widow Pat this weekend and visit his grave in Leavenworth National Cemetery.
She, as all who knew the Old Soldier, will miss conversations with him. She and I regret that we never learned more about his experiences. Rest in peace, Old Trooper, your duty is done.
John Reichley is a retired Army officer and retired Department of the Army civilian employee.
