Kenneth A. Krueger
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
Kenneth A. Krueger entered the Army on March 6, 1943.
He was a Technician 5th Grade and a messenger with the 92nd Signal Battalion, II Corps, 3rd Army (Patton). He landed in France with the 3rd Army several weeks after D-Day.
He recalls, "I remember counting over 1,000 planes as far as the eye could see. They dropped bombs by St. Lo, the 3rd Army broke through and moved so fast we could have gone all the way to Germany. We were bombed every night and the Germans tried to knock out every bridge and road. They dropped paratroopers in the hills and they sniped at the convoys. The 3rd Army was also a big pincher movement to trap all the German armies in Normandy.
"Just before our breakthrough, 15 or 20 German planes flew across us and then turned around, coming back strafing us. A tank outfit by the 92nd was getting ready to pull out. The air was full of anti-aircraft and machine gun fire.
"Things on the ground that got hit burst into flames. Planes were hit and I could see the pilot in one, his plane smoking, just above the trees. I was in 4 battles in Europe: Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland and Central Europe.
"When the war ended I was in Salzburg, Austria. I had to go through the German lines to get to where the King of Belgium was held. Our cavalry had gone through the lines at midnight to protect the king. There were two of us in our jeep and we ran into thousands of Germans as we drove there. It was a feeling I''ll never forget."
He was honorably discharged in December of 1945.
Source: Hometown Heroes: The St. Louis County World War II Project. 159.
