Krueckeberg, Truman F.

TRUMAN FREDERICK KRUECKEBERG

CORPORAL 

U.S. ARMY

Truman Frederick Krueckeberg was born on October 22, 1919 and raised by his parents, Gustva and Selma (Bieeke), in Union Township. Truman was the oldest of his seven siblings. His siblings were Moris, Gertrude, Irene, Herman, Dorwin, and Nora. He attended the local church's grade school, Immanuel Lutheran Church; he then went to Monmouth High School and attended all four years of high school. In 1937, Truman won the spelling bee while at Monmouth High School and participated in the county-wide competition. After graduation he worked at the Central Sugar Company in Decatur and the Fort Wayne Pump Company. He also on the side, since he was raised on a farm, helped take care of mules, and did field work. His brother Norris served in the U.S. Navy in WWII.

On January 19, 1942 at just twenty-three years old Truman enlisted in the Army at Fort Benjamin Harrison just Northeast of Indianapolis. He enlisted because the government was requesting men to enlist weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was then sent to Fort Bragg in North Carolina for basic training, and then specialized training at Fort Sill in Oklahoma; Camp Carson and Camp Hale in Colorado and Fort Bliss in Texas. 

Corporal Krueckeberg was sent overseas on July 1943 and was put under the command of General Douglas MacArthur in the 1st Calvary Division, 271st Field Artillery. He was involved in four campaigns including: Australia, New Guinea, Admiralty Islands, and retaking the Philippines. While he was on his Philippine campaign, he participated in the of the invasion of Luzon, near Manila where he was killed. 

According to a letter written by a commanding officer, "On the morning of Feb. 15, he was operating the radio in an artillery forward observer party during fierce street fighting in Manila, and had carried his radio to the most forward point of advance in order to relay the fire commands of the artillery officer to his battalion. In this exposed position, Truman was hit by a sniper's bullet". He died a few minutes later. 

Corporal Krueckeberg was buried in a temporary military cemetery in Manila and, at the end of the war, returned to the United States where he was interred at the Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery, Decatur Indiana. 

For his service and sacrifice, Corporal Krueckeberg earned the Purple Heart, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the WWII Victory Medal.

Information collected and researched by Hannah Kunkel, 2014.

SOURCES

           “Decatur Daily Democrat 9 September 1941 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana’s Digital Historic Newspaper Program.” Newspapers.library.in.gov, newspapers.library.in.gov/?a=d&d=DCDD19410909.1.1&srpos=6&e=------194-en-20-DCDD-1--txt-txIN-herman+krick----1941--. Accessed 21 Mar. 2024.

"Two Adams County Men Killed, Former Resident Wounded." The Decatur Daily Democrat [Decatur] 10 June 1944: n. pag. Print.

Indiana Historical Bureau, comp. Gold Star Honor Roll: Adams County. Bloomington: Indiana War History Commission, 1949. Print. Vol. 1 of Indiana in World War II.

Pearce, Margie, and Jim Cox. "Adams County Indiana Deaths in World War II." Adams County Indiana Deaths in World War II. INGENWebProject, 2010. Web. 10 Dec. 2015. Website

Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA:Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

Military Regiment Reports. "135th Infantry Regiment WW II History." 135th Infantry Regiment

WW II History. Gold Star Military Museum, Iowa National Guard, n.d. Web. 10 Dec.2015.

Hickman, Kennedy. "World War II: Battle of Monte Cassino." About Education. About.com, n.d.Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

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