Stanley Eric Reinhart

Major General Stanley Eric Reinhart (September 15, 1893 – June 4, 1975) was a senior United States Army officer of the United States Army. He figured prominently in World War II as commander of the 65th Infantry Division.

Early life and military career

Stanley Eric Reinhart was born on September 15, 1893, in Polk, Ohio (pop. 250). He worked briefly as a rural school teacher, in North Red Haw, Ohio, until 1911.

He entered the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York, in June 1912, graduating from there 11th in a class of 125 cadets in June 1916, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Field Artillery Branch of the United States Army. Among his classmates were Wilhelm D. Styer, Dwight Johns, Thomas D. Finley, Louis E. Hibbs, Ludson D. Worsham, Horace L. McBride, Robert Neyland, William M. Hoge, William R. Woodward, James A. Pickering, William Spence, Robert B. McBride Jr., Paul Vincent Kane, Fay B. Prickett, Calvin DeWitt Jr., Joseph M. Tully, Thomas L. Martin, Roland P. Shugg, James J. O'Hare and Otto F. Lange. All of these men would later rise to the rank of brigadier general or higher later in their military careers.

He received quick promotion to first Lieutenant on July 1. His first assignment after graduation was with the 5th Field Artillery Regiment, then stationed at Camp Bliss, Texas, where he served from September 1916 until June 1917, a few weeks after the American entry into World War I. Due to the army's expansion Reinhart was promoted again, to the rank of captain, on May 15.

Reinhart remained as March's aide until February 1918 when he assumed command of Battery 'A' of the 17th Field Artillery Regiment, part of the 2nd Division of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), from February to July 1918 (in action during the defense of sector from March 21 to May 12, Battle of Bois de Belleau). Following this, Reinhart, promoted to the temporary rank of major in July, four years in the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School and the U.S. Army War College; two years as instructor at the U.S. Army Field Artillery School; three years General Staff with troops in Hawaii; and four years as Treasurer at West Point, New York. On July 1, 1937, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and again, almost four years later, to the temporary rank of full colonel on June 26, 1941.

Awards and honors Stanley Reinhart received many military decorations during his career. He also became an honorary member of the Russian Guards.

Major General Reinhart's ribbon bar: