WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - 2nd Lt. Richard V. Breininger

 

Second Lieutenant 

Richard Virgil Breininger

Richard was a Mark Township boy born on December 31 1912, to John Freidrich Wilhelm and Pearl (Hane) Breininger. His father died in 1938, leaving his mother with four children to raise - Richard, John, Audrey and Annabelle.

Richard graduated from Mark Township High School, and then attended the Defiance College and Purdue University.

After graduation, he was employed by Swift & Co., Defiance and later by John Hane of Montpelier as an insurance salesman.

He first married Leola Yarlott in Allen County, Indiana on April 16, 1932. The couple were divorced in 1939, and then Leola died of heart disease in August 1939, never remarrying.

On June 3, 1939, Richard married Marion Russell Gravette, the daughter of Alonzo C. and Mary (Glass) Gravette, in Williams County, Ohio. He was 26 and a resident of Pioneer and she was 28 and lived in Bryan. She was a bookkeeper who was the secretary of the war price and rationing board in Montpelier.

Marion and Richard Breininger

And suddenly, the war was here. Richard filed his draft registration in Montpelier on October 10, 1940. He was 5'10" and 190 pounds with blue eyes and black hair. He was self-employed as an insurance agent, a partner in the Hane Agency.

 

He enlisted on December 18, 1942, in Toledo.. Richard served at Camp Robinson in Arkansas, and completed the Officer Candidate Course at Fort Benning, Georgia where he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. He would be in Company A of the 60th Infantry Regiment, a part of the 9th Infantry Division. and he was assigned to the intelligence service.

Richard's company was not a part of D-Day, but instead were confined in a camp in England being briefed about the mission coming just four days later. Their uniforms were changed from olive drab to gas impregnated clothing, and ammunition, rations, and other items were issued there.

60th Infantry moving forward

The 60th Infantry Regiment, whose motto was "To the Utmost Extent of Our Power,"

boarded a small American built ship that carried a British flag and departed England at 7:30 p.m.  The boat anchored off the coast of France at Omaha Beach on June 10 where the soldiers stayed aboard until they moved in late morning to Utah Beach, where they were to disembark. 2nd Lt. Richard V. Breininger was killed in action on that day, June 10m 1944mshortly after the beginning of the invasion. Was he moving ahead of his unit to collect intelligence? No story could be found.

From the Bryan Democrat, July 31, 1944

"LT. RICHARD V. BREININGER DIES IN FRANCE

"...Lieut. Richard V. Breininger, 31 of Montpelier, was killed in action in France on July 10, according to a telegram received Sunday from the War Dept. by his wife, Mers. Marrian Breininger, who is secretary of the war price and rationing board there.

   He entered the service on Dec. 26, 1942, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in August, 1943, when he went into the military intelligence department of the infantry. He went to England on April 8, 1944.

Lieut. Breininger was born and raised at Mark Center in Defiance county, graduating from high school there with the class of 1930. He attended Defiance College the following year, took a short course at Purdue University, and then accepted a position with Swift & Company, working at Alma, Michigan, and Lexington, Ky. for several years. 

Five years ago he located at Montpelier, becoming associated with his uncle, John Hane, in the insurance business. He was a member of the English Lutheran Church in Bryan, and the Masonic lodge

He leaves his wife; his mother, Mrs. John F. Breininger of 235 North Enterprise Street, Bryan; a brother, John, of Bryan; and two sisters, Mrs. Gerhardt Rohrs of Antwerp, and Annabelle Breininger of Montpelier."

Lt. Breininger was first buried in France at the Sainte Marie Eglise Cemetery. but the family requested that the body be brought home. He was shipped home to New York and made it home to the Thompson Funeral Home in Bryan in 1948. Services, military and Masonic, were held at the gravesite in Lost Creek Cemetery, Defiance County, on July 16, 1948.

 

Lost Creek Cemetery

His wife, Marion, did not remarry and had  

  returned to her family in Lexington,       Kentucky by the funeral in 1948. However,   by the 1950 U.S. Census, she was back 

 living in Montpelier, working as a clerk

 and bookkeeper for the government for   Munitions Plant 936. She was faithful to the

 War effort. A widow, she was buried beside

 Richard in Lost Creek Cemetery.

Lost Creek Cemetery

Lt. Richard Breininger was awarded a Purple Heart, a European Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. His unit was also acknowledged for their bravery during this invasion that continued right after his death.

In the Defiance Crescent-News of July 10, 1946, on page 2, his family posted a beautiful memorial to the husband, son, and brother whom they cherished:

"IN LOVING MEMORY

OF LIEUTENANT RICHARD V. BREININGER

WHO WAS KILLED IN NORMANDY, FRANCE,

TWO YEARS AGO TODAY, JULY 10, 1946

A telegram came

And said Richard was killed. 

Life isn't the same

But it's what the Lord willed.

They say not to worry

Whatever, do not regret;

He died in glory,

But it's hard to forget.

He was a dear boy

Who asked little from life,

To love was his joy,

To work was his strife.

He never complained

However tough was the going,

Always said I'm all right,

We had no way of knowing.

For this great land of ours

He was called to fight.

We're sure that he served 

With all his might.

He gave his life

So we could have freedom;

May his home be a mansion

In the Lord's kingdom.

Richard's Mother, Wife, Sisters and Brother."

Dawn Hasch, Researcher