German Immigrant, American Serviceman
by Chaye Gutierrez
The November 10, 1921 passenger list from the S.S. Württemberg, the ship on which Oskar Menzel travelled from Germany to the United States. (Ancestry)
One of Oskar Menzel’s naturalization documents. (Ancestry)
Oskar Menzel’s draft card, front and back. (Retrieved from Ancestry.com)
Oskar Richard Menzel
June 14, 1897 - November 24, 1950
Richard Oskar Menzel was born in Leipzig, Germany on June 14, 1897 to Marie Menzel.[1] While living in Germany, he worked as a taxidermist.[2] He immigrated to the United States on the S.S. Württemberg on November 10, 1921—the ship sailed from Hamburg, Germany to New York, New York over the span of 11 days. Menzel arrived in New York on November 29, 1921. Upon his arrival, Menzel was 24 years old, single, and marked his final destination as Colorado Springs, Colorado.[3]
Menzel became a naturalized citizen of the United States at the age of 25, upon establishing his residence in Pueblo. Here he continued his career as a taxidermist. In his naturalization papers, he signed the following:
It is my bona fide intention to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any province, potentate, state, or sovereignty, and particularly to The German Empire, of whom I am now a subject.[4]
Upon relinquishing any allegiance to Germany and becoming an American citizen, Menzel eventually took on one of the most traditionally patriotic American duties a citizen could accomplish: serving in the United States military.
At age 45, Menzel was drafted on May 7, 1942. On his draft card, it was noted that he limped when walking, though none of his records indicate what kind of injury may have caused his limp. His draft card also indicates that he was unemployed in 1942.[5]
During the Second World War, Menzel served in the United States Air Force in the Air Transport Command (ATC), which was a special unit created during the war.[6] The ATC was responsible for strategic airlifts and is best known for two purposes: delivering supplies from the United States to frontlines overseas and carrying aircrafts from factories in the United States to wherever they were needed for combat. Additionally, the ATC carried military personnel around the world throughout the war. The creation of the ATC was spurred by needs of the Allied countries in Europe for reinforcement and transportation assistance. French requests for the transportation of bombers and Britain’s Air Force losses after 1940 battles in the Low Countries and France instigated the U.S. Air Force’s establishment of the ATC as the first aircraft transportation command of its time.[7]
A few years after surviving the war and returning to Colorado, Menzel died on November 24, 1950. He was buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery on December 1, 1950.[8]
Footnotes ↓
[1] “New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 for Oskar Menzel,” entry for Richard Oskar Menzel, database, accessed July 2, 2018, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] “Colorado, State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1868-1990,” entry for Oskar Menzel, database, accessed July 2, 2018, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[5] “U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947,” entry for Richard Oskar Menzel, database, accessed July 2, 2018, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[6] “U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962,” entry for Oskar Menzel, database, accessed July 2, 2018, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
[7] William A. Goss, “The Organization and Its Responsibilities: The AAF,” eds. Wesley Frank Craven and James Lea Cate, in The Army Air Forces, vol. 6 (Washington, D.C.: Office of Air Force History, 1983).
[8] “U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Forms, 1928-1962,” entry for Oskar Menzel, database, accessed July 2, 2018, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.
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