Brian Keith Posted April 8, 2021 Share #1 Posted April 8, 2021 Digging through my militaria accumulation, I came across this uninteresting WW II four pocket coat. Name and number inside, I look it up here: http://wwii-enlistment.com/record/16136465/ Record: Robert H. Kronenberg – 16136465 Residence: Cook, Illinois Date of Enlistment: 30 October 1942 Place of Enlistment: Chicago Illinois Component of the Army: Regular Army (including Officers, Nurses, Warrant Officers, and Enlisted Men) Branch: Unknown Source of Army Personnel: National Guard in Federal Service, within 3 months of Discharge Nativity: Japanese, citizen Year of Birth: 1911 Education: 1 year of high school Civilian Occupation: Skilled occupations in slaughtering and in preparation of meat products Marital Status: Widower or widow, without dependents Known Grades: · Private Known Units: There are currently no known units for this record. Kronenberg is not exactly a Japanese name, is this an error? Anybody have any other sources to find him? I don’t find him on Find-a-Grave. Too bad this uniform is devoid of any insignia. Thanks for looking. Not sure why the uniform photo posted upside down, weird computer thing i suppose. BKW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jguy1986 Posted April 8, 2021 Share #2 Posted April 8, 2021 It's a misread by the machine... happens a lot. Ancestry shows he was born in Chicago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Keith Posted April 8, 2021 Author Share #3 Posted April 8, 2021 Thanks for looking him up, jguy1986. I figured it was and error. Have a nice day! BKW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntssurplus Posted April 8, 2021 Share #4 Posted April 8, 2021 I would look into it a little further. There were plenty of Japanese Americans who took on more "american" sounding names in the 1930's-1940's that lived in the midwest. I read a book about one gentleman who changed his last name to sound more "american" and lived in the midwest. This one looks like it might be an error as in ancestry it looked like it lists his fathers name as "otto" and mothers name is "Isabelle" and their ethnicity as "canadian". But it may be worth it to dig a little further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jguy1986 Posted April 8, 2021 Share #5 Posted April 8, 2021 1 hour ago, huntssurplus said: I would look into it a little further. There were plenty of Japanese Americans who took on more "american" sounding names in the 1930's-1940's that lived in the midwest. I read a book about one gentleman who changed his last name to sound more "american" and lived in the midwest. This one looks like it might be an error as in ancestry it looked like it lists his fathers name as "otto" and mothers name is "Isabelle" and their ethnicity as "canadian". But it may be worth it to dig a little further. You’re over-analyzing this one. Yes, sometimes Nisei changed their names, but it was rarely to something as Germanic as “Kronenberg.” The census lists his father’s parents as being from Germany and his mother’s parents as being from England. Given the Midwest’s strong history of German immigration, there’s really no surprise here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Keith Posted April 8, 2021 Author Share #6 Posted April 8, 2021 Thanks for everybody's analysis. Looks like he worked in one of the meat packing plants in Chicago. Depending on where he was sent, the army might have been a relief from that hard work! Best Regards, BKW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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