Melvin A. Hemmerle (January 19, 1918–April 5, 1996)

By William Baker

Early Life

1930 US Census, Melvin Hemmerle, line 80

Melvin Albert Hemmerle was born in North Wales, Pennsylvania, on January 19, 1918.¹ Melvin’s parents, Peter Hemmerle and Bertha (née Souwerwald) emmigrated from Germany in 1890 and 1893 respectively.² The Hemmerle family would soon grow quickly, with Melvin being the youngest of six children. In 1930, he lived in a household with his parents, his siblings Walter (1905), Stanly (1909), Alvin (1910), Clarence (1912), Dorothy (1916), and one of his brother’s spouses, Margaret. Hemmerle’s parents may have been subjected to discrimination during the First World War, as anti-German sentiment prevailed. Many Americans accused former German citizens of being secret loyalists sowing disorder and spying for the German Empire.³

The Hemmerle family lived in a small, three-bedroom house on East Walnut Street in North Wales, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.⁴ Melvin completed high school⁵ and worked at the Lehigh Valley Oil Company, likely as a gas station attendant.⁶ After high school, Melvin married Ruth Dettra.⁷

Service Life

Melvin Hemmerle was drafted as a private in the United States Army and served between June 9, 1942,⁸ and February 11, 1946.⁹ He was selected for officer training and reported to Officer Candidate School (OCS) on April 29, 1943. Hemmerle endured a twelve-week course to become a second lieutenant in the United States Army, graduating on April 29, 1943.¹⁰ He was placed into Company C, 301st Field Artillery Battalion, 94th Infantry Division.¹¹ He would ultimately serve a total of sixteen months in Europe.¹²

WWII Draft Registration Card for Melvin Hemmerle

Melvin Hemmerle left for Europe on July 31, 1944. The 94th was stationed at Wiltshire, England, until September 6, when they arrived in France via Utah Beach.¹³ This division would play a vital role in the invasion of Germany. While the Battle of the Bulge raged through the winter of 1944 and 1945, the 94th had the responsibility of pressing the southern flank of the Allied offensive. The 301st Field Artillery provided infantry fire support with their 105mm Howitzers and concentrated sustained fire on fortified villages along the Rhine. They would later take the city of Trier and establish vital bridgeheads across the Rhine, allowing supplies and personnel to move further into Germany.¹⁴ By the war’s end, the 94th Infantry Division endured 209 days of combat and suffered 1,087 men killed in action, 4,684 wounded in combat, and 5,028 noncombat casualties due to trench foot and frostbite.¹⁵ Melvin, along with over 2,000 men in the 94th Infantry, was awarded a Bronze Star for meritorious achievement in combat.¹⁶ He returned home December 26, 1945 and was honorably discharged at the Indiantown Gap Military Reservation in Pennsylvania on February 11, 1946 with the rank of captain.¹⁷

Later Life

After the military, Hemmerle moved back to his home in North Wales with his wife, with whom he had two daughters, Judy Carol (1945) and Diana (1948).¹⁸ He would later have two sons, Timothy and Jamie, with his second wife Lydia.¹⁹ Melvin and Lydia moved to Florida sometime in the 1980s, living at Venice Beach and later North Port.²⁰ In Florida, Hemmerle was a businessman, a council member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Port Charlotte, and the Elks Lodge. He also belonged to his local chapters of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.²¹ Melvin Hemmerle passed away on April 5, 1996 in North Port, Florida, at the age of seventy-eight and was memorialized at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell on April 7, 1996.²² For a brief time, Melvin suffered severe hardships, participating in one of the largest land invasions in history, and the dangerous conditions that it entailed. However, Melvin Hemmerle survived the war to live a long and prosperous life.

© 2017, University of Central Florida