General Walter Krueger Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Walter Krueger (1881-1967) rose through the US Army from private to general. Enlisting for the Spanish-American War and serving in Cuba, he re-enlisted for campaigning in the Philippines. A skilled linguist, Krueger translated books of German military tactics, widely circulated before World War I. He wrote a widely publicized letter in October 1916 calling for the US to create a national conscript army. With the American Expeditionary Force in France in 1918, he was Chief of Staff of the Tank Corps. In the interwar period Krueger became a leading advocate of armored warfare and other innovations, winning a major war game by sending a division led by George Patton on a wide flanking maneuver into his opponent's rear. (The men under his command were soon calling themselves "Blitzkruegers".) General Douglas MacArthur expressed requested Krueger to command the Sixth Army in the South Pacific, and he led that force through New Guinea and the Philippines. MacArthur sometimes clashed with Krueger, but considered him a better general than Patton or Bradley. Krueger was scheduled to lead Operation Olympic, the invasion of the Japanese home islands, but Japan surrendered first.