Memorial

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Pfc Julius Hertz graduated from Glenville High School in 1929 and the University of Wisconsin. He also attended the law schools of Columbia and Western Reserve and earned a bachelor law degree in 1934 after which he established himself as a corporate attorney for the Majestic Knitwear Co.

He enlisted in Cleveland, Ohio on 22 January 1941. His father was born in Russia, his mother in Germany.

He landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day.

In December 1944, he was evacuated to the 40th General Hospital in Paris for a hand infection. He rejoined his unit in January 1945 but soon developed severe frozen feet an was sent ot a hospital in Spa, Belgium.

On 11 April 1945, he was traveling with the 92nd Reinforcement Battalion in a 2.5-ton truck to rejoin his unit in the Harz Mountains. The truck hit a German Tellermine 43 on a secondary road near Bad Arolsen, Germany (approx. GPS 51.3811, 9.0225). He sustained fatal injures on his jaw and sull (open skull and jaw fractures). Morphine was administered on the spot as standard procedure, but the wounds were instantly fatal.

Due to the chaotic nature of the incident, Pfc Hertz was buried as "Unknown X-1" at the Temporary American Military Cemetery in Breuna, Germany. He was identified via FBI fingerprint match on 18 May 1945.

His final story is one of a family's determination. In 1948, his body was moved to the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten. Upon seeing a cross had been placed on his grave, his brother, Judge David Ralph Hertz, formally appealed the U.S. Army. He used evidence of Julius's Jewish faith (the "H" on his dogtags) and the forensic report mentioning his circumcision, securing the placement of a permanent Star of David headstone in July 1949.