Herman A. United States Army | Curtis H. United States Army | John D. United States Army Air Corps | Leroy F. United States Army
Carl H. United States Navy | Robert United States Army
The town of Donaldson, Pennsylvania is situated just west of the Pocono Mountains and on the northern edge of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country in Schuylkill County. The area is also known as the “coal region” and is home to Yuengling, America’s oldest brewery.
It was also home to the family of David and Lydia Reinhold that included nine children, six boys and three girls. The family gained regional recognition when the Harrisburg Telegraph reported on the front page of its October 13, 1944 edition that five of the Reinhold boys were serving in various branches of the military.
Herman A. Reinhold was the oldest of the family, born in 1912. He was married and owned a Harrisburg service station when he enlisted in the Army in November 1943. He took basic training at Camp Blanding, Florida.
Curtis H. Reinhold, born in 1916, was living in Washington, D.C. with his wife and young daughter, when he enlisted in the Army. He was stationed in England where he worked as a switchboard operator with a headquarters company.
John D. Reinhold, born in 1921, entered the Army Air Corps in December 1943. He was a bomber aboard a B-24 and was known to get sick each time he went on a mission.
Leroy F. Reinhold, born in 1923, entered the Army in February 1943 while a sophomore at Elizabethtown (PA) College. He took basic training in Miami, Florida and trained as a weatherman. His daughter, Becky, remembers that he was a fun loving, easygoing man who was well respected. She summed up his life by saying that he was a devout Christian, patriot and devoted family man.
Carl H. Reinhold, born in 1926, joined the Navy in June 1943. He took his boot camp training at Sampson, New York.
The youngest brother, Robert, born in 1928, was too young to serve during World War II but did enter the service in June 1946 and served in Korea before being discharged in June 1947.
It is remembered that they did not speak much of their war experiences. Leroy’s daughter, Becky, recalls that when her father and uncles got together and did not want the children to know what they were saying, they spoke in Pennsylvania Dutch.
The Reinhold brothers were part of a select group of American families who had five sons serving their country simultaneously. They are part of an even more fortunate group in that they all survived and returned home safely.
~ CHIP BERTINO