World War II Honoree

Felix Leo Heinz

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Ipswich, South Dakota, South Dakota

Honored By

Linda (Heinz) Jewell

Relationship

Daughter

He was from Ipswich, South Dakota, enlisted in the U.S. Army and served honorably from 19 June 1944 - 7 July 1946. He arrived in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations 23 December 1944 in Egypt. He eventually served as a Staff Sergeant with Company A 751st Tank Battalion in Italy. In Rome, he was one of many Catholics chosen to see Pope Pius XII. His military records show Heinz participated in the Northern Apennines Campaign and Po Valley battle. Heinz remembered seeing Mussolini and his mistress hanged from a gas station at the Piazzale Loreto, Milan, about April 28-April 29, 1945. He also carried home memories of a monastery in Northern Italy. For his service in Europe, S/Sgt. Heinz received the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Army of Occupation Medal-Germany, and Meritorious Unit Award Medal. After the war, he returned to civilian life in Delta, Colorado.