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BIOGRAPHY- STAFF SERGEANT
REUBEN A. WEINER
SSgt Reuben Weiner was born in
Los Angeles, California in 1920. He was active on the tennis and baseball
teams at Los Angeles High School. After high school he attended Santa Monica
City College and was employed at Columbia Pictures in the still photo
department. He enlisted in the US Army and entered active duty in October
1942. After Basic Training at Camp Crowder, Missouri he received further
training as a Combat Photographer with the US Army Signal Corps. Reuben
arrived in England in December 1943 and did extensive photography to
document preparations for the Allied invasion of mainland Europe. He
volunteered to join the 82nd Airborne Div and parachuted into Normandy on
the early hours of D-Day with the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Often
in great danger, he documented combat actions in still and motion picture
photography including D-Day, Cherbourg, the Falaise Gap, the taking of
Paris, the Battle of the Bulge, and in Germany. One of his most memorable
moments was documenting the liberation of Paris while with the French 2nd
Armored Division, for which he received the French Croix de Guerre medal.
Reuben was one of the first photographers to document the horrors of the
Nazi concentration camps. His other significant decorations include the
Bronze Star medal with one Oak Leaf cluster and the Combat Infantryman
Badge. Reuben was discharged at Fort MacArthur, California in October 1945.
In June 1946 he married his wife Vivian and their children include son
Andrew and twin daughters Barbara and Nancy. After the war Reuben worked
briefly at Columbia Pictures and then joined his father for a long career in
the metal recycling business and at one point was National Chairman for the
recycling industry hazardous waste. He has resided in Lakewood, California
since retiring in 1990.
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BIOGRAPHY- PRIVATE FIRST CLASS PETER K. HOWENSTEIN
PFC Peter Howenstein was born in Los Angeles, California in
January 1925 and attended primary and secondary school in the Eagle Rock
area. He was active on the track team in high school. Peter worked briefly
as a sheet metal operator before being inducted in the US Army in March
1943. After basic training, he joined the 3191 Infantry Regiment of the 80th
Infantry Division as a mortarman. In July 1944 he deployed to England on the
Queen Mary with 15,000 other troops. After landing on Utah Beach in Normandy
on August 3, 1944 he fought in numerous heavy combat engagements throughout
Northern France, the Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe, ending up in
Czechoslovakia with occupation forces. His most significant decorations
include the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart Medal and the Combat
Infantryman Badge. General Patton personally presented his Purple Heart
medal at a Field Hospital after he was wounded in the neck by enemy shrapnel
on November 11, 1944 in Metz France. He was discharged in January, 1946 at
Fort MacArthur, California. Since the end of WWII Peter Howenstein has
received numerous commemorative medals from regions and countries in which
he fought. After the war he worked for the Lockheed Corporation from 1946 to
1950 and then spent a 34 year career with the Pacific Bell Telephone company
until retirement in 1984. In 1950 Peter married Marion Wienke and their
union produced daughters Sharon and Lynne, and son Gary. Peter and Marion
have been long time residents of Northridge, California and enjoy the
company of their children, five grandchildren and one great grandchild.
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