North High School Wall of Honor Frank Watkins Klinzman Class of June, 1946
Research done by Claradell Shedd, class of 1953.
Frank Watkins Klinzman   Frank enlisted in August, 1946 after graduating from North High in June, 1946. At the time, his next of kin were Mr. and Mrs. F.O. Klinzman, 2318 46th Street, Des Moines, IA. His service number was 17205900. Photo at left shows Frank and a number of other North High grads at the Recruitment Center on August 28, 1946 as they enlisted. Click on photo at left to see larger image Click on photo above to view enlarged version
Frank Watkins Klinzman Year   Rank   Status June, 1946 x Graduation x Graduated from North High School. August 28, 1946 x Enlisted x Enlisted in US Army, Des Moines, IA at the Old Federal Building August,1946 x US Army x Fort Snelling, MN for processing. August, 1946 x US Army x Fort Riley, KS August, 1946   US Army x Basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky for field artillery training 105mm Howitzer December,1946   US Army x *White Sands Missile Proving Grounds; Las Cruces, NM; S2 Security Intelligence. Maintained records on all personnel at White Sands. White Sands was then involved in testing German rockets, etc. September, 1947 x US Army x **Fort Bliss, TX. Artillery training January 30, 1948 x US Army/ Sergeant/T4 x Discharged at White Sands Missile Proving Ground, Las Cruces, NM February, 1948 x Enroute x Train back to Des Moines, IA February, 1948 x Employment x Frozen Foods, Inc.; truck driver Sept.,1948-June, 1952 x x University of Iowa. BA; Math September, 1952- June, 1954 x Schooling x Teaching assistant at University of Iowa while obtaining Master's Degree in mathematics and actuarial science October 29, 1955 x Family x Married Shirley Mae Anderson in Wethersfield, CT 1954-1968 x Employment x Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance. Merged with Massachusetts Mutual. Actuary in 1962 1957 x Credential x Associate of Society of Actuaries 1962 x Credential x Fellow of Society of Actuaries 1965 x x American Academy of Actuaries. Charter Member 1968-1988 x x General Reassurance Corp. of America, Greenwich, CT; Vice President and Actuary 1968 x Relocated x Relocated to Redding, CT. House finished there in September, 1969. 1988-1990 x Employment x Life Reassurance Corp. of America; Stamford, CT; Senior Vice President 1990-2000 x Employment x Actuarial consulting. Personal business 2000 x Retired x Living in CT
*White Sands Missile Range White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a rocket range of almost 3,200 square miles (8,300 km2) in parts of five counties in southern New Mexico. The largest military installation in the United States, WSMR includes the Oscura Range and the WSMR Otera Mesa bombing range. WSMR and the 600,000-acre (2,400 km2) McGregor Range Complex at Fort Bliss to the south, form a contiguous swath of territory for military testing. **Fort Bliss, TX V2, the German vengeance weapon, blasted England during the last year of WWII. It, along with the V1, was the world's first flying bomb. In mid-1945, a shipment of 100 V2 rockets were shipped to Fort Bliss on 300 freight cars. In December, 1945, a team of 100 German scientists came to Fort Bliss, one of them being Werhner von Braun, the man behind Germany's rocket program. During World War II, Fort Bliss focused on training anti-aircraft artillery battalions (AAA). In September 1940 the Coast Artillery's anti-aircraft training center was established, and in 1941 the 1st Tow Target Squadron arrived to fly target drones (the 6th, 19th, & 27th Tow Target Squadrons were at the nearby Biggs Field). On August 3, 1944, the Anti-Aircraft Artillery School was ordered from Camp Davis to Fort Bliss to make the training of anti-aircraft gunners easier, and they became the dominant force at Fort Bliss following the departure of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division. A group of 104 Operation Paperclip rocket scientists in 1946 at Fort Bliss (35 were at White Sands Proving Grounds). By February 1946, over 100 Operation Paperclip scientists had arrived to develop rockets and were attached to the Office of the Chief of Ordnance Corps, Research and Development Service, Suboffice (Rocket), headed by Major James P. Hamill. Although the scientists were initially “pretty much kept on ice” (resulting in the nickname "Operation Icebox"), they were subsequently divided into a research group and a group who assisted with V-2 test launches at White Sands Proving Grounds. German families began arriving in December 1946, and by the spring of 1948, the number of German rocket specialists (nicknamed "Prisoners of Peace") in the US was 127. Fort Bliss rocket launches included firings of the Private missile at the Hueco Range in April 1945.In 1953, funding cuts caused the cancellation of work on the Hermes B2 ramjet work that had begun at Fort Bliss.
(left) Old Federal Court House (below; l-r) Fort Snelling, MN for processing; Fort Filey, KS Fort Knox, KY for basic training; Fort Bliss, TX for artillery Frank Watkins Klinzman at Fort Knox, KY
left above: White Sands Missile Park, NM right above: V2 on trailer being transported to missile firing site
Frank Watkins Klinzman Sergeant/T4 US Army        WWII Victory Medal; Marksman M-1 Carbine
References The comprehensive list of names from North High's 1893-2018 graduation classes are from Claradell Shedd's North Des Moines High School website. The names of all North High School graduates can be found online at http://www.ndmhs.com/. Frank Watkins Klinzman's 1946 class page can be viewed at http://www.ndmhs.com/pages/yearclass1946(2006.60).html.
09/15/11: Living in CT.
Music: "Wind Beneath My Wings"
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