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Frank Robert Ritz was born on May 15, 1923, in Greenwich, Connecticut, to Sarah Emma Downes, age 34, and Frank Joseph Ritz, age 38. In Rye his family lived at 121 Apawamis Ave. Frank was a Rye High School Graduate, Class of 1943.
He enlisted in U.S. Army during World War II.
Frank served with the
86th Mountain Infantry Regiment of
the 10th Mountain Division, In November 1944 he was promoted from private first class to
corporal at Camp Swift, Texas, where he was stationed.
In April 1945 Frank was cited by the 86th Mountain Regiment of the 10th
"Mountaineer" Division and awarded
the
Combat Infantryman Badge for
actual participation in combat against the enemy on the Fifth Army front in Italy. The decoration is awarded to the infantry soldier who proved his fighting ability in combat.
Rye Men in Mountain Division Making War History in Italy
A number of Rye men are in the U. S. 10th Mountain Division ski troops which has been making war history in Italy this past week. The Division repulsed a strong German counterattack in the Bologna area. Some of the Rye men who have been trained with this outfit, are believed to be in this latest sortie. They include Pfc. Robert Ritz, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ritz, Apawamis Avenue.
These men have undergone a rigorous, specialized training program before going overseas. The curriculum of the mountain infantry is to dig into a snow bank and wait; take long marches through a cutting wind at a temperature well below zero; eat, sleep, work and live in the bitterness of the cold and wet.
They have to be mule packers, rock climbers and mountaineers in general, because the caissons dont go rolling along in the mountains. All the way, along broken trails cr through soft, knee-deep snow, artillery equipment has to be handlugged or mule-packed. The snow training is not restricted to the infantry and artillery, but is equally a vital part of the training of the Medics, the Signal Corps and the Engineers. A release from the Army was broadcast over Station WABC on Sunday morning revealing the activities of the Division, which had been cloaked in secrecy until that time. It stated, This morning the American troops that have been operating on Mount Belvedere have been publicly named the 10th Mountain Division. This is the unit of soldiers for mountain fighting that trained for so long at Camp Hale in the Rocky Mountains near Denver.
 The first element went into the line in the Appennine Mountains on January 9 and all the Division was committed before the end of the month. For several weeks, they showed their stuff in long range patrolling deep into the enemy lines, some of them getting a chance to use their -skiis, but if the public has visions of thousands of white-clad figures racing downhill with tommy guns rattling, they will be disillusioned. Most of the snow has gone and the most characteristic performance by these boys is taking loads that would break lesser mens backs, going up steep trails where even the mules refuse to go.
The 10th Mountain Division got the once over from their veteran neighbors the Brazilian troops who have been here for a long time. The verdict was that it showed the snappiest saluting imaginable straight out of the book but the 10th looked like a real fighting outfit, just the same, and now they have proved it. The commander is Major General G. P. Hayes, who won the medal of honor in the last war and fought at Normandy in this war.
PAGE EIGHT THE RYE CHRONICLE Friday, March 2, 1945
Frank married Ethel Marianne Leinen on August 17, 1947, when he was 24 years old at All
Saints' Episcopal Church, Harrison, NY, The Rev.
George E. Keith, rector, officiated . They would have two children during their marriage.
Frank Robert Ritz died December 1, 1970 in Suffolk, New York, when he was 47 years old.
At the time of his deathe he was survived by his wife Marianne and by two daughters. Adrianne Ritz-Frasher of Colorado and Susan J. Ritz-Frey of Eastport NY.
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