Admin/Biog History	Harry G. T. Meeleus was born in Oshkosh, WI on September 4, 1908, the son of Edward E. and Olga Ziegenhagen Meeleus. He was drafted into the 32nd Division, Wisconsin National Guard in March 1941 and served in Louisiana. He was released to inactive reserves due to his age in July 1941. Harry was then called back to active duty after Pearl Harbor and attended Officer Training School at Fort Benning, GA and graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant. He returned to Oshkosh on leave and married Helen Hunter on November 21, 1942. He first commanded a company of the 974th Air Base Security Group in North Carolina, composed of African-Americans, but the unit was disbanded. He was then assigned to the 106th Division in Indiana. Prior to service in Europe, 75% of the unit was shipped over as replacements for other units. Harry was then assigned command of the Headquarters Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 422nd Infantry. They landed in Belgium in November 1944 and were soon sent into the front lines. The Division was over run at the Battle of the Bulge on December 16, 1944 and Harry was captured and sent to a German prisoner of war camp. He was finally liberated on May 2, 1945. He returned to Oshkosh on furlough on June 8, 1945. Following the war he worked for T & J Manufacturing Company. He died in Oshkosh, WI on January 12, 2003.
Category	8: Communication Artifact
Classification	Archives
Collection	Harry & Helen Meeleus
Dates of Accumulation	1880-1965
Abstract	The Harry & Helen Meeleus Collection is housed in one document box. The collection contains correspondence, telegrams and other documents relating to Harry's service during World War II. It also contains genealogical materials relating to the Hunter and Schaub families. Three photograph albums and loose family portraits are also part of the collection.
Event	World War II
Legal Status	Oshkosh Public Museum
Object ID	RG74
Object Name	Record Group
People	Meeleus, Helen Hunter Meeleus, Harry G.T. Hunter, Samuel L. Hunter, Edith Schaub Schaub, Louisa Wohter Trilling Schaub, Frank Trilling, August Trilling, Frank Leberman, Emma Schaub Weines, Harriet "Hattie" Schaub Johnson Schaub, Ida
Subjects	World War II Letters European Theater of Operations 32nd Division Infantry Officers Prisoners of war
Title	Harry & Helen Meeleus Collection

NOTICE: This material may be freely used by non-commercial entities for educational and/or research purposes as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other presentation without the permission of The Oshkosh Public Museum. © 2005 Oshkosh Public Museum, All Rights Reserved   
Last modified on: July 22, 2007