Charles W. Koburger, Jr. papers

Charles William Koburger Jr. was born on July 9, 1922 in New York. He graduated from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and ROTC program in 1943, doing so in just three years of attendance. Following his graduation from Infantry OCS at Ft. Benning, Georgia, Koburger was assigned to the 83rd Infantry Division. In early 1944, Koburger was drafted as a replacement and sent to Italy.

There Koburger was assigned to the 6th Armored Infantry Regiment as a platoon leader. The regiment however, was broken up north of Rome and thus he assigned to B Company, 11th Armored Infantry Battalion. Koburger was present at the Allied landing and ensuing battle at Anzio, but experienced little difficulty there. He then proceeded to Rome on Liberation Day, June 4, 1944.

In November of 1944 at Castelvecchio, Koburger had to take over command of the company in the middle of the battle in which only 15 survived out of 210 members of the company. He took shell fragments in the face for which he received his first Purple Heart. He also received the Silver Star and a unit citation for this action. This despite being impolite to the British General Alexander who asked him if he were ready to go back onto the fight.

The Division spent the winter in the Apennines patrolling in the snow and rain. When they made the final big push up the Po Valley in April 1945, he was assigned to C Company and given command of a task force consisting of his rifle platoon, a tank platoon, two squads of engineers and a medic jeep. The task force was to lead the attack for Modena but was ambushed at dawn by Luftwaffe paratroops. He was seriously wounded by a rifle grenade, hospitalized, and sent home in July 1945.

Following the war, Koburger was sent to Vienna where he helped to manage refugee camps. It was here that he met his wife, Eugenia Turner, an American Red Cross worker. He then attended the mountain warfare school in Zell am Zee, Austria. Returning to the United States, Koburger was assigned to the 1st Armored Division at Ft. Hood, Texas, and then to the Advanced Infantry Course at Ft. Benning.

After a stint of field training in Turkey, where Koburger served as aide to the U.S. commander there, he returned to the United States, resigning from the service to pursue an MA in History from Niagara University. Following this, Koburger went to the University of Oregon where he received an MA in Political Science. He taught in the extension service at Bend and Coos Bay, Oregon.

In 1958, Koburger joined the USCG Reserve and worked on a polar transportation study, becoming the first full-time Maritime Pollution Control Officer at Coast Guard Headquarters. IMCO later sent him to Syria to write an oil control plan and then to Egypt. Koburger was recalled to active duty in 1973 in the Office of R and D.

Retiring in 1978, Koburger became a consultant on maritime affairs; advising Oman on ocean policy, conducting accident investigations for Liberia and consulting on merchant ship design. In 1983 he received a fellowship from the Sir John Cass Foundation at the City of London Polytechnic and was made a companion of the (British) Nautical Institute. He was also a visiting professor at the UN's World Maritime University at Malmo, Sweden.

He contributed almost 100 articles to various professional journals, as well as 17 books. He spoke seven languages, including Turkish, Arabic and Farsi. He held the Coast Guard Unit Citation for participation in the Santa Barbara oil control effort, and was made national marine chairman of the Institute of Navigation 1979-81.

Arlington, Virginia was home base from 1963 on. He did enjoy twelve of his last years in a second home on St. George Island, off the Florida Panhandle. He died in Arlington on May 11, 2009.

(Adapted from a biography written by Eugenia Koburger)