Colonel Harry Glenchur (Gunchau), M.D., PhD.
Physician and Author
Son of Thomas and Lee Shee Glencher
University of California, Berkeley.
Pi Alpha Phi
Graduate - 1949
University of Rochester
Graduate - 1953
Internship: University of Minnesota,
Residency: VA in Minneapolis, MN.
Specialty:
Internal Medicine
Physiology and Microbiology.
US Army
HQ CO, 2nd BN
89th INFANTRY DIVISION
WORLD WAR II
"Harry Glenchur oral history interview by Michael Hirsh, June 3, 2008"
Holocaust concentration camp liberator, Harry Glenchur, was a private first class in the 89th Infantry Division, which liberated Ohrdruf, a sub-camp of Buchenwald. It was the first camp to be liberated by the Allied armies in Germany on April 4, 1945. [Orhdruf was visited by Generals Eisenhower, Patton and Bradley.] While on campaign through the Rhineland, Glenchur's unit was billeted in the town of Ohrdruf. Glenchur and his comrades went through the concentration camp, witnessing the barracks and the crematorium. As he spoke a little German (two years in high school), Glenchur was occasionally used as an interpreter.
"I remember seeing cord—stacks of corpses, like cordwood, and railroad cars with doors open and corpses inside. There was a railroad track that went into the camp. I remember more than one cordwood thing, stack. Then we saw the people inside the barracks. Survivors. The barracks were very barren. They were all made of wood, and I think the beds were five deep, five or six deep. The guys were in, I think they were in striped uniforms. And I think they were sometimes more than one to each bunk. I don’t remember saying anything to them. We weren’t told to occupy the camp or do anything with the inmates. I vaguely remember taking the battalion commander, Colonel Murray, through, and we saw the ovens (crematorium). As soon as we had arrived in the camp, all the prisoners just kind of scattered." ... "Part of my job as an interpreter was to tell the villagers to take three days’ food and move to the other side of the village; three days’ food and clothing and move. If they wandered by after we told them not to, they would be shot. And they would all go. I don’t remember ever having any German civilians being resistant to what we asked."
********************************************
Commanding Officer
828th Station Hospital
United States Army Reserve.
Fresno, California.
OBITUARY
Colonel Harry Glenchur, MD, PhD, 89 of Templeton, California died Thursday, October 30, 2014 at his residence. His son Mark and daughter Kristin were by his side. ***** Born and raised in Coalinga, California, Dr. Glenchur graduated from high school in the midst of WWII. He embarked on an active military career serving in the 353rd Infantry Regiment from 1943 until 1946. He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman Badge in 1945. While on active duty he helped to liberate a German concentration camp. He resumed his military career in 1977 as a Medical Officer in the Navy and Army Reserves and served as the Commander to the 828th Station Hospital in Fresno. ***** Colonel Glenchur graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1949 and Medical School at the University of Rochester in 1953. He interned and was a Resident at the University of Minnesota, and was awarded a PhD in Microbiology in 1961. He was a senior research fellow at the National Institute of Health in Montpellier and Paris, France. Throughout this period, he published a number of papers. He worked as a Chief of Infectious Diseases at a VA hospital and Chief of Chest Medicine at the City of Hope. In 1967 he went to work for Los Angeles County at Olive View Hospital in the acute medical service. He was on call on the fifth floor of the brand new hospital when the 1971 Los Angeles earthquake hit and he led numerous patients out before the hospital was destroyed. In 1974, he served as the Chief of Internal Medicine at High Desert Hospital and later as Medical Director. He was instrumental in bringing specialists and other qualified staff members to the Hospital. In 1991 the County honored him by naming a building there the “Glenchur Ambulatory Unit.”
Dr Glenchur had many interests and hobbies. He cultivated fruit on thirty acres in Little Rock, California, In 2000, he retired to seven acres in Templeton, California, where he read extensively, raised livestock and orchids, built model ships and airplanes, and collected coins and stamps.
He is survived by: three children, Mark Glenchur of Agua Dulce, California, Kristin Glenchur, of Oakland, California, and Bruce Glenchur of Martinez, California; two grandchildren, Rossalyn and Jade Glenchur; two siblings, JoAnna Jung of Eagle Rock, Ca, and Thomas Glenchur of Fresno; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his son Peter Glenchur, his sisters Evelyn Lym and Dorothy Wong and brother Eugene Glenchur.
Colonel Glenchur was cremated in his Class A uniform and will be inurned at San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery in Santa Nella, California. A memorial will take place at the Cemetery on Monday, November 24 at 1:30pm
Physician and Author
Son of Thomas and Lee Shee Glencher
University of California, Berkeley.
Pi Alpha Phi
Graduate - 1949
University of Rochester
Graduate - 1953
Internship: University of Minnesota,
Residency: VA in Minneapolis, MN.
Specialty:
Internal Medicine
Physiology and Microbiology.
US Army
HQ CO, 2nd BN
89th INFANTRY DIVISION
WORLD WAR II
"Harry Glenchur oral history interview by Michael Hirsh, June 3, 2008"
Holocaust concentration camp liberator, Harry Glenchur, was a private first class in the 89th Infantry Division, which liberated Ohrdruf, a sub-camp of Buchenwald. It was the first camp to be liberated by the Allied armies in Germany on April 4, 1945. [Orhdruf was visited by Generals Eisenhower, Patton and Bradley.] While on campaign through the Rhineland, Glenchur's unit was billeted in the town of Ohrdruf. Glenchur and his comrades went through the concentration camp, witnessing the barracks and the crematorium. As he spoke a little German (two years in high school), Glenchur was occasionally used as an interpreter.
"I remember seeing cord—stacks of corpses, like cordwood, and railroad cars with doors open and corpses inside. There was a railroad track that went into the camp. I remember more than one cordwood thing, stack. Then we saw the people inside the barracks. Survivors. The barracks were very barren. They were all made of wood, and I think the beds were five deep, five or six deep. The guys were in, I think they were in striped uniforms. And I think they were sometimes more than one to each bunk. I don’t remember saying anything to them. We weren’t told to occupy the camp or do anything with the inmates. I vaguely remember taking the battalion commander, Colonel Murray, through, and we saw the ovens (crematorium). As soon as we had arrived in the camp, all the prisoners just kind of scattered." ... "Part of my job as an interpreter was to tell the villagers to take three days’ food and move to the other side of the village; three days’ food and clothing and move. If they wandered by after we told them not to, they would be shot. And they would all go. I don’t remember ever having any German civilians being resistant to what we asked."
********************************************
Commanding Officer
828th Station Hospital
United States Army Reserve.
Fresno, California.
OBITUARY
Colonel Harry Glenchur, MD, PhD, 89 of Templeton, California died Thursday, October 30, 2014 at his residence. His son Mark and daughter Kristin were by his side. ***** Born and raised in Coalinga, California, Dr. Glenchur graduated from high school in the midst of WWII. He embarked on an active military career serving in the 353rd Infantry Regiment from 1943 until 1946. He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman Badge in 1945. While on active duty he helped to liberate a German concentration camp. He resumed his military career in 1977 as a Medical Officer in the Navy and Army Reserves and served as the Commander to the 828th Station Hospital in Fresno. ***** Colonel Glenchur graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1949 and Medical School at the University of Rochester in 1953. He interned and was a Resident at the University of Minnesota, and was awarded a PhD in Microbiology in 1961. He was a senior research fellow at the National Institute of Health in Montpellier and Paris, France. Throughout this period, he published a number of papers. He worked as a Chief of Infectious Diseases at a VA hospital and Chief of Chest Medicine at the City of Hope. In 1967 he went to work for Los Angeles County at Olive View Hospital in the acute medical service. He was on call on the fifth floor of the brand new hospital when the 1971 Los Angeles earthquake hit and he led numerous patients out before the hospital was destroyed. In 1974, he served as the Chief of Internal Medicine at High Desert Hospital and later as Medical Director. He was instrumental in bringing specialists and other qualified staff members to the Hospital. In 1991 the County honored him by naming a building there the “Glenchur Ambulatory Unit.”
Dr Glenchur had many interests and hobbies. He cultivated fruit on thirty acres in Little Rock, California, In 2000, he retired to seven acres in Templeton, California, where he read extensively, raised livestock and orchids, built model ships and airplanes, and collected coins and stamps.
He is survived by: three children, Mark Glenchur of Agua Dulce, California, Kristin Glenchur, of Oakland, California, and Bruce Glenchur of Martinez, California; two grandchildren, Rossalyn and Jade Glenchur; two siblings, JoAnna Jung of Eagle Rock, Ca, and Thomas Glenchur of Fresno; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his son Peter Glenchur, his sisters Evelyn Lym and Dorothy Wong and brother Eugene Glenchur.
Colonel Glenchur was cremated in his Class A uniform and will be inurned at San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery in Santa Nella, California. A memorial will take place at the Cemetery on Monday, November 24 at 1:30pm
Colonel Harry Glenchur (Gunchau), M.D., PhD.
Physician and Author
Son of Thomas and Lee Shee Glencher
University of California, Berkeley.
Pi Alpha Phi
Graduate - 1949
University of Rochester
Graduate - 1953
Internship: University of Minnesota,
Residency: VA in Minneapolis, MN.
Specialty:
Internal Medicine
Physiology and Microbiology.
US Army
HQ CO, 2nd BN
89th INFANTRY DIVISION
WORLD WAR II
"Harry Glenchur oral history interview by Michael Hirsh, June 3, 2008"
Holocaust concentration camp liberator, Harry Glenchur, was a private first class in the 89th Infantry Division, which liberated Ohrdruf, a sub-camp of Buchenwald. It was the first camp to be liberated by the Allied armies in Germany on April 4, 1945. [Orhdruf was visited by Generals Eisenhower, Patton and Bradley.] While on campaign through the Rhineland, Glenchur's unit was billeted in the town of Ohrdruf. Glenchur and his comrades went through the concentration camp, witnessing the barracks and the crematorium. As he spoke a little German (two years in high school), Glenchur was occasionally used as an interpreter.
"I remember seeing cord—stacks of corpses, like cordwood, and railroad cars with doors open and corpses inside. There was a railroad track that went into the camp. I remember more than one cordwood thing, stack. Then we saw the people inside the barracks. Survivors. The barracks were very barren. They were all made of wood, and I think the beds were five deep, five or six deep. The guys were in, I think they were in striped uniforms. And I think they were sometimes more than one to each bunk. I don’t remember saying anything to them. We weren’t told to occupy the camp or do anything with the inmates. I vaguely remember taking the battalion commander, Colonel Murray, through, and we saw the ovens (crematorium). As soon as we had arrived in the camp, all the prisoners just kind of scattered." ... "Part of my job as an interpreter was to tell the villagers to take three days’ food and move to the other side of the village; three days’ food and clothing and move. If they wandered by after we told them not to, they would be shot. And they would all go. I don’t remember ever having any German civilians being resistant to what we asked."
********************************************
Commanding Officer
828th Station Hospital
United States Army Reserve.
Fresno, California.
OBITUARY
Colonel Harry Glenchur, MD, PhD, 89 of Templeton, California died Thursday, October 30, 2014 at his residence. His son Mark and daughter Kristin were by his side. ***** Born and raised in Coalinga, California, Dr. Glenchur graduated from high school in the midst of WWII. He embarked on an active military career serving in the 353rd Infantry Regiment from 1943 until 1946. He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman Badge in 1945. While on active duty he helped to liberate a German concentration camp. He resumed his military career in 1977 as a Medical Officer in the Navy and Army Reserves and served as the Commander to the 828th Station Hospital in Fresno. ***** Colonel Glenchur graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1949 and Medical School at the University of Rochester in 1953. He interned and was a Resident at the University of Minnesota, and was awarded a PhD in Microbiology in 1961. He was a senior research fellow at the National Institute of Health in Montpellier and Paris, France. Throughout this period, he published a number of papers. He worked as a Chief of Infectious Diseases at a VA hospital and Chief of Chest Medicine at the City of Hope. In 1967 he went to work for Los Angeles County at Olive View Hospital in the acute medical service. He was on call on the fifth floor of the brand new hospital when the 1971 Los Angeles earthquake hit and he led numerous patients out before the hospital was destroyed. In 1974, he served as the Chief of Internal Medicine at High Desert Hospital and later as Medical Director. He was instrumental in bringing specialists and other qualified staff members to the Hospital. In 1991 the County honored him by naming a building there the “Glenchur Ambulatory Unit.”
Dr Glenchur had many interests and hobbies. He cultivated fruit on thirty acres in Little Rock, California, In 2000, he retired to seven acres in Templeton, California, where he read extensively, raised livestock and orchids, built model ships and airplanes, and collected coins and stamps.
He is survived by: three children, Mark Glenchur of Agua Dulce, California, Kristin Glenchur, of Oakland, California, and Bruce Glenchur of Martinez, California; two grandchildren, Rossalyn and Jade Glenchur; two siblings, JoAnna Jung of Eagle Rock, Ca, and Thomas Glenchur of Fresno; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his son Peter Glenchur, his sisters Evelyn Lym and Dorothy Wong and brother Eugene Glenchur.
Colonel Glenchur was cremated in his Class A uniform and will be inurned at San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery in Santa Nella, California. A memorial will take place at the Cemetery on Monday, November 24 at 1:30pm
Physician and Author
Son of Thomas and Lee Shee Glencher
University of California, Berkeley.
Pi Alpha Phi
Graduate - 1949
University of Rochester
Graduate - 1953
Internship: University of Minnesota,
Residency: VA in Minneapolis, MN.
Specialty:
Internal Medicine
Physiology and Microbiology.
US Army
HQ CO, 2nd BN
89th INFANTRY DIVISION
WORLD WAR II
"Harry Glenchur oral history interview by Michael Hirsh, June 3, 2008"
Holocaust concentration camp liberator, Harry Glenchur, was a private first class in the 89th Infantry Division, which liberated Ohrdruf, a sub-camp of Buchenwald. It was the first camp to be liberated by the Allied armies in Germany on April 4, 1945. [Orhdruf was visited by Generals Eisenhower, Patton and Bradley.] While on campaign through the Rhineland, Glenchur's unit was billeted in the town of Ohrdruf. Glenchur and his comrades went through the concentration camp, witnessing the barracks and the crematorium. As he spoke a little German (two years in high school), Glenchur was occasionally used as an interpreter.
"I remember seeing cord—stacks of corpses, like cordwood, and railroad cars with doors open and corpses inside. There was a railroad track that went into the camp. I remember more than one cordwood thing, stack. Then we saw the people inside the barracks. Survivors. The barracks were very barren. They were all made of wood, and I think the beds were five deep, five or six deep. The guys were in, I think they were in striped uniforms. And I think they were sometimes more than one to each bunk. I don’t remember saying anything to them. We weren’t told to occupy the camp or do anything with the inmates. I vaguely remember taking the battalion commander, Colonel Murray, through, and we saw the ovens (crematorium). As soon as we had arrived in the camp, all the prisoners just kind of scattered." ... "Part of my job as an interpreter was to tell the villagers to take three days’ food and move to the other side of the village; three days’ food and clothing and move. If they wandered by after we told them not to, they would be shot. And they would all go. I don’t remember ever having any German civilians being resistant to what we asked."
********************************************
Commanding Officer
828th Station Hospital
United States Army Reserve.
Fresno, California.
OBITUARY
Colonel Harry Glenchur, MD, PhD, 89 of Templeton, California died Thursday, October 30, 2014 at his residence. His son Mark and daughter Kristin were by his side. ***** Born and raised in Coalinga, California, Dr. Glenchur graduated from high school in the midst of WWII. He embarked on an active military career serving in the 353rd Infantry Regiment from 1943 until 1946. He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman Badge in 1945. While on active duty he helped to liberate a German concentration camp. He resumed his military career in 1977 as a Medical Officer in the Navy and Army Reserves and served as the Commander to the 828th Station Hospital in Fresno. ***** Colonel Glenchur graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1949 and Medical School at the University of Rochester in 1953. He interned and was a Resident at the University of Minnesota, and was awarded a PhD in Microbiology in 1961. He was a senior research fellow at the National Institute of Health in Montpellier and Paris, France. Throughout this period, he published a number of papers. He worked as a Chief of Infectious Diseases at a VA hospital and Chief of Chest Medicine at the City of Hope. In 1967 he went to work for Los Angeles County at Olive View Hospital in the acute medical service. He was on call on the fifth floor of the brand new hospital when the 1971 Los Angeles earthquake hit and he led numerous patients out before the hospital was destroyed. In 1974, he served as the Chief of Internal Medicine at High Desert Hospital and later as Medical Director. He was instrumental in bringing specialists and other qualified staff members to the Hospital. In 1991 the County honored him by naming a building there the “Glenchur Ambulatory Unit.”
Dr Glenchur had many interests and hobbies. He cultivated fruit on thirty acres in Little Rock, California, In 2000, he retired to seven acres in Templeton, California, where he read extensively, raised livestock and orchids, built model ships and airplanes, and collected coins and stamps.
He is survived by: three children, Mark Glenchur of Agua Dulce, California, Kristin Glenchur, of Oakland, California, and Bruce Glenchur of Martinez, California; two grandchildren, Rossalyn and Jade Glenchur; two siblings, JoAnna Jung of Eagle Rock, Ca, and Thomas Glenchur of Fresno; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his son Peter Glenchur, his sisters Evelyn Lym and Dorothy Wong and brother Eugene Glenchur.
Colonel Glenchur was cremated in his Class A uniform and will be inurned at San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery in Santa Nella, California. A memorial will take place at the Cemetery on Monday, November 24 at 1:30pm
Inscription
SGT US ARMY
WORLD WAR II
Gravesite Details
Ashes partially scattered into the Pacific Ocean from the pier in Cambria, CA.
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