Military Figure. He was a highly decorated soldier, serving 32 years in the United States Army during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He earned 77 citations for valor, including four distinguished flying crosses and four silver stars and a Purple Heart. Counting the 77 citations for valor, he earned 115 citations. Born one of seven children of a farmer, he earned a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University with high honors while participating in track and field. He was a graduate of the National War College, did graduate study at Harvard University and earned a master's degree in international relations from George Washington University. He joined the First Special Service Force, training at Fort Harrison near Helena, Montana. The First Special Service Force was a 1,600 man American-Canadian commando unit, who specialized in intensive battle training. During the summer of 1943, in the invasion to retake the Aleutian Islands from the Japanese, the First Special Service Force's goal was anticlimactic since the Japanese had withdrawn days before their invasion. A 26-year-old Army major with the First Special Service Force, he and five other men were in a five-man rubber boat when it began taking on water from the frigid Bering Sea. Bailing and rowing, the soldiers kept the boat afloat for hours until they were finally rescued and learned this assignment was abandoned. He became a member of the Devil's Brigade of First Special Service Force, which was formed to infiltrate Nazi-invaded Norway in 1943. The brigade's members were referred to as "black" since they smeared their faces with black boot polish for their covert operations in the dark of the night. In November of 1943, he crossed North Africa with the First Special Service Force, which joined the invasion of Italy, saw combat in the battles for Anzio, Naples and Mount la Difensiu and was with the first Allied unit to enter Rome on June 4, 1944. His unit's action was adapted to the 1968 film ""The Devil's Brigade." On August 14, 1944 the Brigade was shipped to Iles d'Hyères in the Mediterranean Sea just off the coast of Southern France. Their last campaign was at the Franco-Italian border from September 7 to November 30, 1944. When the First Special Service Brigade was disbanded on December 5, 1944, he held the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel. The Devil's Brigade of the First Special Service evolved into the units called the Green Berets, Delta Force, and the Navy SEAL. At the end of World War II, his unit was in Germany, liberating the infamous Dachau Concentration Camp near Munich. During the Korean Conflict, he was promoted to the rank of colonel and was deployed to Korea in 1952 to command an infantry regiment of the 25th Division, which relieved Marines holding the line astride the Panmunjan Corridor, the scene of intense fighting against North Korea and Chinese troops. After the war, he was the head of the Infantry Career Management Branch from the Pentagon. He was promoted to Brigadier General in 1963. In 1967 he was deployed to Vietnam as assistant division commander of the First Division and commanded the division in the fierce 1968 combat of the TET Offensive. During his Vietnam tour, he was daily under fire with his men and never left the battle zone until every man was back. After retiring in 1970 at the rank of Brigadier General, he returned to Helena becoming active in the real estate business and civil affairs. He married twice and had two sons and two daughters with his first wife. He died at the Veteran's Medical Center at Fort Harrison from pneumonia. He was one of the last remaining members of the Devil's Brigade.
Military Figure. He was a highly decorated soldier, serving 32 years in the United States Army during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He earned 77 citations for valor, including four distinguished flying crosses and four silver stars and a Purple Heart. Counting the 77 citations for valor, he earned 115 citations. Born one of seven children of a farmer, he earned a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University with high honors while participating in track and field. He was a graduate of the National War College, did graduate study at Harvard University and earned a master's degree in international relations from George Washington University. He joined the First Special Service Force, training at Fort Harrison near Helena, Montana. The First Special Service Force was a 1,600 man American-Canadian commando unit, who specialized in intensive battle training. During the summer of 1943, in the invasion to retake the Aleutian Islands from the Japanese, the First Special Service Force's goal was anticlimactic since the Japanese had withdrawn days before their invasion. A 26-year-old Army major with the First Special Service Force, he and five other men were in a five-man rubber boat when it began taking on water from the frigid Bering Sea. Bailing and rowing, the soldiers kept the boat afloat for hours until they were finally rescued and learned this assignment was abandoned. He became a member of the Devil's Brigade of First Special Service Force, which was formed to infiltrate Nazi-invaded Norway in 1943. The brigade's members were referred to as "black" since they smeared their faces with black boot polish for their covert operations in the dark of the night. In November of 1943, he crossed North Africa with the First Special Service Force, which joined the invasion of Italy, saw combat in the battles for Anzio, Naples and Mount la Difensiu and was with the first Allied unit to enter Rome on June 4, 1944. His unit's action was adapted to the 1968 film ""The Devil's Brigade." On August 14, 1944 the Brigade was shipped to Iles d'Hyères in the Mediterranean Sea just off the coast of Southern France. Their last campaign was at the Franco-Italian border from September 7 to November 30, 1944. When the First Special Service Brigade was disbanded on December 5, 1944, he held the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel. The Devil's Brigade of the First Special Service evolved into the units called the Green Berets, Delta Force, and the Navy SEAL. At the end of World War II, his unit was in Germany, liberating the infamous Dachau Concentration Camp near Munich. During the Korean Conflict, he was promoted to the rank of colonel and was deployed to Korea in 1952 to command an infantry regiment of the 25th Division, which relieved Marines holding the line astride the Panmunjan Corridor, the scene of intense fighting against North Korea and Chinese troops. After the war, he was the head of the Infantry Career Management Branch from the Pentagon. He was promoted to Brigadier General in 1963. In 1967 he was deployed to Vietnam as assistant division commander of the First Division and commanded the division in the fierce 1968 combat of the TET Offensive. During his Vietnam tour, he was daily under fire with his men and never left the battle zone until every man was back. After retiring in 1970 at the rank of Brigadier General, he returned to Helena becoming active in the real estate business and civil affairs. He married twice and had two sons and two daughters with his first wife. He died at the Veteran's Medical Center at Fort Harrison from pneumonia. He was one of the last remaining members of the Devil's Brigade.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10007198/emil_paul-eschenburg: accessed
), memorial page for Emil Paul Eschenburg (26 Dec 1915–25 Nov 2004), Find a Grave Memorial ID 10007198, citing Montana State Veterans Cemetery, Helena,
Lewis and Clark County,
Montana,
USA;
Maintained by Find a Grave.
Add Photos for Emil Paul Eschenburg
Fulfill Photo Request for Emil Paul Eschenburg
Photo Request Fulfilled
Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request
There is an open photo request for this memorial
Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request?
Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s).
Oops, something didn't work. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again.
Make sure that the file is a photo. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced.
All photos uploaded successfully, click on the <b>Done button</b> to see the photos in the gallery.
General photo guidelines:
Photos larger than 8.0 MB will be optimized and reduced.
Each contributor can upload a maximum of 5 photos for a memorial.
A memorial can have a maximum of 20 photos from all contributors.
The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional 10 photos (for a total of 30 on the memorial).
Include gps location with grave photos where possible.
No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments.)
You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial.
Memorial Photos
This is a carousel with slides. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel.
Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried.
Show Map
If the memorial includes GPS coordinates, simply click 'Show Map' to view the gravesite location within the cemetery. If no GPS coordinates are available, you can contribute by adding them if you know the precise location.
Photos
For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab.
Photos Tab
All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer.
Flowers
Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button.
Family Members
Family members linked to this person will appear here.
Related searches
Use the links under See more… to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc.
Sponsor This Memorial
Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option.
Share
Share this memorial using social media sites or email.
Save to
Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print.
Edit or Suggest Edit
Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager.
Have Feedback
Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you.
You may not upload any more photos to this memorial
"Unsupported file type"
Uploading...
Waiting...
Success
Failed
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
Invalid File Type
Uploading 1 Photo
Uploading 2 Photos
1 Photo Uploaded
2 Photos Uploaded
Added by
GREAT NEWS! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery.
Sorry! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request.
Enter numeric value
Enter memorial Id
Year should not be greater than current year
Invalid memorial
Duplicate entry for memorial
You have chosen this person to be their own family member.
Reported!
This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates.
0% Complete
Saved
Sign in or Register
Sign in to Find a Grave
Sign-in to link to existing account
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
We’ve updated the security on the site. Please reset your password.
Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Please contact Find a Grave at [email protected] if you need help resetting your password.
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
Email not found
Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person.
Sign in to your existing Find a Grave account. You’ll only have to do this once—after your accounts are connected, you can sign in using your Ancestry sign in or your Find a Grave sign in.
We found an existing Find a Grave account associated with your email address. Sign in below with your Find a Grave credentials to link your Ancestry account. After your accounts are connected you can sign in using either account.
Please enter your email to sign in.
Please enter your password to sign in.
Please enter your email and password to sign in.
There is a problem with your email/password.
A system error has occurred. Please try again later.
A password reset email has been sent to EmailID. If you don't see an email, please check your spam folder.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
Password Reset
Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code.
Registration Options
Welcome to Find a Grave
Create your free account by choosing an option below.
or
Ancestry account link
To create your account, Ancestry will share your name and email address with Find a Grave. To continue choose an option below.
or
If you already have a Find a Grave account, please sign in to link to Ancestry®.
New Member Registration
Email is mandatory
Email and Password are mandatory
This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Resend Activation Email
Your password is not strong enough
Invalid Email
You must agree to Terms and Conditions
Account already exists
Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox
Internal Server error occurred
If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map
You must select an email preference
We have sent you an activation email
Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters.
We just emailed an activation code to
Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account.
cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
Within 5 miles of your location.
Within 5 kilometers of your location.
0 cemeteries found in .
0 cemeteries found.
Add a cemetery to fulfill photo requests
You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below.
Search above to list available cemeteries.
Getting location…
Loading...
Loading...
No cemeteries found
Find a Grave Video Tutorials
Default Language
Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [email protected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Thanks for your help!
Preferred Language
We have set your language to based on information from your browser.