Kenneth George Reinhardt; Iwo Jima Marine

[IndyKenn]

A teary-eyed salute to my father, Kenneth George ("Kenn") Reinhardt who earned 2 Purple Hearts on Iwo Jima, returned to Indianapolis to be a successful manufacturers' rep, husband, and father of my sister, Kay, and I.

Though his thick book of photos regarding the valiant efforts of the "V"/Spearhead fifth division was loaned to a fellow Marine in Michigan (who, sadly, died and the book was somehow not returned), we have a few treasured pictures of him in his dress blues around our home.

As with all Christians, we await Christ's return and the opportunity to see him again.

[doc h fmf]

Mr Reinhardt I Am Sorry To Hear About Your Father,you And Your Family Are In My Thoughts And Prayers. May Godbless You And Your Family, May He Craddle Your Dad In His Arms.

Semper Fi

Stephen Doc Hansen Hm3 Fmf

[SGT7477]

May he RIP,God Bless you all,Semper Fidelis.

[Mongoose]

God bless your father, as well as your whole family.

[Rocky C]

My Thoughts and Prayers are with you all.
God Bless.

Semper Fi,
Rocky

[IndyKenn]

A thanks to all regarding your condolences for the death of my father. He was 6'2" and certainly a handsome devil "back in the day". At his funeral, some old women came up me--gals that knew him back in grade school up to high school--and asked me if I was his son. After I replied "yes", they often said, "Your dad was SO handsome!" (One even said he was "a hunk"!) It was such an awkward situation, I simply didn't know what to say...except, "Well....thank you!"

I guess it's no wonder he was technically still engaged to a gal he met while in a Hawaiian hospital & recuperating from his wounds from Iwo Jima...when he married my mother! He told me he wrote her about the situation change and told her to just keep the ring!

Always a terrific joke-teller & prankster, it also is no surprise that he went into sales. In my early years, I decided I would NOT do what he did, because it seemed like, as a manufacturers' rep, he was like a chameleon--he altered his personality depending on where he was/who he was with. I decided I was going to become a chemist at Purdue, instead. Ironically, I ended up getting a business degree...getting into sales...and eventually (from 1982 to his death in 2001) we worked together at the (2nd) rep firm he founded in 1975. (The first he had from 1952 till my mother died of ovarian cancer at age 51 in 1973. Her death was so traumatic on him, he sold out his ownership and took a sabbatical for a year.)

Anyway, I went into a company one time and handed the owner my card. He looked at the card...looked at me...looked back at the card...and said, "Are you....Kenny Reinhardt's son?" When I said I was, he gave me a big handshake, opened a door and yelled, "HEY! This is Kenny Reinhardt's son!!!"

So...when he died of acute mylogenous leukemia after only a 2 month sickness, it was a shock to us all as he had a bigger than life persona.

I miss him every day.

Thanks, though, for your thoughts.