Fritz G. A. Kraemer
Missionary, Mentor and Pentagon Strategist

Fritz G. A. Kraemer was born in Essen (Germany) on July 3rd, 1908.

He studied at the famous Arndt Gymnasium in Berlin, the London School of Economics and the Universities of Geneva and Frankfurt before earning a doctorate in jurisprudence at the University of Frankfurt in 1931 and a doctorate in Political Science at the University of Rome in 1934.

During most of the 30s he was Senior Legal Advisor to the League of Nations at the League’s Legal Institute in Rome. In 1933, he married his wife of fifty-seven years, Britta Bjorkander, a Swedish citizen.

Dr. Kraemer, a Lutheran with a dislike for Nazis, escaped Hitler’s Germany for America in 1939, but had to leave behind his wife and son. He was drafted and became a U.S. citizen as an inductee and joined the U.S. Army in April 1943 with two PhDs and one monocle as an infantryman in the 84th Infantry Division (the “Railsplittter”) to fight for freedom in Europe on the American side.

As a gifted “talent scout” and teacher in 1944 he discovered the young Henry Kissinger who joined his division. In the 70s he also discovered Alexander Haig, who was promoted to Military Assistant to then National Security Advisor Kissinger. Dr. Kraemer continued to influence their thinking. In a missonary-like role he “discovered” and encouraged young people throughout his long life.

Dr. Kraemer fought in the Battle of the Bulge and in the battles of Ruhr and Rhineland, earning a Battlefield Commission and a Bronze Star in the liberation of his former homeland. In 1945 he was reunited with his wife and son and returned to Washington D.C. in 1947. He left active duty in 1948 and retired from the Army Reserve in 1963 with the rank of a Lt. Colonel.

From the early 50s until 1978, when he retired from civil service, he served as as Senior Civilian Advisor to the U.S. Army Chief of Staff in the Pentagon and influenced the Department of Defense during the Cold War.

A graduate of the U.S. National War College, he advised, taught, and inspired generations of officers, officials, and private citizens throughout his life and made a substantial contribution to the cause of freedom.

Dr. Fritz Kraemer died on September 8th, 2003 at the age of ninety-five in Washington D.C. and was buried with Full Military Honors in Arlington National Cemetery on October 8th. He was honored by former Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinger, his former students Dr. Henry Kissinger and Alexander Haig, and more than 100 friends and relatives.