Brigadier General Leo Kreber's Colors, 37th Infantry Division   Save
Ohio Battle Flag Audiovisual Collection
Description: Colors of Brigadier General Leo E Kreber, 37th Infantry Division Artillery. This red wool flag has a white star charge indicating rank. Born in Ohio in 1896, Kreber entered West Point in 1915, graduating a year early in 1918 at the outbreak of World War I. In 1936 he took command of the 136th Field Artillery Regiment. In 1940 he took command of the 37th's artillery (an Ohio National Guard division) . During World War II, the 37th's (the "Buckeye Division") Pacific campaigns included Fiji Islands, Guadalcanal, Munda, Bougainville, Luzon Campaign, and Manila. Kreber received the Silver Star, a Purple Heart, the Distinguished Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit. In January 1949, Governor Lausche appointed Kreber to Ohio Adjutant General, giving him the two top positions in the Ohio National Guard, which he would hold until mobilization in 1952. Ohio battle flags were on display at the Ohio Statehouse until the 1960s, when the state formed a committee to oversee the efforts to restore the fragile flags. Some of the battle flags were on display on the Plaza Level of the Ohio Historical Society from 1970 until 1989. For conservation reasons, the flags have been in storage since 1989. In the 1960s, the collection was photographed and commercial artist Robert Needham painted illustrations of many Civil War flags. Photographs of the flags and the paintings are now part of the society's archival collections. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02294
Subjects: Ceremonial artifact; Communication artifact; Military flags; Flags--Ohio, World War 1939-1945; United States. Army. Infantry Division, 37th; Statehouse--Ohio; Textile--wool
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)