Alfred Maximilian Gruenther: 1899-1983

Gruenther was also considered the best bridge player in the Army. As a young West Point instructor he refereed the Culbertson-Lenz match in New York in 1931-32, which the press called the Bridge Battle of the Century, and when a complaint reached the superintendent about his late nights at tournaments, the superintendent sat in on his 8 a.m. chemistry class and reported he had never seen a finer instructor. Gruenther wrote books on duplicate contract bridge and was Eisenhower's favorite partner. He served as honorary president of the World Bridge Federation from 1958 to 1978.

What the plaque says

Alfred Maximilian Gruenther 1899-1983 Alfred Maximilian Gruenther, four-star general in the U.S. Army, was born in Platte Center, Nebraska, on March 3, 1899, to Christian and Mary Shea Gruenther. He graduated fourth in his class from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1918. Between 1941 and 1953 Gruenther served as chief of staff of the Third Army, Fifth Army, Fifteenth Army Group, and Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers in Europe. A protégé of General Dwight D. Eisenhower during World War II, Gruenther was principal American planner of the allied invasions of North Africa in 1942 and Italy in 1943. He received many high military honors from the United States and other countries. After World War II Gruenther became deputy commander of U.S. forces in Austria in 1945, and was appointed supreme allied commander in Europe/ commander-in-chief of the U.S. European Command in 1953. In retirement he was president of the American Red Cross from 1957 to 1964 and served on four corporate boards and three presidential commissions. Gruenther died in Washington, D.C. on May 30, 1983, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Platte Center Sign Committee/ Village of Platte Center Nebraska State Historical Society

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Genoa U.S. Indian School Museum — 14 mi
  The surviving trades building of a federal boarding school that ran from 1884 to 1934 on the Pawnee Nation's last Nebraska land, where at least 86 children died and the cemetery is still lost.

More markers nearby

• Camp Platte — 7.3 mi
• Frank Zybach - Inventor of Center-Pivot Irrigation Machine — 9.4 mi
• Columbus Powerhouse — 9.7 mi
• Granville Cemetery — 9.7 mi