The Wizard of Utz

Vincent 'Vinnie' Utz served at the headquarters of 506th PIR. Like his close friend Robert Watts he was part of the intelligence section S-2 of this regiment. Vinnie Utz must have been a very colorful person.

He was a very gifted athlete and before the war he attended Rutgers University in New Jersey, where he became a legend on the football field during a heroic action in 1941, when he got the nickname of 'The Wizard of Utz'. During the war he was assigned by Colonel Sink to the intelligence section as his parents were of German origin and he spoke fluent German. Utz apparently was always up for a joke. On the eve of D-Day he dressed up as a German soldier, so that everyone would know what it looked like.

According to his son Jeffrey Utz, his father was repeatedly promoted from Private First Class to Corporal, but also as many times demoted. In one of his jokes he managed to walk around London during his leave (probably together with Robert Watts) with a vacuum cleaner and made people believe that he was a fire eater. This joke led to him being imprisoned. He left the prison sober and stripped of his rank of Corporal ... Vinnie Utz was hit on Christmas Day in 1944 during the seige of Bastogne and lost his left arm. The war for him was now over and he then quickly returned to the United States.

Utz was killed in 1966 when a fire started in his house. After he had brought his wife and children to safety, he went back to one of the bedrooms to save his demented father (all this with his one arm!). Unfortunately, they did not mangage to leave the house on time. Reportedly he was found by firefighters with his right arm almost torn off