Hometown: Yoakum, TX
Branch: U.S. Army 
Unit: E Company, 262nd Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division
Military Honors: Purple Heart 
Date of Sacrifice: December 25, 1944 - KIA in the English Channel
Age: 18 
Conflict: World War II, 1939-1945

As a young student at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University), Herbert “Bubba” Koehler Jr. was eager to defend his country. Just a year after graduating from nearby Yoakum (Texas) High School, Koehler attempted to enlist in the United States Air Force but was rejected due to his color blindness.

For much of its history, enrollment at A&M was restricted to men who were willing to participate in the Corps of Cadets and receive military training. After majoring in Architecture and completing his freshman year at A&M, Koehler joined the U.S. Army and completed basic training. According to his family, “Bubba” Koehler had to get a waiver to enlist.

In November of 1944, he and his fellow soldiers were shipped across the Atlantic from New York City to England, to join the cause in World War II’s European theater. Just 18 years old, Koehler was assigned to E Company, 262nd Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division.

On December 24, 1944, Koehler’s division boarded the SS Léopoldville—a Belgian passenger liner converted for use as a troop transport ship—in Southampton, England. Their mission was to provide reinforcements for the Allied effort in the Ardennes region of Belgium, in what British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called “the greatest American battle of the war”—the Battle of the Bulge.

Crossing the English Channel to bring 2,235 reinforcement troops to the French port of Cherbourg, the Léopoldville was just over five miles from its destination when the German U-boat submarine U-486 sent a torpedo into her side just before 6:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Some 300 soldiers were killed instantly in the blast.

One of the smaller British destroyer escort ships, the HMS Brilliant (DD), pulled alongside the fast-sinking Léopoldville. To avoid the frigid 48-degree waters, soldiers attempted to leap over to the deck of the Brilliant, which could only accommodate a few hundred. Some mistimed the jump and fell between. Some were crushed between the ship hulls.

In less than three hours, the SS Léopoldville sank, stern first. 763 American soldiers—including PFC Herbert Otto Koehler Jr.—were lost from the torpedo blast, a second blast from a boiler, or in the icy waters of the English Channel.

A tragic series of blunders resulted in losses that could have been prevented. Allied observers on shore assumed the Léopoldville was merely having engine trouble and would be aided by the escort ships. Three of the escort ships left the scene to pursue the German submarine. Small fishing boats came to the rescue, but it was too little, too late for many of the American soldiers in the icy water.

The tragic story of the Léopoldville sinking never made the headlines. The Army ordered survivors to keep the tragedy a secret because it would destroy morale back home. British authorities urged General Dwight Eisenhower to hide the true nature of the tragedy.

Strategically, the Allies didn’t want the enemy to know how many troops were being moved to the Ardennes region. Families of those lost were not given details for decades to follow. Official documents about the incident remained classified until 1996.

Nearly 40 years after its sinking, in 1985 the wreckage of the Léopoldville was found at the bottom of the English Channel by Clive Cussler and his crew, using sonar echoes from their surface vessel.

Like many aboard the Léopoldville, PFC Herbert Koehler Jr.’s body was never recovered. He was declared killed in action (KIA) on Christmas Day, December 25, 1944.

The story of the 66th Infantry Division and their ill-fated trip across the English Channel is told in a book by Allan Andrade, Léopoldville: A Tragedy Too Long Secret. Several documentaries have been produced, including The Silent Soldier and the Portrait (PBS), Cover Up: The Sinking of the SS Léopoldville (History Channel), and Sunk on Christmas Eve (National Geographic Channel).

Sources
Card photo and story details submitted by Heather Mace (PFC Koehler’s cousin) and Kathryn Coe.
The Portal to Texas History—Yoakum Herald-Times, Feb. 21, 1985: Sunken Troop Ship On Which Yoakum Soldier Died, Is Found
Texas State Historical Association: Texas A&M University
Leopoldville.org: Leopoldville Troopship Disaster
The National WWII Museum: 70th Anniversary of the SS Leopoldville Troopship Disaster
American Battlefield Monuments Commission: Herbert O. Koehler Jr.
History.com: Battle of the Bulge
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency WWII: Report for TEXAS
Burial Site: Find a Grave