Donald H. Weihs (September 7, 1922 – January 3, 2016)[1] was an American military officer and Olympic biathlete.
Biography
editWeihs was born in Sherman, Texas, the son of Howard F. Weihs and his wife Marie Louise, née Gamblin. His brother Bill served in the army as well.[2] Donald was recruited to the 38th Regimental Combat Team. At the age of 25 years,[3] in the rank of a first lieutenant he was leader of the U.S. military patrol team at the demonstration event of the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Weihs had no long experience of skiing.[4] During the competition, after the team completed more than three-fourths of the 21.5-mile course, his ski broke and he tramped the last six miles with the broken ski. The team (Lt Weihs, Sgt Walker, Pvt Henry Dunlap and Pvt Lorentz Eide) placed eighth of eight.[5]
References
edit- ^ "Donald Weihs' obituary". Archived from the original on November 27, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
- ^ William Lee “Bill” Weihs
- ^ "European Stars and Stripes Archives, Jan 28, 1948, p. 10". January 28, 1948.
- ^ Military ski race tests endurance, The Stars and Stripes, January 828, 1948, p. 10.
- ^ "Sweden takes Winter Olympics", Lodi News-Sentinel, February 9, 1948.
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