George Breuler, who has served in many roles in our Council 400 Chapter 405, was interviewed by WTNH News 8 about his service in the Army during WWII - check out this amazing story here:

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HAMDEN, Conn. (WTNH) – A World War II veteran, born in the roaring ’20s, grew up in Hamden. George Breuler was at a dance listening to the Glenn Miller Band when his life changed forever.

“When we came out, they said, ‘Pearl Harbor is bombed.’ We didn’t know where Pearl Harbor was,” Breuler said.

He learned fast and then enlisted in the Army during WWII when he was 21. He trained in the states before heading not battle as part of the 328^th Infantry assigned to the 26^th Division.

The work took him from France to Germany and Austria, where he was involved in liberating two concentration camps full of Jewish families.

“Oh, those camps are terrible. You can’t believe to see those rows of people lined up all dead,” Breuler said. “It was so important that we were freeing those people.”

He had his own ‘band of brothers’ and lost many along the way.

“All those guys that were filled, my squad, wasn’t easy, I’ll tell you right now,” Breuler said.

Breuler returned home to Connecticut, forever changed, after the war ended in 1945, surprising his family at a special time.

“I’ll never forget, I got home for Christmas. I knocked on the door, my mom said, ‘you’re home.’ I said, ‘I’m home,’” Brueler said.

Breuler got married in 1946 and became a father of four, a grandfather, and a great grandfather. He made quite an impression in his home of North Haven, famously coordinating the Memorial Day Parade and driving a school bus.

Steven Wronski, a schoolteacher, served on the American Legion with Breuler for years. He says the veteran always took the time to share his story with area youth.

“These are kids that I don’t know if they ever met a person from WWII because they’re young and they wanted his autography, they were coming up to him like he was the biggest hero they ever met,” Wronski said.

To that point, the living legend was inducted into the Connecticut Veteran’s Hall of Fame in 2013. The humble man says he’s just proud to be an American and hopes his incredible story continues to educate and inspire.