Post by 2nd Bat on Mar 25, 2010 8:28:06 GMT -5
History Happenings
By Dorothy Rustebakke
Recalling items from the past for those who remember, those who have forgotten, and those who never knew at all.
Scobey’s One-Man
Army, Henry Schauer
Because of the heroic exploits in World War II that won him the prestigious Congressional Medal of Honor, Henry Schauer was known in northeastern Montana as “ Scobey’s one-man army”. His army buddies referred to him as
“Kraut- an-hour Schauer.” He was one of five Montanans to be awarded the United States’ highest military decoration for his exploits during World War II.
His official Medal of Honor citation reads as follows:
“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. On May 23, 1944, at 12 noon, Pfc. (Now T/Sgt.) Schauer left the cover of a ditch to engage four German snipers who opened fire on the patrol from its rear. Standing erect he walked deliberately 30 yards toward the enemy, stopped amid the fire from four rifles centered on him, and with a burst from his BAR, each at a different range, killed all of the snipers.
“Catching sight of a fifth sniper waiting for the patrol behind a house chimney, Pfc Schauer brought him down with another burst. Shortly after, when a heavy enemy artillery concentration and two machine guns temporarily halted the patrol, Pfc Schauer again left cover to engage the enemy weapons single-handed. While shells exploded within 15 yards, showering dirt over him and strings of grazing German tracer bullets whipped past him at chest level, Pfc. Schauer knelt, killed the two gunners of the machine gun only 60 yards from him with a single burst from his BAR, and crumpled two other enemy soldiers who ran to man the gun. Inserting a fresh magazine in his BAR, Pfc. Schauer shifted his body to fire at the other weapon 500 yards distant and emptied his weapon into the enemy crew, killing all four Germans.
“ Next morning, when shells from a German Mark VI Tank and a machine gun only 100 yards distant forced the patrol to seek cover, Pfc. Schauer crawled toward the enemy machine gun, stood upright only 80 yards from the weapon as the bullets cut the surrounding ground, and four tank shells fired directly at him burst within 20 yards. Raising his BAR to his shoulder, Pfc, Schauer killed the four members of the German machine gun crew with one burst of fire.”
Henry Schauer was born Oct. 9, 1918, at Clinton, Oklahoma. His mother, Pauline Radke Schauer died when he was six, and his father relocated to Montana, where the children’s grandparents lived. Henry attended the Volt and Benrud rural schools.
Since his father moved from place to place, he went to live with Hans and Emma Hanson in the Silver Star community south of Scobey when he was 15, and worked on the Hanson ranch until he joined the army on Feb. 17, 1941. He was one of thirteen Daniels County boys who enlisted that day. They became known as “the Lucky Thirteen” when they all returned home safely after serving throughout the war in scattered locations.
By May 23, 1944, Schauer was a private first class in the 3rd Infantry Division. Along with other Daniels County boys, he was in the invasion of North Africa and went on with the army to Italy. He was wounded twice in Sicily and spent a total of 151 days in the hospital. He came out fighting, crossed into Italy at Salerno, returned later and was stationed at Anzio. He had a big part in the breakthrough at Anzio that resulted in the march to Naples and Rome. It was at Anzio that he wiped out 17 German snipers in 25 minutes. His patrol was out 17 hours, which caused a correspondent to declare him “Kraut- an- hour Schauer.”
When asked later how much ammunition it took to dispose of the seventeen Germans, he said “I had ten magazines, each with 20 rounds, and I used them all before I was through.”
He belonged to a group that the Nazis called “The black devils.” At night he and his patrol would blacken their faces with charcoal to prevent any reflection when flares were sent up.
After his outfit reached Rome Schauer was transferred to a service company, but couldn't stand the quiet and asked for a job driving truck. When the American forces invaded southern France he went in two hours behind the first assault troops as a tommy gunner. Then he went back to driving trucks until General Patch presented him with the Medal of Honor on October 17.
His officers rated Henry as the best Browning automatic rifleman in the U.S. Army and claimed he had probably the coolest head and steadiest nerve among all of the men in uniform.
General Patch, who hung the medal of honor on his neck one day in France, personally jumped Schauer from Private First Class to Technical Sergeant.
Schauer was famous for his accuracy with the Browning Automatic, rifle, and later someone at a bond rally at Butte suggested, “Of course you qualified as an expert with the Browning before you went overseas.”
“No, Sir,” Schauer replied. “First time I had a hand on a BAR was in North Africa, and I didn't even know how to take it apart.”
The World War II hero likely acquired his abilities as a rifle marksman while growing up in Montana. As a boy he shot small game to help feed his family, and later was a bounty-hunter for coyotes.
Not all of Schauer’s feats resulted in medals. On one occasion he was returning to camp from an all-night patrol when he ran into a German lieutenant. The Nazi officer had been educated in America and spoke English fluently. He told Schauer he was tired of the war and wanted to surrender.
“We usually didn't take prisoners,” Schauer related, but this lieutenant gave himself up. When I told him I wouldn't shoot the rest of his men, he sent one of his sergeants after them. I came back to base with 23 prisoners that day, all without firing a shot.
The prestigious award won him an early discharged from the army. He welcomed the reprieve, but mourned his many lost buddies. Of the 219 men in the company he ventured overseas with only nine came out alive.
Schauer returned to Scobey on December 1, 1944. Over a thousand people attended a public program in the Scobey gym to honor him and his comrades in arms from Daniels County on December 9. The celebration was sponsored by the American Legion, VFW and Lions Club. It was prepared as a homecoming celebration for Schauer, but gold star parents, veteran casualties of the war who had been discharged or were still in the service, and servicemen home on leave were also honored. The mayor declared a public holiday from two to four that afternoon. There was also a banquet in the evening.
After his release from the army, while the war was still raging, Schauer made several appearances at different Montana locations to help the sale of war bonds. He resumed working at the Hanson ranch after the war and continued to work there until 1956. After that he worked with a carpenter in Wolf Point for a short time and then worked on farms at Richey and Vida, living in a trailer he had purchased.
In 1958 he accepted a sister’s invitation to move to Woodburn, Oregon , and take over her farm there. He found the farm to be unprofitable, so he sold out after three years and later went to work for the Oregon State Highway Department, where he worked until he retired in 1971.
Henry was an honored guest in Helena on May 30, 1990, when a giant-sized granite veterans’ monument as a memorial to Montana’s seven Congressional Medal of Honor holders was dedicated on the grounds of the state capitol and seven trees planted in their honor.
The honors Schauer received were earned at a physical price. He was plagued for the rest of his life by the numerous fragments of shrapnel that were embedded in his body. Often, while he was working in his garage or garden, he would feel a jagged piece of metal break loose in his mouth or poke through his skin.
He died June 16, 1997 at Salem and was buried in the City View Cemetery there with military honors. He was survived by his wife, Ellen, whom he married in 1964, and also by three step daughters, and one sister.
According to his family and friends, Schauer was modest about his prestigious award.
“The ones who really deserved it are already buried and nobody knows what they did,” he always said. He rejected the notion that he was a hero, and figured he was given the Medal of Honor only because a number of generals happened to be around to take notice of what he did.
In a radio broadcast heard nationally he said, “The brutality of war left no time for hesitation, calculation or sympathy for the enemy. All you think about is ‘Get the other guy first.’”
Schauer followed that harsh principle while helping liberate the German army occupied town of Cisterna, Italy. With other Americans soldiers there he was involved in street fighting, and had to go from house to house, encountering enemy soldiers hiding in basements and attics
On one occasion Schauer had the rare experience of having an enemy shell with his number on it land near him.
“Soon after we got ashore in Sicily a German shell landed close by,” he said. “It was a dud. My friends compared the serial number on my identification tag with the number on the shell casing, and every figure was identical except the last one.
“When the shell was opened they found a note in it showing it had been made in Poland by Polish labor. The note added ‘Vive Poland. Hope this does you some good.’”
In recognition of their outstanding war bond sales, the people of Daniels County were permitted to name a B-17 flying fortress. They chose to name it ’The Henry Schauer.”
In addition to the Congressional Medal of Honor, Schauer was awarded the expert combat infantry badge, bronze star, purple heart with one cluster, European campaign ribbon with stars for seven major battles, pre-Pearl Harbor bar and a good conduct medal.
Additional information about Henry Schauer is available in the archives of the Daniels County Museum.
By Dorothy Rustebakke
Recalling items from the past for those who remember, those who have forgotten, and those who never knew at all.
Scobey’s One-Man
Army, Henry Schauer
Because of the heroic exploits in World War II that won him the prestigious Congressional Medal of Honor, Henry Schauer was known in northeastern Montana as “ Scobey’s one-man army”. His army buddies referred to him as
“Kraut- an-hour Schauer.” He was one of five Montanans to be awarded the United States’ highest military decoration for his exploits during World War II.
His official Medal of Honor citation reads as follows:
“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. On May 23, 1944, at 12 noon, Pfc. (Now T/Sgt.) Schauer left the cover of a ditch to engage four German snipers who opened fire on the patrol from its rear. Standing erect he walked deliberately 30 yards toward the enemy, stopped amid the fire from four rifles centered on him, and with a burst from his BAR, each at a different range, killed all of the snipers.
“Catching sight of a fifth sniper waiting for the patrol behind a house chimney, Pfc Schauer brought him down with another burst. Shortly after, when a heavy enemy artillery concentration and two machine guns temporarily halted the patrol, Pfc Schauer again left cover to engage the enemy weapons single-handed. While shells exploded within 15 yards, showering dirt over him and strings of grazing German tracer bullets whipped past him at chest level, Pfc. Schauer knelt, killed the two gunners of the machine gun only 60 yards from him with a single burst from his BAR, and crumpled two other enemy soldiers who ran to man the gun. Inserting a fresh magazine in his BAR, Pfc. Schauer shifted his body to fire at the other weapon 500 yards distant and emptied his weapon into the enemy crew, killing all four Germans.
“ Next morning, when shells from a German Mark VI Tank and a machine gun only 100 yards distant forced the patrol to seek cover, Pfc. Schauer crawled toward the enemy machine gun, stood upright only 80 yards from the weapon as the bullets cut the surrounding ground, and four tank shells fired directly at him burst within 20 yards. Raising his BAR to his shoulder, Pfc, Schauer killed the four members of the German machine gun crew with one burst of fire.”
Henry Schauer was born Oct. 9, 1918, at Clinton, Oklahoma. His mother, Pauline Radke Schauer died when he was six, and his father relocated to Montana, where the children’s grandparents lived. Henry attended the Volt and Benrud rural schools.
Since his father moved from place to place, he went to live with Hans and Emma Hanson in the Silver Star community south of Scobey when he was 15, and worked on the Hanson ranch until he joined the army on Feb. 17, 1941. He was one of thirteen Daniels County boys who enlisted that day. They became known as “the Lucky Thirteen” when they all returned home safely after serving throughout the war in scattered locations.
By May 23, 1944, Schauer was a private first class in the 3rd Infantry Division. Along with other Daniels County boys, he was in the invasion of North Africa and went on with the army to Italy. He was wounded twice in Sicily and spent a total of 151 days in the hospital. He came out fighting, crossed into Italy at Salerno, returned later and was stationed at Anzio. He had a big part in the breakthrough at Anzio that resulted in the march to Naples and Rome. It was at Anzio that he wiped out 17 German snipers in 25 minutes. His patrol was out 17 hours, which caused a correspondent to declare him “Kraut- an- hour Schauer.”
When asked later how much ammunition it took to dispose of the seventeen Germans, he said “I had ten magazines, each with 20 rounds, and I used them all before I was through.”
He belonged to a group that the Nazis called “The black devils.” At night he and his patrol would blacken their faces with charcoal to prevent any reflection when flares were sent up.
After his outfit reached Rome Schauer was transferred to a service company, but couldn't stand the quiet and asked for a job driving truck. When the American forces invaded southern France he went in two hours behind the first assault troops as a tommy gunner. Then he went back to driving trucks until General Patch presented him with the Medal of Honor on October 17.
His officers rated Henry as the best Browning automatic rifleman in the U.S. Army and claimed he had probably the coolest head and steadiest nerve among all of the men in uniform.
General Patch, who hung the medal of honor on his neck one day in France, personally jumped Schauer from Private First Class to Technical Sergeant.
Schauer was famous for his accuracy with the Browning Automatic, rifle, and later someone at a bond rally at Butte suggested, “Of course you qualified as an expert with the Browning before you went overseas.”
“No, Sir,” Schauer replied. “First time I had a hand on a BAR was in North Africa, and I didn't even know how to take it apart.”
The World War II hero likely acquired his abilities as a rifle marksman while growing up in Montana. As a boy he shot small game to help feed his family, and later was a bounty-hunter for coyotes.
Not all of Schauer’s feats resulted in medals. On one occasion he was returning to camp from an all-night patrol when he ran into a German lieutenant. The Nazi officer had been educated in America and spoke English fluently. He told Schauer he was tired of the war and wanted to surrender.
“We usually didn't take prisoners,” Schauer related, but this lieutenant gave himself up. When I told him I wouldn't shoot the rest of his men, he sent one of his sergeants after them. I came back to base with 23 prisoners that day, all without firing a shot.
The prestigious award won him an early discharged from the army. He welcomed the reprieve, but mourned his many lost buddies. Of the 219 men in the company he ventured overseas with only nine came out alive.
Schauer returned to Scobey on December 1, 1944. Over a thousand people attended a public program in the Scobey gym to honor him and his comrades in arms from Daniels County on December 9. The celebration was sponsored by the American Legion, VFW and Lions Club. It was prepared as a homecoming celebration for Schauer, but gold star parents, veteran casualties of the war who had been discharged or were still in the service, and servicemen home on leave were also honored. The mayor declared a public holiday from two to four that afternoon. There was also a banquet in the evening.
After his release from the army, while the war was still raging, Schauer made several appearances at different Montana locations to help the sale of war bonds. He resumed working at the Hanson ranch after the war and continued to work there until 1956. After that he worked with a carpenter in Wolf Point for a short time and then worked on farms at Richey and Vida, living in a trailer he had purchased.
In 1958 he accepted a sister’s invitation to move to Woodburn, Oregon , and take over her farm there. He found the farm to be unprofitable, so he sold out after three years and later went to work for the Oregon State Highway Department, where he worked until he retired in 1971.
Henry was an honored guest in Helena on May 30, 1990, when a giant-sized granite veterans’ monument as a memorial to Montana’s seven Congressional Medal of Honor holders was dedicated on the grounds of the state capitol and seven trees planted in their honor.
The honors Schauer received were earned at a physical price. He was plagued for the rest of his life by the numerous fragments of shrapnel that were embedded in his body. Often, while he was working in his garage or garden, he would feel a jagged piece of metal break loose in his mouth or poke through his skin.
He died June 16, 1997 at Salem and was buried in the City View Cemetery there with military honors. He was survived by his wife, Ellen, whom he married in 1964, and also by three step daughters, and one sister.
According to his family and friends, Schauer was modest about his prestigious award.
“The ones who really deserved it are already buried and nobody knows what they did,” he always said. He rejected the notion that he was a hero, and figured he was given the Medal of Honor only because a number of generals happened to be around to take notice of what he did.
In a radio broadcast heard nationally he said, “The brutality of war left no time for hesitation, calculation or sympathy for the enemy. All you think about is ‘Get the other guy first.’”
Schauer followed that harsh principle while helping liberate the German army occupied town of Cisterna, Italy. With other Americans soldiers there he was involved in street fighting, and had to go from house to house, encountering enemy soldiers hiding in basements and attics
On one occasion Schauer had the rare experience of having an enemy shell with his number on it land near him.
“Soon after we got ashore in Sicily a German shell landed close by,” he said. “It was a dud. My friends compared the serial number on my identification tag with the number on the shell casing, and every figure was identical except the last one.
“When the shell was opened they found a note in it showing it had been made in Poland by Polish labor. The note added ‘Vive Poland. Hope this does you some good.’”
In recognition of their outstanding war bond sales, the people of Daniels County were permitted to name a B-17 flying fortress. They chose to name it ’The Henry Schauer.”
In addition to the Congressional Medal of Honor, Schauer was awarded the expert combat infantry badge, bronze star, purple heart with one cluster, European campaign ribbon with stars for seven major battles, pre-Pearl Harbor bar and a good conduct medal.
Additional information about Henry Schauer is available in the archives of the Daniels County Museum.