OneMansCourage

Camp Carson, Colorado

Donald spent most of his leave driving a dump truck in South
Dakota because "he always felt nervous," but he didn't know why.
When his ninety-day leave was over, Donald reported to Camp
Carson, Colorado, to finish his military duty.

Camp Carson was one of three large prisoner of war camps in
Colorado that housed roughly 12,000 enemy soldiers combined. The
interior grounds of Camp Carson consisted of nearly one hundred
and eighty buildings that housed some 3,000 prisoners.

The perimeter was surrounded by a twelve-foot high fence
patrolled by men with guard dogs. There were also twelve guard
towers with many spotlights.

Shortly after settling in, and with a .45 caliber pistol on his
side, Donald's supervisors ordered him to stand guard over five
German prisoners. It's unclear how or when Donald's supervisors
learned he had been a prisoner of war himself, but with this
knowledge, the Military Police came storming into the area,
sirens blasting, believing Donald may have harmed the German
prisoners. On the contrary, they found Donald in the PX, buying
the enemy prisoners some soda.

Donald told his supervisors, "I treated them nice because they
didn't do anything to me. They didn't want the war anymore than
we did. I would have never hurt them."

Then with a chuckle, Donald added, "I sure wish my paperwork
could keep up with me because it would make things a lot easier
on everyone if they knew beforehand that I was a POW."

After that incident, another soldier was placed in charge of the
prisoners and Donald in charge of the supply room until his
discharge.

Since most decent paying jobs required an applicant to pass a
physical, it was impossible for Donald to seek any kind of
gainful employment, a direct result of his war-related injuries.
Naturally, this put enormous tension on his already strained
marriage.

Donald moved his family to Florida around December 1953 with the
hope of finding a decent paying job. He bought a house in rural
Opa Locka (Myrtle Grove) and took a job painting storage tanks
with the Shell Oil Company in Miami.

They welcomed their fourth son in May 1954, and naturally,
having yet another mouth to feed only added additional stress to
their already broken marriage.

By May 1955, Donald could no longer cope with the daily turmoil
and hostilities in their marriage and decided it would be best
for the children if he and Muriel separated. Perhaps Donald
believed that they would get along better if he and Muriel were
no longer living under the same roof.

Even though Donald was no longer living at home, he visited his
children as often as he could and still took Eddie everywhere.
It had been rumored Donald was also 'visiting' with Muriel when
their children went to bed for the night, and by the spring of
1956, Muriel informed Donald she was pregnant with their fifth
child.

At the same time, Shell Oil Company offered Donald more money to
work for them in Cuba painting storage tanks. This news was
exciting considering how difficult it had been for him to find a
good paying job that didn't require a physical. Donald also knew
if he took the job, he wouldn't be able to see his children as
often as he would have liked.

Donald had spent days agonizing over whether to move back into
the house and try to salvage what was left of their already
shattered relationship or come to the realization their
turbulent and sometimes volatile marriage was over.

Summer 1956
Since Donald was leaving for Cuba in a few days, he knew it was
time for his first father-son talk with his oldest boy, Eddie.
Waiting for what he felt was the right moment, Donald entered
Ed's bedroom and closed the door behind him so he could talk to
his son in private, man-to-man.

Donald sat on the bed and told Ed that he needed to talk to him
about something important and motioned for his son to come and
sit next to him.

"I'm going to be working a lot more now, and I won't be able to
see all of you as much. I want you to be the man of the house
and take care of your brothers for me, Eddie."

Ed was simply too young to understand exactly what his dad was
trying to tell him, and to a ten-year-old, this meant his dad
was going to work far away, but would come home as he always
had. Donald took Eddie in his arms and hugged him tightly,
trying to hide the tears welling in his eyes.

"Remember, you're my number one son and I love you, Eddie.
Please tell your brothers I love them, too, and I'll see
everyone real soon."

Donald then handed Ed a small, yet sturdy box.

"This is one of my Purple Hearts, and as long as you have this
I'll never be far."

As Donald left, Ed sat on his bed and studied the precious gift
his dad had just given him. He turned the medal over and read
the inscription on the back.

WHITE LAKE YANK LISTED AS CASUALTY IS RETURNED HOME
White Lake, S.D. - (Special)- Sgt. Donald Schuman,
son of Mr. and Mrs. William Schuman, has returned
home after being first reported missing in action
and later reported killed in action. Sgt. Schuman
was found in a German prison hospital suffering
from a serious eye injury.

WHITE LAKE POST HAS SERVICES ON MEMORIAL DAY
White Lake, S.D.-(Special)- Memorial Day services
were held at the school auditorium, May 30, with
R.R. Twamley as Chairman. The White Lake band
played three selections, and Adjutant Joe Haines of
the Legion Post gave the Roll of Honor of soldiers
buried in the White Lake and nearby cemeteries.

The address of the afternoon was delivered by Carl
Ohmet of Winner, who included in his talk a tribute
to one of the pioneers of this county. He spoke
forcibly of the importance of adopting measures,
which will make future wars impossible. B.P.
Dolliver, Post Chaplain gave the invocation and
pronounced the benediction.

Sgt. Donald Schuman, recently returned from a
German prison camp, was on the platform as guest of
honor. Following the program, ceremonies were
conducted in the various cemeteries.

The caption under the picture reads:

The smiles on the faces of these two repatriated
German prisoner isn't so much because of their one
grade promotion by War Department directive, but
because they are back in the U.S.A. Both were
hospitalized in German prison camps before being
freed by Yank rescuers. They are S/Sgt. Donald W.
Schuman (Left), and Cpl. John W. Parrish.

The article reads:
The first two men to be promoted at Camp Carson
under the War Department policy of advancing
repatriated prisoners one grade came this week to
S/Sgt Donald W. Schuman and Cpl. John W. Parrish,
both of the Hospital center. Sergeant Schuman is
assigned to Company 14, 4th Battalion, and Cpl.
Parrish is the DMD Hospital center.

Sgt. Schuman was with the 778th Tank Battalion
attached to the 95th Infantry Division and was
overseas for nine months in England, France, and
Germany. Wounded in the Rhineland Campaign, he was
taken prisoner and held for four months, during
which time he was hospitalized and treated at a
hospital in Bad Kreuznach, Germany for gunshot
wounds in the eye.

Schuman has been in the service since September of
1942. He wears the Purple Heart, Good Conduct
ribbon, ETO ribbon with one star, and the
Presidential Citation. His home is in White Lake,
South Dakota.

On being freed by the Yank 4th Armored Division,
Schuman was returned to England where he looked up
a WAC Corporal stationed in London and whom he had
first met at Camp Polk, Louisiana. They were
married at St. James' Cathedral, and now Sergeant
Schuman is looking forward to the return of his
wife, Muriel, still in London after eighteen
months.