OneMansCourage

I am an American, fighting in the forces,
which guard my country and our way of life. I
am prepared to give my life in their defense.

I will never surrender of my own free will.
If in command, I will never surrender the
members of my command while they still have
the means to resist.

If I am captured, I will continue to resist
by all means available. I will make every
effort to escape and aid others to escape. I
will accept neither parole nor special favors
from the enemy.

If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep
faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give
no information or take part in any action
which might be harmful to my comrades. If I
am senior, I will take command. If not, I
will obey the lawful orders of those
appointed over me and will back them up in
every way.

When questioned, should I become a prisoner
of war, I am required to give only name,
rank, service number, and date of birth. I
will evade answering further questions to the
utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or
written statements disloyal to my country and
its allies or harmful to their cause.

I will never forget that I am an American,
fighting for freedom, responsible for my
actions, and dedicated to the principles
which made my country free. I will trust in
my God and in the United States of America.

April 26, 1943

Camp Polk, Louisiana

Mrs. Minnie M. Schuman
White Lake, South Dakota

My dear Mrs. Schuman:

I have received a memorandum from
Headquarters 41st Armored Regiment announcing
the promotion of your son, Private
First-Class Donald W. Schuman, to the grade
of Technician 5th Grade. In this splendid
achievement, both he and his family can take
just pride.

Other things being equal, an Army will stand
or fall on the quality of its leadership.
Your son's selection for this position of
leadership and increased responsibility will
enable him to make a much greater
contribution toward the winning of this
greatest of all wars.

It is my hope that during the months that lie
ahead, he will so distinguish himself in the
performance of his new duties as to render
ever-greater service to his country and win
additional honors for himself and his family.

Sincerely yours,
Edward H. Brooks (Signed)
Commanding Major General, U.S.A.

September 20, 1943

Dear Mother and Dad

Listen, if that letter I wrote you asking you
for a little help disappointed you, you could
have at least wrote me to say you couldn't. I
know you and Dad need all you can get a hold
of, and that I should be old enough to take
care of myself.

Well, to be truthful with you, I am. Only it's
just going to take a little more time is all.
So, if you can't help me, at least write
because I appreciate the letters from home and
look forward to them. Maybe I am a little too
hasty about writing this letter, but I haven't
heard from you for some time now. If I said
anything out of the way, I am sorry.

Now, about my furlough. I just don't know when
I'll get one. Maybe a month, maybe never. You
see, they are splitting the 11th Armored
Division up. I might be shipped across. No one
knows, but don't worry about that. I ain't. I
don't want you to tell Muriel. Please. Because
if she finds out that they are even thinking
about taking me across, it will hurt her more
than when her mother died. This is all for
now. Good night.

With lots of love and luck.
Your son
Don

On April 28, 1944, the 778th Tank Battalion left Camp Barkeley,
Texas, and pulled into Hensley Field, Texas, which was where
they set up camp for the night. The following day, the convoy
arrived at Camp Maxey, Texas, and trained extensively in the
use of tanks with the 99th Infantry Division.

The tanks were M4 Sherman medium tanks that weighed about 32
tons and had a maximum road speed of about 29 mph. These tanks
had one 75mm main gun, one 7.62mm machine-gun, one 0.3-inch bow
gun, and one 12.7mm gun for Anti-Aircraft (AA) defense. The
tanks' main job was to spot the enemy and deactivate them
before they could fire on allied forces.

The tanks held a crew of five men. Three were assigned to the
upper positions, the tank commander, the gunner, and the
loader. Two were assigned to the lower positions, the driver
and the bow gunner.

The tank commander was the most important position of the
five-man crew. He controlled the tank's movement, decided what
rounds to fire, and stayed in radio contact with the other
tanks. He always knew what was going on.

The gunner aimed and fired the tank's main gun and relied on
his training and experience when choosing what targets to hit.

The loader pulled rounds from the storage area and rammed them
into the gun. He did this while the gunner looked for targets.
The driver sat in the far front and was responsible for getting
the engine started and maintaining it. The tricky part for the
driver was getting the tank across ditches and through
obstacles without throwing a track or getting the tank stuck in
the mud.

The bow gunner sat alongside the driver in the far right of the
tank and controlled a .30 caliber machine gun.

The Sherman tank had advantages and disadvantages. Its
advantages were speed, maneuverability, and numbers, while its
disadvantages were less armor and firepower than the German
Panzers. The shells bounced off the Panzers, but not the
Sherman tanks. The Sherman's flamed up easily when hit.

Between May 22, 1944 and August 25, 1944, the battalion moved
to Camp Howze, Texas, and attached to the 12th Armored Group
and the 103rd Infantry Division in preparation for the final
stages of training for Port of Embarkation. The men received
their physical examinations and brought all of their
immunizations up to date.

The Battalion left Camp Howze on August 25, 1944, arrived at
Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts, on August 28, 1944, and
participated in inspections, classes, and lectures. The soldiers
were issued a new type of gas mask and were taught the correct
way to abandon ship and survive in a lifeboat. The men had their
physical abilities challenged, and the Battalion Commander
weeded out those men who weren't physically fit.

As Donald prepared to leave for France, Muriel had already left
for London, where she was stationed as a cook for General
Eisenhower.

While in London, German V-1 ballistic missiles, also known as
buzz bombs, were hitting in increasing numbers. American
soldiers and WACs were lucky, suffering only minor injuries when
a buzz bomb fell on their quarters.

The V-1 was a pilot-less aircraft that traveled approximately
400 miles per hour and fell to the ground when it was out of
fuel.

Even though Ed had limited childhood memories of his dad's war
stories, he was shocked to learn Donald had been a Prisoner of
War in Germany. On the same hand, Donald was just as shocked to
learn his number one son had been a tunnel rat in Vietnam.

It seemed that those who were short and skinny were chosen to be
a tunnel rat because of how small the tunnels and passages were.
Ed fit that criteria, being 5'9" and only about 125 pounds.

The tunnel rats were lowered head-first by their comrades into
the opening of the tunnel with only a pistol, a flashlight, and
maybe a few grenades. It was pitch black. You couldn't see your
own hand in front of your face.

The Viet Cong were ingenious little warriors. They were masters
of hit and run fighting who could make weapons out of anything.
They built the tunnels, and within the tunnels were passages
that led to either death by the VC or, if a soldier was lucky
enough to survive the first fifteen seconds, he usually found
valuable documents, schools, hospitals, storage facilities, and
dormitories.

The life expectancy of a tunnel rat was extremely low because of
the uncertainty of each tunnel and each passage, making their
job one of the worst a soldier could have had in Viet Nam. Not
only did they have to stay vigilant of the enemy in the tunnels,
but they also had to stay vigilant of booby-traps that were
strategically set by the Viet Cong. There were poisonous snakes.
Scorpions. Bats. Aggressive rats. Spiders. All deliberately put
there by the VC.