Clayton+H.+&+Andrew+S.+-+Andrew+Schoener


 * __Clay and Joe- Mr. Schoener__ **


 * Biographical Questions: **
 * 1) ** Where were you born? **
 * 2) ** What was your branch of service? **
 * 3) ** Were you drafted or enlisted? **
 * 4) ** What were your first thoughts and feelings when you were drafted. **
 * 5) ** How did your family react? **
 * Basic Training Questions: **
 * 1) ** When did you leave for basic training? **
 * 2) ** What was the basic training like? **
 * 3) ** Do you remember your drill sergeant? **
 * 4) ** Where was camp? **
 * 5) ** How did you get there? **
 * 6) ** Did you recognize anyone that you knew before? **
 * 7) ** How long were you at basic training? **
 * 8) ** What skills did you learn? **
 * 9) ** How much training did you need? **
 * 10) ** When did you earn your sharpshooter medal? **
 * Specialized Training Questions: **
 * 17. Where did you go for your specialized training? **
 * What did you specialize in? **
 * 18. How long did it take for you to accomplish this training? **
 * 19. Do you remember anyone from this? **
 * 20. What equipment was used at the specialized training? **
 * 21. What did you specialize in? **
 * Life In The Army Questions: **
 * 22. Where was your first location of service? **
 * 23. How did you get to that location? **
 * 24. How long did it take to get there? **
 * 25. Did you know anyone in your group? **
 * 26. Have you ever been out of the country before your service? **
 * 27. Do you remember anyone from your group? **
 * 28. Do you have any experiences that stick out while being in the army? **
 * 29. What did you do in the Army? **
 * How did you get this role? **
 * Is there any role you wish you had? **
 * National Guard Military Police Questions: **
 * 30. Did you need any other training to become a Military Policeman? **
 * 31. If so, what was the training like? **
 * 32. What were your experiences like in the Military Police? **


 * 33. Where was your first location of service? **
 * 34. How did you get there? **
 * 35. Do you have any memories that stick out? **
 * 36. How did you keep in touch with friends and family at home? **
 * Coming Home Questions: **
 * 37. How did you feel when you could finally go home? **
 * 38: How did your family react when you came home? **
 * 39. Did you enjoy your time in the services? **
 * 40. Did your family do anything special when you came home? **

Andrew: Hello my name is Andrew Schoener I am here with Clayton Hain with veteran Andrew Schoener. He was born on May 21, 1937 and served in the army in the National Guard. Today is February 11, 2015 in Myerstown, PA. I am his grandson, and I am a friend of Clayton, and this interview is being conducted for the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress.

Andrew: When did you first leave for training?

Mr. Schoener : I left for training September 19, 1956.

Andrew: Do you remember your drill sergeant at training?

Mr. Schoener: Yes, I do yeah. They were tough, they were tough, screaming and yelling.

Clayton: Where was camp?

Mr. Schoener: My basic training was in the Fort Knox, Kentucky. I was there for about eight weeks and then I went on to. We flew from there to Fort Ord California, and there I joined the 498th Combat Engineer group. And after our training there, we sailed to Germany, and I spent the rest of my time in Germany. In Leipheim Germany.

Andrew: Did you recognize anyone that you knew before when you reached camp?

Mr. Schoener: Well ironically yes, there were people in the joining barracks from the Myerstown area that I didn't even know they were there, but I did run into about four or five guys in training at that time.

Clayton: How long were you at basic training?

Mr. Schoener: Basic training was eight weeks.

Andrew: What skills and abilities did you learn at basic training?

Mr. Schoener: Well, after basic training we flew to Fort Ord California where we learned we were a Combat Engineer outfit, my title was a Combat Construction Specialists, and our 498th group what we did was build bridges. We built pontoon bridges and the Bailey bridges. That of course was our duty.

Clayton: How much training did you need? Mr. Schoener: Well, we did that for eight weeks and when you're in the service your training all the time. I was only in two years in the regular army and I was in the national guard for two years to be a military policeman but in the combat engineers our duty there was building bridges.

Andrew: When did you earn your sharpshooter medal?

Mr. Schoener: Well, I earned that in Germany, every so often you had to go qualify with your weapon and at first I used an AN-1 rifle. When in California, the first thing you learn when in service don't volunteer for anything. So, of course you didn't volunteer for anything at least I didn't, and as the people volunteering were getting good jobs. Working the supply room, radio operators. And I thought geez, these guys are getting all of the good jobs so I said tomorrow I'm going to volunteer, I'm going to stick my hand up and volunteer. Which is what I did, and I became a truck driver. The first thing I got out there was driving a big deuce and a half dump truck, and those same dump trucks is what we would put the troops on when we would move around and before we left California I started to drive the jeep. They needed a jeep driver one day so I drove the jeep for our officer in our platoon, and he asked me would I like to drive all the time for him, and when we got to Germany I became his personal jeep driver.

Clayton: Where did you go for specialized training?

Mr. Schoener: Well, we did that right in our camp, everybody, everyplace, are you talking about physical education? "Yes" That you had to qualify for also. Every so many months you had to qualify.

Andrew: How long did it take for you to get to Germany?

Mr. Schoener: I'm not sure, I think we were on the ocean for about maybe five, six days.

Clayton: Where was you first location of service?

Mr. Schoener In Fort Jackson, South Carolina. And then of course from there we went to Fort Knox for basic training, but I was inducted in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. That's where I went in.

Andrew: Have you ever been out of the country before you were in Germany?

Mr. Schoener: No, that was my first trip out of the country and serving in Germany was wonderful. Its a great place to be.

Clayton: Do you have any experiences that stick out while being in the army? Mr. Schoener: Well, in Germany I was lucky enough to travel to a lot of different countries. Italy, never got to France but spent a lot of time in Italy. Amsterdam, Brussels, got to see the world's fair. That was a plus.

Andrew: Now we're going to talk about the National Guard Military Police. Did you need any other training to become a military policeman?

Mr. Schoener: Well yes. They taught us that in that I belong to the group in Lebanon National Guard up there and they of course told us to be Military Policeman but a military policeman is only a military policeman. They also teach you to be an infantry. Because you crawl around in foxholes just like everybody else. Infantry is your second duty.

Andrew: Where did you go for training?

Mr. Schoener: Are you asking me, you mean for military police?

Andrew: Yes

Mr. Schoener: We did that in Lebanon. That was done right in Lebanon at the...they had a barracks up there in the town.

Clayton: What were your experiences like in the military police?

Mr. Schoener: Well being in the National Guard military policeman, we never really trained very much as military policemen. The only thing we ever did was go to the inauguration of our governor, who I think was Governor Fine and that's the only thing as a military policeman, but we did our training then and our summer training we did it at the Indian-town Gap. We would spend two weeks a year at the Indian-town Gap. Which was mostly infantry training then, you did all that. Shooting weapons, and rifles. When I became a Jeep driver though in Germany I no longer used a rifle, then I was given what we called a grease gun. It's a thing that almost looks like a grease gun, small weapon that you easily carry in the front of a Jeep on a little rack that is in the Jeep. So you'd use the grease gun and that was a 45 caliber. Almost like a pistols but you had a handle you pulled out and made it almost shoot like a rifle, but they're really fast, really shoot a lot of bullets at one time.

Andrew: Where was your locations of service as a military policeman?

Mr. Schoener: In Lebanon, just in Lebanon and of course Indian-town Gap.

Clayton: How did you feel when you could finally go home?

Mr. Schoener: I was so very very happy! I was so glad I was in the military, but I was really glad to get out. I went in, I was drafted, and when I was drafted you had to serve six years in the military. I served two years active and then I served two years in the National Guard, and then I had two years of inactive service. However, if I would've been need, if there were a war or anything I could've been called in those two years and activated again. Andrew: How did you keep up with friends and family while you were in the service? Veteran: Well just by mail. No cellphones you know nothing else! Because I was only in the United States for a few months when I went in the service, then I was shipped to Germany. So then, it was all by mail.

Clayton: How did your family react when you came home?

Mr. Schoener: Well everybody was happy. Glad to get home. Being in peacetime was not like being in a war time. Only one time ever was our group put on alert. We were going to go be sent to Lebanon. We were all packed. All our things were packed. All the ammunitions, rifles, everything. Trucks were all ready to go. Then they decided they didn't need our group, luckily we weren't called. This was just before I was ready to be coming back to the United States.

Andrew: Do you know what is was that you were going to be called out for?

Mr. Schoener: It had to do in Lebanon. I'm not sure it was. Some kind of an uprising in that country so of course we actually never went. But we were alerted. We had everything ready to go.

Andrew: Did you enjoy your time in the service?

Mr. Schoener: I did enjoy my time. I'm very proud that I could serve. At the time I went in I had an opportunity to go into the officers candidates training school. Today I would probably do it but I was pretty young and I was thinking going back to college. I was spending a year before I went in the service in college and my main goal was to go back into college, but that never worked. So, if I would have went into officers candidates school. I would have had to spend an extra year in the service and I didn't want to do that. So that's why I never went that route. Today, I probably would.

Clayton: Did your family do anything special for your arrival at home?

Mr. Schoener: Well, we had a few picnics and parties and things, and it was exciting. One of the things I did in Germany was I bought a new car in Germany. In fact, I tried to buy a Volkswagen and couldn't get what I wanted. I wanted a Volkswagen convertible and at that time it wasn't many years after WWII when I was there. All of the Volkswagen convertibles were being sent to the United States. So, I couldn't buy one over there! I ended up buying and English car. A little Hillman-Minx convertible. Which Joe did you ever see pictures of that? I'll show you some! I was delighted to bring that car back. I only had a thousand miles when I brought it back and we drove it to Griverhoven, to the port of a ship and send it back to New York.

Andrew: Did you keep in touch with anyone you met?

Mr. Schoener: I do. And yes, several times. One of my friends is from Georgia. I do keep in touch with him, and there were more in time. One guy especially from Tennessee, one from UnionTown, Pennsylvania. I kept in touch with them. Not as much as we used to because we are all getting older.

Andrew: Is there anything else you would want to touch on? Anything we kind of missed that you would like to say?

Mr. Schoener: Well I am glad I served in the Army. Very proud of that. Even though I wasn't in war time. I was there and it was a good experience. I think maybe a lot of people would benefit by going into the army or some branch of service. Now that I look back, I made a lot of friends there and I enjoyed it. It was a good experience. It was a growing experience. I was young. Many of the people I was with in Germany were people, I was nineteen when I went in. Many of the people were drafted, you could be drafted to H-26 and many of the people that were with me were guys that were drafted just before. So I was kind of a young person in the group. Many of the people were five, six years older than me, but it was a really good experience.

Andrew: What was your first reaction when you realized you were being drafted into the army?

Mr. Schoener: I knew I was being drafted, at my age I went and volunteered for the draft. You could do that. I wanted to get my six years in early because I took a break from college and so I thought this military time in and I'll go back to school. I knew I was going to be drafted. I went volunteered in July and had a physical and then I was already drafted in September. So it was quick.

Clayton: Is there any role you wish you would have volunteered for besides trucking driving?

Mr. Schoener: Well I was young. Today I would certainly changed this. When I went in I was also offered a chance to be a Chaplains assistant. A Chaplains assistant, that's a really good job and for my age I turned it down. He lives in the same quarters as a Chaplain and he's responsible for arranging all the church services:

Andrew Schoener: Out of all your times in the service what is your favorite memory that you have?

Mr Schoener: Well, I think my favorite memory of course is all the trips and all the friends I met because I had a lot of friends we even had fun when we were out camping. We camped in the snow sometimes we had to dig two feet of snow to lay a sleeping bag down to sleep but it was fun and we were young ya know so it was easy and it was fun.

Clayton Hain: What was it like to drive the deuce and half?

Mr Schoener: Well at first it really scared me because a deuce and a half is a dump truck. Because we were combat engineers we also had some heavy equipment. We had bulldozer and road graders, that kind of thing you know, and we also used dump trucks. Now our dump trucks was what I drove. we used them for both hauling ground and stone if you had to build a road or something, and I was scared of thing at first because beside being a dump truck, you also pulled a big trailer behind it. And the trailer was loaded with bridge parts. Lumber, metal, and things you would use to put a bridge. There were two types of bridges we did. We did the Bailey bridge which is a bridge that is solid now. In war when you have war the first thing that you do to a country when the had war in Germany, World War Two, the first thing they do is blow up all the bridges. And the reason they blow up all the bridges is they don't want the enemy to be able to cross the rivers and things. You know keep them back, so they blow up the bridges. So what we did is build those bridges. And one is a Bailey bridge. And you got big large plows for like gorges and things you had to get through the pit of a Bailey bridge instead of a solid bridge. But when you would go over a river, like in Danube and the Rhine, your mp would a pontoon bridge. They would pump up these big things like an inner tube. They would pump these things up and and pump them in one area and pull them down with small boats and they would line them up and they would have a crane and drop metal on them and they had a roadway they put on them big metal things, and that's what we did. In Germany our group the 498th Combat Engineers we hold the record of bridging the Rhine and also Danube quicker than any other outfit ever bridged them. And that was a big deal. We had a colonel who was a real gung-ho guy. And he wanted to break these records. And we did. And it was interesting. It was very interesting and I have some cool things to show you Joe and show some scrapbooks and doing all that. And it's pretty neat.

Andrew Schoener: Do you know if that record still stand today?

Mr Schoener: I can't tell you that. I would bet it does though I would think it would because they were good. The 498th Combat Engineer group that I was in was wiped out two times in World War II. They were wiped out in battle you know that started up again. And we were the third group of 498 Combat Engineers that started up.

Andrew Schoener: Other than the deuce and half, can you describe what the other vehicle you drove was like?

Mr. Schoener: Well, I also drove for a short while I drove a small truck for the supply room. That was a little Dodge Power Wagon. They were really tough little trucks. With a deuce and a half besides well that's also the troop carrier. You put sides on them. They had benches that came down and you always carried troops. Every platoon had three trucks. And you would drive the men in the platoons in the back of those trucks they got around.

Clayton Hain: What was your ranking in the service?

Mr. Schoener: Well I had two stripes. I was a corporal or speck three. You know two stripes. When I first went I was corporal but when we got to Germany we became speck threes. They changed it. They used to have a specialist groups then started giving you specks threes. Instead of corporal, same thing as two stripes. Your first a PFC then you get a corporal. I had an opportunity in Germany, the man, the gentlemen I drove the jeep for we became good friends actually even though he was my boss he was a first lieutenant and he approached me one day and said there's an opening there's a rank opening for a SP which I could give you that rank. And I would have loved to get another stripe. But he said if I give you that stripe makes you SP you can no longer drive my jeep. So he said its up to you now I was only a two year man so I liked working, driving his jeep. So I said well look just forget the stripe, and just keep me a speck three and I'll drive your jeep.

Andrew Schoener: Do you regret not taking the higher ranking then continue driving the jeep?

Mr. Schoener: No, I was glad driving his jeep He was a good man to drive a jeep for. We had a lot of- even when we went out on recons and things in the country in Germany. It was always fun being with him. We became like real good buddies, really so usually that doesn't happen. But he was only a few years older than me, and he was a man came out of Virginia out of Richmond ,Virginia. And he got a direct commission right out of college, and so he really didn't want to be in the service but he sorta got a direct commission almost like being drafted. But he got it with an officer's rank which was great.

Mr. Schoener: Well okay. This is the first picture I ever had taken when I entered the service. And of course, I have other pictures that are like down here. This is from my basic combat training company and then this, this picture is the group in Germany. This was the Third Platoon 498th Combat Engineers B Company. And that was the whole group. And that was taken in Germany. And of course the other little book down there that is book made up- this was the 498 Combat Engineer Battalion book. This was made in Germany. This picture here, can you see that Joe? It gives the records on there doesn't it? All the times that we

Andrew Schoener: Two hours and twenty-eight minutes and one hour forty-seven minutes.

Mr. Schoener: For bridging the Rhine and the Danube that was on our main board when you entered the barracks. Our barracks in Germany was in Leipheim, Germany. It was interesting. German jet airplanes took off in the German Air Force. But where we were staying was actually at one time an army for German soldiers where we were, but it was a pretty neat little post, small but neat. Well again this is our group in Germany. This was the whole Third Platoon of B company.

Andrew Schoener: Where are you in the picture? I'm trying to find you?

Mr. Schoener: Well, let me see. Here someplace here. Now wait. Let me find it, I'll show you. Right there, right there yeah. Looking back on this I see a lot of friends and you asking for this interview stirred up a lot of old memories. Getting these books out and things which Joe and I will go through sometime I never showed him these things, but you'll be interested I think I'm seeing them. Brought back a lot of memories. And looking at the thing knowing a lot of guys that I knew and know remember you know, so it's good. It's good to have this stuff. But you know, I never showed you these things and I think you'll be interested in some of these things and I think being in the military was a good thing and matter of fact I'm not to sure it wouldn't be a good thing today for every young man to spend time in the military. I don't know how you guys feel about the military, but it's a good experience.

Andrew Schoener: Do you mind explaining some of the other pictures that you found in the books or?

Mr. Schoener: Joe, this is very interesting probably to you these are basic training pictures actually. And as I look back over these pictures I realize that I found pictures of myself in it. These are actual pictures of our group. That's me doing a physical training. See me? That was me. Also here I am coming off the rifle range handing my weapon to an officer. It's funny I forgot these were in here. Here's another one I found we were shooting. I don't know where it is now. There, that's me there. We’re shooting a 30 caliber machine gun. It was neat learning all the different weapons was a real neat experience. During the war you used flame throwers. Also a bazooka. I guess, thing you out over you shoulder she'll goes boom. And we fired flame throwers. Did you ever hear of a flame thrower? This shoots out a real big thing of fire and they were neat. You'd put a tank on your back and you'd pull this thing and you'd just shoot and you'd use that in the war for burning out foxholes and things wasn't a pretty thing cause I never had to do it. But I had to learn all the pieces of equipment. 30 caliber machine gun, I don't think I shot a 50 but 30 we shot quite a bit and of course your rifles you know. You also had to qualify for your Greece gun also. Had to do that also. Which was pretty tough to do. Cause they were so small you'd fire this things. You had a long clip in there, and this would fire so fast that it was hard to really target on anything, but you did it it was fun. This happens to be me standing, physical training was not- they would usually take you from breakfast in the morning. They wouldn't tell you when they would give a physical training thing. And you would go from breakfast to physical training. You had to do pull ups, chin ups, You had to do squat jumps, push-ups, and you ended it off by running. I don't know how many yards maybe 150 yards and you had to do it in a certain time and if you didn't make you had to redo it and retry and a lot of people would get sick by they should have done it before you ate. So these were all the different things that we did. That's me coming off the rifle range when you came off your weapon had to be checked by an officer to make sure no bullets were in the thing. They didn't want any accidents so. All these things, all these things we did while in basic training. But it brings back a lot of good memories. There we are crawling under barbed wire and on your back, and you did it in mud or whatever you had to do it. Raining you went out and did it. Things like this climbing over rails this stuff you know. Bayonet training you had to be trained with bayonets. This was a gas chamber. You had to do that. It was not much fun. There you had to go in without anything on, and the gas was escaping. And then you had to put the gas mask on. Yeah you better do it fast or yeah it was real gas. If you didn't get it on in time, you'd start choking and probably get sick. And of course there's the machine gun practice and this was kind of fun. This was with the 30 caliber machine gun. All of our trucks big trucks the deuce and a half trucks they all had machine gun racks in the tops and someone would stand on a chair on the seat and shoot from that machine gun. So it was a pretty neat thing. The back of course is camping out. We camped out overnight so okay.

Andrew Schoener: Thank you for your times in the service and thank you for conducting the Veterans History Project interview.

Mr. Schoener: Well I was glad to do this guys. Thank you for asking me. I enjoyed it very much.

Mr. Schoener’s Service Clayton Hain and Joe Schoener

Mr. Schoener was a part of the National Guard Military Police starting in 1956. He was drafted from the Myerstown area to his basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. After accomplishing basic training, Mr. Schoener flew to Fort Ord, California. This is where he was assigned to the 498th combat engineer group. Soon after training in California, Mr. Schoener spent the rest of the time in Germany. “We sailed to Germany and spent the rest of my time in Germany.” As being part of the 498th Combat Construction Group, Mr. Schoener and his group were responsible for building bridges. “We built pontoon bridges and bailey bridges. That of course was our duty.” While in Germany, Mr. Schoener volunteered for being a truck driversince many others were volunteering for jobs. The first truck he drove was a Deuce and a half or and M35 truck. This truck was responsible for carrying troops and supplies to their destinations. Soon after, Mr. Schoener started driving the military Jeep. He drove officer McCray to his destinations and soon became his personal driver. “They needed a Jeep driver one day so I drove the Jeep for our officer in our platoon. ” Besides being part of the 498th Construction Group, Mr. Schoener was also a Military Policeman. The drill sergeant also taught the military policeman to be an infantry member too. Making Soldiers more versatile while in the service. While being in the Army, Mr. Schoener enjoyed his time. He got the chance to travel around Germany, Italy, and Brussels. Mr. Schoener was very proud of his service and bravery. “I did enjoy my time. I’m very proud that I could serve. One of Mr. Schoener’s favorite memories from being in the service was his trips to other countries. Another one of Mr. Schoener’s favorite memory is all the friends that he met, "I met because I had a lot of friends. We even had fun when we were out camping . We camped in the snow sometimes we had to dig two feet of snow to lay a sleeping bag down to sleep but it was fun, and we were young you know so it was easy and it was fun ." Another task that Mr. Schoener had in the army was driving the deuce and a half. "At first it really scared me, " said Mr. Schoener during the interview. Since he was apart of the 498th Combat Engineers, he had a lot of things to haul in the deuce and ahalf like ground and stone. Since again he was apart of the 498th combat engineers, they had to rebuild a lot of bridges because in war, one of the first things they would do would blow up all the bridges. The group would build Bailey Bridges. These bridges were not built to be permanent like a solid bridge. They also built pontoon bridges. These bridges would float on large inner-tubes on the Danube river for large vehicles, troops, and supplies to easily be able to cross the river without getting wet and messy. Along with building them, Mr. Schoener and the rest of the 498th Combat Engineers set the record for the fastest time building bridges. Mr. Schoener described his colonel as a really “gung-ho” guy, because he wanted to always set these records for building bridges. He doesn't know if that record still stands today. Mr. Schoener was a corporal in the Army or a speck three. But the man who he drove a jeep for in the service one day offered Mr. Schoener a spot as a Sergeant. The only problem was Mr. Schoener would have to stop driving for the man who offered him the job, which he didn't want to do. "So I said well look just forget the stripe and just keep me a speck three, and I'll drive your jeep". As Mr. Schoener looked through his old photographs and books of him and his friends from his time in the service, he said it was great because he had forgotten a lot of things from when he served. He looked through a book showing us him on the rifle range, physical training, and him doing a gas chamber room escape test. After Mr. Schoeners service, he arrived back home to his family. They celebrated with picnics and parties. Mr. Schoener actually bought a car after his service while being in Germany. He tried to buy a nice Volkswagen but ended up buying a Hilman-Minx. While Mr. Schoener was home, he decided to keep in touch with his friends in his 498th Combat Group. He keeps in touch with his friends in Georgia, Tennessee, and UnionTown, Pennsylvania. Mr. Schoener was glad he served in the Army. “Even though I wasn’t in war time. I was there and it was a good experience. ” Mr. Schoener described how he thought many people would benefit to join the Army, or a similar branch of service. Through his years in the service, Mr. Schoener made a lot of friends as well.