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- Leo Frank Schafer (son of Michael John Schafer and Barbara Marie Fix) was born 30 Mar 1920 in Grant County, North Dakota, and died 09 Jun 1944 in Normandy, France.
Includes NotesNotes for Leo Frank Schafer:
KILLED IN ACTION ON THE SHORES OF NORMANDY FRANCE DURING WORLD WAR II, THREE DAYS AFTER D DAY 1944.
I asked each of the sisters and brothers to relate stories about growing up with Leo.
Here is Otto's comments:
What I can remember, growing up with brother Leo:
He was born in 1920 and drafted into the service in 1944.Can't remember too much of our pre-school years.We attended Parochial school at Fallon, N.D., for our 1st and 2nd grades, and it was great to have a brother along, as it was at least 25 miles from hme and we didn't see the folks until Friday night.
Leo was a little more assertive than I so he stood up for our rights and we didn't get walked on, too much...This applies to our growing up years at home too.Dad was a strict law-abider, and Leo balked a little at times, when he thought Dad was too restrictive.Leo took my part sometimes, as I was more of Mom's type of personality, and accepted what ever was tossed at me.However, things didn't get too serious between Dad and Leo, just a little friction once in a while, to keep things interesting.
Have always had a gratitude in my heart for Leo holding down the fort at the farm, so I could attend High School, since my asthma and hay fever put me in a useless state, all summer, and the folks and Leo wanted to prepare me for another type of career besides Agriculture, where I was exposed to dust and weed, that affected my breathing and made me lose interest in life.
Leo wasn't a cowboy, but did enjoy dressing up in his best suit and cap and pose on his shetland pony.He was great with them.He had one girl friend when he was drafted, and ended up with a new "best friend", while in the service..both good picks!
In June of 1944, after he was drafted into the US Army, he was shipped to France during World War II, and lost his life there, in the service of his Country.Earned the "Purple Heart"!I will never lose sight of the fact that he gave up his life for his Country, and especially for me, so I could stay home and persue my future.We often wonder what his future would have brought him.His earlier years of acomplishments provide us clues that he would have been very successful!
Here is Adam's recollections.
I remember brother Leo as a 20 year old young man who was ambitious, honest, obedient, hansome and popular among his friends and siblings.I heard Dad telling friends and neighbors many times, how proud he was of Leo because he was able to drive a loaded grain truck at 10 years of age, around the farm.Altho the truck at that time was comparable to a 1/2 ton pickup of today.Leo being the eldest of the children in our family, had to learn about hard work and responsibility at an early age, much like our eldest son David, who drove our first new tractor, a 44 H.P. 1950 Minneapolis Moline, Model V, between farm and fields, when he was just five years old.
When I was 12 years old, Dad bought a new 1936 35 H. P. John Deere Model AR tractor in the spring of 1937.Leo was the main operator of that "new tractor" that spring.He would be plowing the 103 acre field down on section 3.After school, we kids would walk home, do the evening chores, milking cows, feeding hogs, etc., and quickly I would run to the field where Leo was plowing with the "new tractor", and ride with him until dark.I just loved being out in the cool spring air with the smell of fresh soil being turned over, and also the smell of oil and gasoline of the "new tractor" and smelling the green paint, is still a vivid memory.
Leo had a keen sense of mechanical ability, he learned from Dad and the neighbors.He taught me how to adjust or "set the tappets" on a chevrolet car engine. (Dad's 1936 Chevy Car).
Leo would also take it upon himself to try new and different management practices while working here at home with Dad on the farm.One thing I remember well, during the winter months, he suggested we give the milk cows, tied up in their stanchions (there's an old word) one last feeding of hay just before our bedtime every night, to increase milk production.I used to dread trudging out to the barn on cold winter nights after evening or night prayers (we all said together, standing in the living room), climb up into the hay mow and poke down some hay for the milk cows and of course the horses too, tied up in their stalls in the horse barn and the calf barn.
In 1936, the "dirty thirties", Leo and Otto joined the "3 C's"(Civilian Conservation Corporation), a government subsidized youth work program.They sent their paychecks home to help support the family.Also that fall and winter, a "W.P.A." program was started for poor farmers who had little or no income due to the extreme drought. (Works Projects Administration).Farmers used their teams of horses, scrapers, and farm wagons to build roads, haul gravel, and build stock dams, and bridges, for federally subsidized emergency income.
Leo helped Dad on the farm until he was drafted into the 357th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army in early 1941.I think he was home on a 30 day leave only once or twice in 1942 and 1943, then was killed in action in Normandy France on June 6, 1944.
More About Leo Frank Schafer:
Burial: 12 Jun 1944, American Cemetery, Omaha Beach France.
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