Leonard T. Schroeder
Encyclopedia
Leonard T. "Max" Schroeder Jr. (July 16, 1918 – May 26, 2009) was a colonel
in the United States Army
, who served on active duty from 1941 to 1971. As a captain during World War II, he commanded Company F of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division in the Normandy Landings on June 6, 1944, landing on Utah beach
in France. Leading the men of his company, Schroeder was the first American soldier to come ashore from a landing craft
in the D-Day invasion.
, on July 16, 1918, graduating in 1937 from nearby Glen Burnie High School
where he played soccer and baseball. While captain of his high school's soccer team in 1936, they won the Maryland state championship. He then attended the University of Maryland, College Park
, on a full athletic scholarship. While there, he was enrolled in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps
(ROTC). In June, 1941, Schroeder graduated from the University of Maryland and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant
in the U.S. Army at the age of 22. In December, 1941, he married the former Margaret Nicholson, whom he had met while in high school. The couple's first child, a son, was born the following year. They would later have two more children (a daughter and another son).
, near Augusta, Georgia
, until September 1943, when his division began training in Florida for assault landings using various amphibious craft. In January 1944, the Division left the U.S. and arrived in the south of England, where they continued practice amphibious landings in preparation for the unprecedented Normandy Landings.
as part of the invasion.
As they sailed to France from England on the night of June 5 aboard the Navy's USS Barnett
on the rough English channel
, they heard Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
's exhortation to the troops over the radio, "Together, we shall achieve victory". Afterwards, the company commanders were summoned by the 2nd Battalion commander, Lt. Col. Carlton MacNeely, to Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
's quarters for a final briefing before the invasion. When the meeting ended near midnight, Schroeder later recounted, the officers "wished each other well and shook hands", and MacNeely put his arm around Schroeder's shoulders. Addressing the young captain by his nickname, "Moose", MacNeely said, "Well, Moose, this is it. Give 'em hell!" Schroeder said they both "choked up" and he replied, "Well, colonel, I'll see you on the beach!" Roosevelt said, "Moose, take me in your boat when you go ashore". At 2:30 a.m. on June 6, Schroeder's company left the Barnett to board their LCVP landing craft
. Before departing the Barnett to face the enemy, Schroeder wrote a letter to his wife: "I told her where I was, what I was about to do, and how much I loved her".
At 6:28 a.m., two minutes ahead of the time set as H-Hour, Schroeder's unit was in the first wave of 20 LCVP's to disembark on Utah Beach. Schroeder's own assault boat, commanded by Navy Lieutenant (j.g.) Abraham Condiotti of Brooklyn, New York, was the first to hit the beach. In his boat were 32 men, including Gen. Roosevelt. Schroeder, one of more than 23,000 American soldiers to come ashore at Utah Beach, was the first American soldier to land on the beaches at Normandy on D-Day. He recalled to a television interviewer in 2008 that "80 percent of the guys on the boat were sick" due to the rough seas and, as his landing craft in the first wave neared the shore, Allied forces were still shelling Company F's designated landing site on Utah Beach. "They were dropping all those bombs on the place where we were going in" and his company had to disembark "without getting bombed by our own guys".
He held his .45-caliber pistol above the waist-high water as he waded the final 100 yard from his landing craft to the beach. In the lead landing craft, he covered the remaining distance as quickly as possible due to enemy fire. The soldiers encountered machine gun fire from German pillboxes and artillery shelling, underwater mines, barbed wire, and trenches. His company's mission was to break up the enemy's fortified seawall and then liberate a village five miles inland. Half of his men were casualties and Schroeder himself was shot twice in the left arm. He was hospitalized in England and later in South Carolina and almost had his arm amputated due to the severity of his wounds. Asked later if he knew that he was the first soldier on the beach, he said, "I knew my company was in the first wave, but I didn't know I was actually going to be the first ashore. Besides, I was too scared to think about it". Afterwards, he was hailed in a Pentagon press release as "the first GI to invade Europe". The Baltimore Sun
said of Schroeder afterwards, "when his boot touched French soil, it was a great moment in history". He earned a Silver Star
, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart
during World War II, in addition to numerous other decorations.
in the early 1950s, and served during the Vietnam War
in the late 1960s. He had frequent overseas assignments during the 1950s–1960s, including England, Greece, and Turkey. In the U.S., he was stationed at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, and Ft. Meade, Maryland (very near his boyhood home in Linthicum Heights).
. On the 50th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion in June, 1994, he was feted in Normandy and featured on a French television broadcast describing his experiences that day as the first American to come ashore at Normandy. Produced by Jean-Christophe Giesbert, Les héros du 6 juin: Le débarquement de 1944 ("The heroes of June 6: the landing of 1944"), is available in French on DVD. A 50th anniversary cover feature in the French magazine VSD
, published June 2, 1994, profiled Schroeder's life and D-Day exploits. In an interview for the magazine article, he said, "Today, I realize that to be the first man ashore is an immense honor, yet I do not merit it more than anyone else. Five of my men died down there at Normandy. They alone are the heroes". An exhibit displaying Schroeder's D-Day invasion uniform, boots, and equipment, along with a narration of his D-Day experience recorded in his voice, is presented at the Armed Forces Military Museum in Largo, Florida. Shortly before his death from emphysema
early on the morning of May 26, 2009, Schroeder reflected on his 30 years of military service to the nation, saying he still missed the comradeship and family-like brotherhood of army life. At televised ceremonies on June 6, 2009, commemorating the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, the Armed Forces Military Museum presented Schroeder's family with a plaque in his memory. The plaque displays the insignia of the 19 Army divisions that landed on the Normandy beaches. He is interred at the Florida National Cemetery
in Bushnell, Florida
, alongside his wife, Margaret, who died on January 8, 2010.
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, who served on active duty from 1941 to 1971. As a captain during World War II, he commanded Company F of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division in the Normandy Landings on June 6, 1944, landing on Utah beach
Utah Beach
Utah Beach was the code name for the right flank, or westernmost, of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, as part of Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944...
in France. Leading the men of his company, Schroeder was the first American soldier to come ashore from a landing craft
Landing craft
Landing craft are boats and seagoing vessels used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean, and many Pacific islands during WWII...
in the D-Day invasion.
Early years
Schroeder was born in the Baltimore suburb of Linthicum Heights, MarylandLinthicum, Maryland
Linthicum is a census-designated place and an unincorporated community in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 7,539 at the 2000 census. It is the approximate location of Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport...
, on July 16, 1918, graduating in 1937 from nearby Glen Burnie High School
Glen Burnie High School
Glen Burnie High School is a large public secondary school of more than two thousand students in senior high grades 9–12 located in the Baltimore suburb of Glen Burnie, Maryland...
where he played soccer and baseball. While captain of his high school's soccer team in 1936, they won the Maryland state championship. He then attended the University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
, on a full athletic scholarship. While there, he was enrolled in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps
Reserve Officers' Training Corps
The Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a college-based, officer commissioning program, predominantly in the United States. It is designed as a college elective that focuses on leadership development, problem solving, strategic planning, and professional ethics.The U.S...
(ROTC). In June, 1941, Schroeder graduated from the University of Maryland and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
in the U.S. Army at the age of 22. In December, 1941, he married the former Margaret Nicholson, whom he had met while in high school. The couple's first child, a son, was born the following year. They would later have two more children (a daughter and another son).
Army career
Assigned to the 4th Infantry Division, Schroeder was stationed at Camp GordonFort Gordon
Fort Gordon, formerly known as Camp Gordon, is a United States Army installation established in 1917. It is the current home of the United States Army Signal Corps and Signal Center and was once the home of "The Provost Marshal General School" . The fort is located in Richmond, Jefferson, McDuffie,...
, near Augusta, Georgia
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...
, until September 1943, when his division began training in Florida for assault landings using various amphibious craft. In January 1944, the Division left the U.S. and arrived in the south of England, where they continued practice amphibious landings in preparation for the unprecedented Normandy Landings.
D-Day Invasion
On the eve of D-Day, June 6, 1944, Schroeder was a 25-year old Captain in command of the 219 men of Company F of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. The 8th Infantry Regiment was ordered to make the initial D-Day landing on Utah BeachUtah Beach
Utah Beach was the code name for the right flank, or westernmost, of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, as part of Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944...
as part of the invasion.
USS Barnett (APA-5)
USS Barnett was a McCawley-class attack transport that served with the US Navy during World War II.Barnett was launched ln 1928 as the passenger steamer Santa Maria by the Furness Shipbuilding Company of Haverton-on-Tees, England; purchased by the Navy 11 August 1940; and commissioned 25 September...
on the rough English channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
, they heard Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
's exhortation to the troops over the radio, "Together, we shall achieve victory". Afterwards, the company commanders were summoned by the 2nd Battalion commander, Lt. Col. Carlton MacNeely, to Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
Theodore D. Roosevelt, Jr. , was an American political and business leader, a Medal of Honor recipient who fought in both of the 20th century's world wars. He was the eldest son of President Theodore Roosevelt from his second wife Edith Roosevelt...
's quarters for a final briefing before the invasion. When the meeting ended near midnight, Schroeder later recounted, the officers "wished each other well and shook hands", and MacNeely put his arm around Schroeder's shoulders. Addressing the young captain by his nickname, "Moose", MacNeely said, "Well, Moose, this is it. Give 'em hell!" Schroeder said they both "choked up" and he replied, "Well, colonel, I'll see you on the beach!" Roosevelt said, "Moose, take me in your boat when you go ashore". At 2:30 a.m. on June 6, Schroeder's company left the Barnett to board their LCVP landing craft
LCVP
The Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel or Higgins boat was a landing craft used extensively in amphibious landings in World War II. The craft was designed by Andrew Higgins of Louisiana, United States, based on boats made for operating in swamps and marshes...
. Before departing the Barnett to face the enemy, Schroeder wrote a letter to his wife: "I told her where I was, what I was about to do, and how much I loved her".
At 6:28 a.m., two minutes ahead of the time set as H-Hour, Schroeder's unit was in the first wave of 20 LCVP's to disembark on Utah Beach. Schroeder's own assault boat, commanded by Navy Lieutenant (j.g.) Abraham Condiotti of Brooklyn, New York, was the first to hit the beach. In his boat were 32 men, including Gen. Roosevelt. Schroeder, one of more than 23,000 American soldiers to come ashore at Utah Beach, was the first American soldier to land on the beaches at Normandy on D-Day. He recalled to a television interviewer in 2008 that "80 percent of the guys on the boat were sick" due to the rough seas and, as his landing craft in the first wave neared the shore, Allied forces were still shelling Company F's designated landing site on Utah Beach. "They were dropping all those bombs on the place where we were going in" and his company had to disembark "without getting bombed by our own guys".
The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....
said of Schroeder afterwards, "when his boot touched French soil, it was a great moment in history". He earned a Silver Star
Silver Star
The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
during World War II, in addition to numerous other decorations.
Postwar Army career
After World War II, Schroeder remained in the Army as a career officer, serving on active duty for 30 years. He saw combat in the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
in the early 1950s, and served during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
in the late 1960s. He had frequent overseas assignments during the 1950s–1960s, including England, Greece, and Turkey. In the U.S., he was stationed at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, and Ft. Meade, Maryland (very near his boyhood home in Linthicum Heights).
Later years and death
Following his retirement from the Army as a full colonel in 1971, Schroeder and his wife Margaret moved to Largo, FloridaLargo, Florida
Largo is the third largest city in Pinellas County, Florida, USA and is part of the Tampa Bay Area. Centrally located, it is the crossroads of the county. As of the 2000 census, the City had a total population of 69,371. As of 2004, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau was...
. On the 50th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion in June, 1994, he was feted in Normandy and featured on a French television broadcast describing his experiences that day as the first American to come ashore at Normandy. Produced by Jean-Christophe Giesbert, Les héros du 6 juin: Le débarquement de 1944 ("The heroes of June 6: the landing of 1944"), is available in French on DVD. A 50th anniversary cover feature in the French magazine VSD
VSD (French magazine)
VSD is a French weekly news, celebrity and leisure magazine, published on Thursdays. The name is formed from the first letters of the French names for Friday , Saturday and Sunday ....
, published June 2, 1994, profiled Schroeder's life and D-Day exploits. In an interview for the magazine article, he said, "Today, I realize that to be the first man ashore is an immense honor, yet I do not merit it more than anyone else. Five of my men died down there at Normandy. They alone are the heroes". An exhibit displaying Schroeder's D-Day invasion uniform, boots, and equipment, along with a narration of his D-Day experience recorded in his voice, is presented at the Armed Forces Military Museum in Largo, Florida. Shortly before his death from emphysema
Emphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
early on the morning of May 26, 2009, Schroeder reflected on his 30 years of military service to the nation, saying he still missed the comradeship and family-like brotherhood of army life. At televised ceremonies on June 6, 2009, commemorating the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, the Armed Forces Military Museum presented Schroeder's family with a plaque in his memory. The plaque displays the insignia of the 19 Army divisions that landed on the Normandy beaches. He is interred at the Florida National Cemetery
Florida National Cemetery
Florida National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located near the city of Bushnell in Sumter County, Florida. It encompasses , and began interments in 1988.-History:...
in Bushnell, Florida
Bushnell, Florida
Bushnell is a city in Sumter County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,050 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2005, the city had a population of 2,119...
, alongside his wife, Margaret, who died on January 8, 2010.
External links
- Col . Leonard Schroeder remembering D-Day (audio), St. Petersburg TimesSt. Petersburg TimesThe St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...
- D-Day Exhibit, Armed Forces Military Museum