Frederick Edwin Schmidt
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
Photo 1: Frederick Schmidt
Photo 2: 2nd Armored Division patch
Photo 3: 17th Engineers pin
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Frederick Edwin Schmidt served in World War II in the European Theater.
He served in the U.S. Army. Mr. Schmidt enlisted on December 7, 1942. He was assigned to the 17th Engineers, 2nd Armored (“Hell on Wheels”) Division. He was later reassigned to the 66th Armed Regiment, which was also part of the 2nd Armored Division. He participated in the Invasion of Sicily and in the Battle of the Bulge. He was discharged in December 1945.
Mr. Schmidt was a Tank Commander.
He was decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross, among other service medals. His division was twice cited by the Belgian government for its extraordinary service.
Mr. Schmidt was born in 1922 in Phillips, Wisconsin, the son of Edwin and Daisy Schmidt. He graduated from high school in 1937.
Source: Veterans’ Memorial Hall veteran history form; veteran’s account (below); “2nd Armored Division (United States),” Wikipedia
“We were in Sicily and had some damage to our gun mount, so I was told to take it back to maintenance and have it repaired. When we arrived at maintenance, a food truck was there feeding the crew. I asked the mess sergeant if I could get my crew fed. He said, ‘Have them bring in their mess kits’ and they would be fed. I did.
“I asked the mess sergeant who the master sergeant was, sitting on a cement curb going into a white building. He said, ‘Sergeant Wilson.’ So I got my food and went and sat next to him. He kept talking to the guys, then I said, ‘Don’t you want to talk to your godbrother?’ He looked at me and yelled, ‘Freddy!’ We talked for hours, and we both survived WWII.”
