Henry H. Schepers
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
Henry H. Schepers entered the Army on December 17, 1940.
He served as a Private with the 164th Regiment of the Americal Division in the Pacific Theater.
From his son: "In the summer of 1942, he was deployed to a staging area at New Caledonia. In October, his outfit, the American Division, was the first army to land on Guadalcanal. He was an infantryman, operating a 30-cal. water-cooled machine gun. His outfit fought side by side with the Fifth Marines in defending an airstrip, later called Henderson Field."
"I remember the stories he told me of the terrible things that took place on that island. Some months later, he came down with malaria and was also suffering from leg injuries. Because of poor health, he was sent to Letterman (Army General) Hospital back in the States. He finished his tour at Fort Knox (Kentucky) in 1944. Separated on August 30, 1944."
His son states, "My brothers and myself are all Vietnam veterans. Our father, Henry, was a very proud man. I wish he could see his two grandsons, my boys, now. After college, both entered the Air Force, one a Russian linguist and the other a medical EMT working in a hospital presently...".
Source: Hometown Heroes: The Saint Louis County World War II Project, 283.
