Pvt. Donald F. Schultz was
the son of Otto C. Schultz & Emma
Tessmer-Schultz. He was born in Dorchester,
Wisconsin, on February 17, 1919, and was one of
the couple's twelve children. He attended
school in Dorchester and after his graduation from
grade school, his family moved to a farm south of
Lake Geneva on County Road BB. He never
attended high school.
On November 16, 1940, Donald joined the
Wisconsin National Guard in Janesville,
Wisconsin, with his friends Ray and Fay Baldon. He
did this because it was just a matter of time
until he would be drafted into the army.
Nine days later, on November 25, 1940, he
traveled to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for a year of
training. It was during this time his
National Guard Company was renamed A Company,
192nd Tank Battalion.
A typical day for the soldiers started in 6:15
with reveille, but most of the soldiers were up
before this since they wanted to wash and
dress. Breakfast was from 7:00 to 8:00
A.M., followed by calisthenics at 8:00 to
8:30. Afterwards, the tankers went to
various schools within the company. The
classes consisted of .30 and .50 caliber machine
guns, pistol, map reading, care of personal
equipment, military courtesy, and training in
tactics.
At 11:30 the soldiers stopped what they were
doing and cleaned up for mess which was from
noon to 1:00 P.M. Afterwards, they
attended the various schools which they had been
assigned to on January 13th, such as: mechanics,
tank driving, radio operating. At 4:30,
the soldiers called it a day and returned to
their barracks and put on dress uniforms and at
five held retreat which was at 5:50. After
dinner, they were off duty and lights were out
at 9:00 P.M., but they did not have to turn in
until 10:00 when Taps was played. During
Paul's time at Ft. Knox, he qualified as a tank
driver.
When the battalion was sent to Louisiana for
maneuvers, Donald stayed behind to guard the
company's equipment that was left behind at Ft.
Knox. After
the maneuvers, instead of returning to
Ft. Knox, the battalion remained at Camp
Polk. None of the members had any
idea why they were being kept
there. Donald and the other
members of the battalion at Ft. Knox,
were sent to Camp Polk.
On the side of a
hill, the battalion members were
informed that they were being sent
overseas. They were told that this
decision had been made by General George
Patton. Those members of the
battalion who were 29 years old or older
were given the opportunity to resign
from federal service.
The battalion
traveled by train to San
Francisco. By ferry, they were
taken to Ft. McDowell on Angel
Island. On the island, they
received inoculations and
physicals. Those members of the
battalion who were found to have
treatable medical conditions remained
behind on the island. They were
scheduled to join the battalion at a
later date.
The 192nd was
boarded onto the U.S.
A. T. Hugh L.
Scott and
sailed on Monday,
October 27th.
During this part of
the trip, many
tankers had
seasickness, but
once they recovered
they spent much of
the time training in
breaking down
machine guns,
cleaning weapons,
and doing
KP. The
ship arrived at
Honolulu, Hawaii, on
Sunday, November 2nd
and had a two day
layover, so the
soldiers were given
shore leave so they
could see the
island.
On Wednesday,
November 5th, the
ship sailed for Guam
but took a southerly
route away from the
main shipping
lanes. It was
at this time it was
joined by, the heavy
cruiser, the U.S.S.
Louisville
and, another
transport, the S.
S. Calvin Coolidge.
Sunday night,
November 9th, the
soldiers went to bed
and when they awoke
the next morning, it
was Tuesday,
November 11th.
During the night,
while they slept,
the ships had
crossed the
International Date
Line. On
Saturday, November
15th, smoke from an
unknown ship was
seen on the
horizon. The
Louisville revved up
its engines, its bow
came out of the
water, and it shot
off in the direction
of the smoke.
It turned out the
smoke was from a
ship that belonged
to a friendly
country.
During this part of
the voyage, smoke
from an unknown ship
was seen on the
horizon. The
cruiser that was
escorting the two
transports revved up
its engines, its bow
came out of the
water, and it took
off in the direction
of the smoke.
It turned out that
the unknown ship was
from a friendly
country.
When they arrived at
Guam on Sunday,
November 16th, the
ships took on water,
bananas, coconuts,
and vegetables
before sailing for
Manila the next
day. At one
point, the ships
passed an island at
night and did so in
total
blackout. This
for many of the
soldiers was a sign
that they were being
sent into harm's
way. The ships
entered Manila Bay,
at 8:00 A.M., on
Thursday, November
20th, and docked at
Pier 7 later that
morning. At
3:00 P.M., most of
the soldiers were
taken by bus to Ft.
Stotsenburg.
Those who drove
trucks drove them to
the fort, while the
maintenance section
remained behind at
the pier to unload
the tanks.
At the
fort, they were
greeted by Colonel
Edward King, who
apologized that they
had to live in tents
along the main road
between the fort and
Clark
Airfield. He
made sure that they
all received
Thanksgiving Dinner
before he went to
have his own.
Ironically,
November 20th
was the date
that the
National Guard
members of the
battalion had
expected to be
released from
federal service.
For the
next seventeen days the
tankers worked to remove
cosmoline from their
weapons. The
grease was put on the
weapons to protect them
from rust while at
sea. They also
loaded ammunition belts
and did tank
maintenance.
On December
1st, the tankers were ordered to the perimeter
of Clark Airfield to guard against Japanese
paratroopers. From this point on, two tank
crew members remained with the tanks at all
times.
The morning of December 8, 1941, Capt. Walter
Write informed his company that Pearl Harbor had
been bombed by the Japanese. The tanks
were put on alert at their positions
around the airfield. At 8:30 A.M.,
American planes took off to intercept any
Japanese planes. Sometime
before noon, the alert was canceled and the
planes landed and were lined up near the pilots'
mess hall. Their pilots went to lunch.
The tankers
were eating lunch when planes were seen
approaching the airfield from the north at
about 12:45. Many of the tankers counted
54 planes. The planes approached the
airfield and watched hat was described as
"raindrops" falling from the planes.
When the raindrops began exploding on the
runways, the tankers knew the planes were
Japanese.
The members of A Company lived through the
bombing of Clark Field and could do little since
their guns were not made to use against planes.
For some reason, not known to the
tankers, the Japanese did not attack the
tanks.
The
company, on December 12th, was sent to the
Barrio of Dau so it would be close to a highway
and railroad and guard them against
sabotage. From there, the company was sent
to join the other companies of the 192nd which had been ordered north to
the Lingayen Gulf Area to relieve the 26th
Cavalry, Philippine Scouts.
On December 23rd and 24th,
the company was in the area of Urdaneta, where
the tankers lost the company commander, Capt.
Walter Write. After he was buried, the
tankers made an end run to get south of Agno
River after the main bridge had been
destroyed. As they did this, they ran into
Japanese resistance early in the evening but
successfully crossed at the river in the
Bayambang Province.
On December 25th, the tanks
of the battalion held the southern bank of the
Agno River from Carmen to Tayung, with the tanks
of the 194th holding the line on the
Carmen-Alcala-Bautista Road. The tanks were
asked to hold the position for six hours; they
held the position until 5:30 in the morning on
December 27th.
On a road east
of Zaragoza,
on December
30th, the
company was
bivouacked for
the night and
posted
sentries.
The sentries
heard a noise
on the road
and woke the
other tankers
who grabbed
Tommy-guns and
manned the
tanks' machine
guns. As
they watched,
a Japanese
bicycle
battalion rode
into their
bivouac.
When the last
bicycle passed
the tanks, the
tankers opened
up on
them.
When they
stopped
firing, they
had completely
wiped out the
bicycle
battalion.
To leave the
area, the
tankers drove
their tanks
over the
bodies.
At Gumain
River, the
night of
December 31st
to the morning
of January
1st, the tank
companies
formed a
defensive line
along the
south bank of
the
river.
When the
Japanese
attacked the
position at
night, they
were easy to
see since they
were wearing
white
t-shirts.
The Japanese
were taking
heavy
casualties, so
they attempted
to use smoke
to cover their
advance, but
the wind blew
the smoke into
the
Japanese.
When the
Japanese broke
off the
attack, they
had suffered
fifty percent
casualties.
At Guagua, A
Company, with
units from the
11th Division,
Philippine
Army,
attempted to
make a
counterattack
against the
Japanese.
Somehow, the
tanks were
mistaken, by
the Filipinos
to be
Japanese.
The 11th
Division
accurately
used mortars
on them.
The result was
the loss of
three tanks.
On
January 1st,
the tanks of
the 194th were
holding the
Calumpit
Bridge
allowing the
Southern Luzon
Forces to
cross the
bridge toward
Bataan.
General
Wainwright was
attempting to
hold the main
Japanese force
coming down
Route 5 to
prevent the
troops from
being cut
off.
General
MacArthur's
chief of staff
gave
conflicting
orders
involving
whose command
the defenders
were under
which caused
confusion.
Gen.
Wainwright was
not aware
these orders
had been
given.
Because
of the orders,
there was
confusion
among the
Filipinos and
American
forces
defending the
bridges over
the Pampanga
River.
Due to the
efforts of the
Self Propelled
Mounts, the
71st Field
Artillery, and
a frenzied
attack by the
192nd Tank
Battalion the
Japanese were
halted.
From January
2nd to 4th,
the 192nd held
the road open
from San
Fernando to
Dinalupihan so
the southern
forces could
escape.
It was also in
January
1942, that the
food ration
was cut in
half. It
was not too
long after
this was done
that malaria,
dysentery, and
dengue fever
began hitting
the soldiers.
A Company was sent, in support of the 194th, to
an area east of Pampanga, where they lost a tank
platoon commander, Lt. William Read. The
company returned to the command or the 192nd on
January 8, 1942.
On January 28th, the tank
battalions were given the job of protecting the
beaches. The 192nd was assigned the coast
line from Paden Point to Limay along Bataan's
east coast. The Japanese later admitted
that the tanks guarding the beaches prevented
them from attempting landings.
A Company also took part in
the Battle of the Points to wipe out Japanese
Marines who had been trapped behind the main
defensive line. The Japanese created a
second pocket when they attempted to reinforce
the first pocket and landed the troops in the
wrong place. The Japanese were completely
wiped out.
To exterminate the Japanese,
two methods were used. The first was to
have three Filipino soldiers ride on the back of
the tank. As the tank went over a Japanese
foxhole, the Filipinos dropped three hand
grenades into the foxhole. Since the
grenades were from WWI, one out of three usually
exploded.
The other method to use to
kill the Japanese was to park a tank with one
track over the foxhole. The driver gave the
other track power resulting with the tank
spinning around and grinding its way down into
the foxhole. The tankers slept upwind of
their tanks.
On another date, the tanks of A Company
had bivouacked for the night when the
guards heard a noise down the
road. They awakened the other
tankers and the men manned their
guns. As they watched a Japanese
bicycle battalion rode into their
bivouac. They opened fire with
everything they had. According to
members of the company, there was a
great deal of confusion, noise, and
screaming. Then, there was
silence. They had completely wiped
out the bicycle battalion.
Company A was assigned the duty of
protecting the west coast of Bataan
from Japanese invasion. It was
during this duty, that they would
engage the enemy, who had landed
troops behind the Filipino and
American lines, in what was to
become known as the Battle of the
Points.
The Japanese had
landed soldiers behind the main
defensive line on Bataan on January 22nd
at Quinauan Point.
The troops soon were surrounded in their
beachhead with no way out. When
the Japanese attempted to land
reinforcements, they were landed on the
wrong place creating a second pocket on
Anyasan Point.
Both points were wiped out.
On March 2nd
or 3rd, during
"The Battle of
the
Points."
The tanks had
been sent in
to wipe out
two pockets of
Japanese
soldiers.
On April 4,
1942, the
Japanese
launched an
attack
supported by
artillery and
aircraft.
A large force
of Japanese
troops came
over Mount
Samat and
descended down
the south face
of the
volcano.
This attack
wiped out two
divisions of
defenders and
left a large
area of the
defensive line
open to the
Japanese.
When General
King saw that
the situation
was hopeless,
he initiated
surrender
talks with the
Japanese.
On the night
of April 8,
1942, the
tankers
received the
order
"crash."
They circled
their
tanks.
Each tank
fired one
armor piercing
shell into the
engine of the
tank in front
of it.
The tank crews
opened the
gasoline cocks
in the crew
compartments
and dropped
hand grenades
into the
tanks. The
next morning,
April 9, 1942,
Donald was a
Prisoner of
War.
From Mariveles, at the southern tip of Bataan,
Donald started what became known as the death
march. At San Fernando, Donald boarded a
small wooden railroad car used to haul sugarcane
and rode it to Capas. Each car could haul
eight horses or forty men. The Japanese
packed 100 men into each car and closed the
doors. Those who died remained standing
until the living left the cars at Capas.
Once there, he walked the last few miles to Camp
O'Donnell.
After
arriving at Camp O'Donnell, a detail of POWs was
selected to go out to rebuild the bridges the
Americans had destroyed as the withdrew into
Bataan. The detail was under the command of
Lt. Col. Ted Wickord of the 192nd. On the
detail Donald mixed cement for the bridges.
When the detail ended in nine months later,
Donald was sent ot Cabanatuan. At some point, he
went out on another work detail to build
runways and revetments at Neilson
Airfield. While on the detail, he
developed dry beriberi and was sent to the
hospital ward at Bilibid Prison. According
to records kept there, he was admitted on April
25, 1944. On May 10th, he was returned to
Cabanatuan and remained there until the
beginning of July.
Trucks arrived at Cabanatuan
and took Donald, and the other POWs, to the Port
Area of Manila. They were boarded onto the
Canadian Inventor. The ship sailed
on July 4th but returned to Manila the same day
with boiler problems. It remained in port
for fifteens days. The entire time the
POWs were kept in the holds.
The ship sailed again on July
16th, but it once again had boiler
problems. Since it couldn't keep up with
the other ships, the Canadian Inventor
was left behind. Somehow, it safely
arrived at Takao, Formosa on July 23rd.
While it was in port, salt was loaded into its
holds.
The ship sailed again on
August 4th and reached Keelung, Formosa, the
next day. It remained at Keelung for
twelve days while more boiler repairs were
made. It sailed again on August 17th for
Naha, Okinawa. How long it took to get to
Naha is not known. When it arrived, the
ship remained there for six days for additional
boiler repairs. It finally sailed and
arrived at Moji, Japan on September 1,
1944. In the end, the trip took the ship
62 days to complete.
The POWs were disemarked and
marched to the train station. They rode a
train until they disembarked and were taken to
Fukuoka #5. This camp was also known as
Omine Machi.
One of the major problems facing the POWs was
the lack of food. The main diet of the
prisoners was rice. But, there was never
enough according to Donald. He recalled
that the POWs' diet was supplemented with fish
heads, grass and seaweed.
At Omine
Machi, Donald worked in a coal mine.
It was from this work that he began experiencing
breathing problems. He remained in the
camp until he was liberated on September 15,
1945. The POWs were taken to
Wakayama, Japan, and boarded onto the U.S.S.
Consolation the next day. Records kept at
the time show that Donald was suffering from
amoebic dysentery. He was returned to the
Philippines for medical treatment. While
he was on his way back to the States, his sister
Betty died after a 27 day illness.
Donald arrived in Seattle,
Washington, on November 1, 1945, and returned to Walworth County on
November 11, 1945. After he was discharged
from the army, he farmed. He then worked
as a laborer installing natural gas lines in
Elkhorn, Wisconsin. He later returned to
farming and worked on a farm south of Walworth.
It is known that Donald
married Lulu L. Wells and had a daughter.
At some point, his experiences as a POW became
too much for him and he left his family.
They would never see him again. He resided
in Lake Villa, Illinois.
Donald began experiencing health problems in the
1980s, so he went for treatment at the Veteran's
Hospital in North Chicago, Illinois. He
died in Lake Villa on March 7, 1988, and was
buried in Plot H, Grave 300 at Wood National
Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on March 10,
1988.
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