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Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, 3d Infantry Division.
Place and date: Near Cisterna di Littoria, Italy, 23-24 May 1944.
Entered service at:
Scobey, Mont. Birth: 9 October 1918, Clinton, Okla. G.O. No.:
83, 27 October 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity
at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. On 23 May 1944, at 12
noon, Pfc. (now T/Sgt.) Schauer left the cover of a ditch to engage 4 German
snipers who opened fire on the patrol from its rear. Standing erect he
walked deliberately 30 yards toward the enemy, stopped amid the fire from
4 rifles centered on him, and with 4 bursts from his BAR, each at a different
range, killed all of the snipers. Catching sight of a fifth sniper waiting
for the patrol behind a house chimney, Pfc. Schauer brought him down with
another burst. Shortly after, when a heavy enemy artillery concentration
and 2 machineguns temporarily halted the patrol, Pfc. Schauer again left
cover to engage the enemy weapons single-handed. While shells exploded
within 15 yards, showering dirt over him, and strings of grazing German
tracer bullets whipped past him at chest level, Pfc. Schauer knelt, killed
the 2 gunners of the machinegun only 60 yards from him with a single burst
from his BAR, and crumpled 2 other enemy soldiers who ran to man the gun.
Inserting a fresh magazine in his BAR, Pfc. Schauer shifted his body to
fire at the other weapon 500 yards distant and emptied his weapon into
the enemy crew, killing all 4 Germans. Next morning, when shells from a
German Mark VI tank and a machinegun only 100 yards distant again forced
the patrol to seek cover, Pfc. Schauer crawled toward the enemy machinegun.
stood upright only 80 yards from the weapon as its bullets cut the surrounding
ground, and 4 tank shells fired directly at him burst within 20 yards.
Raising his BAR to his shoulder, Pfc. Schauer killed the 4 members of the
German machinegun crew with 1 burst of fire.
This data was extracted from the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, U.S. Senate, Medal of Honor Recipients: 1863-1973 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1973)
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