[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 176 (Tuesday, December 9, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2506]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO PRIVATE WILLIAM SCHAUB

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GINNY BROWN-WAITE

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, December 8, 2003

  Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor 
Private William Schaub, a World War I veteran from New York. His son 
lives in XXX.
  This Veterans' Day, I will have the pleasure of recognizing Private 
Schaub for his heroism and bravery as a United States Soldier who 
fought in the First World War. He was sent to the battle fields in 
Europe and fought in the major battles of St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, 
and Essey-Pannes.
  There are few among us who can recall the horrors of this war to end 
all wars that scarred an entire generation. One of the deadly 
innovations that typified the battles fought by our soldiers was the 
use of poisons gas. Mustard, Sarin, and Chlorine Gas were used 
offensively to debilitate Allied Troops.
  Often troops were not adequately supplied with gas masks to protect 
them from this poison. Indeed an improvised method was developed by our 
troops to protect those without masks. Taking advantage of naturally 
occurring ammonia, troops tied handkerchiefs over their face to 
destabilize the fumes.
  Such method was employed by Private Schaub in a Mustard Gas attack on 
his division. He was treated for Bronchitis, gas exposure and sinus 
conditions and honorably discharged on April 15, 1919.
  I will present Private Schaub's son with the Purple Heart, the oldest 
military decoration in the world, more than 80 years overdue.
  Though he earned this honor, he never received it from the Defense 
Department and I am pleased to have the opportunity to present to his 
family the Purple Heart for his selfless devotion to duty and service 
to the United States.

                          ____________________