[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 123 (Tuesday, September 14, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1592-E1593]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO DON SCHOOF

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LATHAM

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 14, 2010

  Mr. LATHAM. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize Don Schoof, a World 
War II Army veteran from Boone County, Iowa, and to express my 
appreciation for his dedication and commitment to his country.
  The Boone News Republican is currently running a series of articles 
that honors one Boone County veteran every Tuesday from Memorial Day to 
Veterans Day. Don Schoof was recognized on Tuesday, June 1. Below is 
the article in its entirety:

                   Boone County Veterans: Don Schoof

                        (By Alexander Hutchins)

       Don Schoof spent 333 days on the front lines in Italy 
     during World War II, and since returning from that conflict 
     he has folded more than 200 flags for veteran's funerals.
       Schoof's life since his service in the U.S. Army is filled 
     with accomplishments. He is a former grand warden of the 
     Masons, served as an officer for the American Legion, worked 
     for Iowa State University and worked with the Boone County 
     Historical Society for 13 years.
       Despite his post-service accomplishments, and the time that 
     has passed since his military career, Schoof still recalls 
     his service in the U.S. Army during World War II to great 
     detail and has been called on for the past several years to 
     speak to Boone school children about his time in the Army.
       Schoof was born March 9, 1922 in Waverly, Iowa. He 
     graduated from Waverly High School in 1940, and then spent a 
     year studying at Wartburg College.
       When the war began, Schoof still wanted to pursue a four 
     year degree, but knew his draft number was likely to come up. 
     He transferred to Iowa State University to take a survey 
     course and then joined up with Western Contracting 
     Corporation.
       He was drafted November 5, 1942.
       Prior to entering the actual conflict, he traveled through 
     or trained in Camp Dodge in Iowa, Camp White in Oregon, North 
     Africa where he took amphibious training and Naples, Italy 
     where he trained in military intelligence.
       Schoof took part in the landing at Anzio, Italy and his 
     Division (the 91st) was the first group of American troops 
     through Rome.
       In one town, Schools unit was shelled and he had to dive 
     through a barbed wire fence to avoid an artillery round. He 
     wounded his leg on the fence and was awarded his first Purple 
     Heart.
       The 91st Infantry Division then headed north. Schoof said 
     that after the German defeat at the Gothic Line, the banks of 
     the Po River--by which his division traveled--were choked 
     with abandoned German gear.
       ``That's where we really broke their back,'' he said 
     solemnly.
       During this time, he was approached in one occupied town by 
     a recently liberated American prisoner. Schoof questioned the 
     man and found that he was from the town of Austin, Minn., 
     only a short distance on Highway 218 from School's hometown.
       ``I always regret not going later to look him up,'' he 
     said.
       Schoof said with his experience in the war and realization 
     that day of how close everyone in the conflict was, he 
     learned how important it is to value people.
       ``You learn how to live and appreciate the people around 
     you,'' he said.
       Schoof was later flying an L-5 Sentinel reconnaissance 
     plane, part of his military intelligence duties to plan 
     artillery strategy. Schoof would fly over 75 of these 
     missions, but on this particular flight the plane iced up and 
     crashed into a grape vineyard.
       Schoof earned his second purple heart.
       Traveling through Milano by jeep to visit a different 
     division, Schoof once came upon bodies hung from a portico. 
     One of them was a recently deceased Mussolini, suspended by 
     his feet.

[[Page E1593]]

       Schoof was home on a 30-day leave when the atomic bombs 
     were dropped on Japan. He would spend 8 more years in the 
     Army Reserves.
       He noted with a laugh that one of his biggest 
     disappointments was that his gear bag burned up in a 
     warehouse fire while he was on leave, taking all his mementos 
     from Europe in the blaze.
       Schoof remembered his role in the war with great clarity, 
     and its impression on him was obvious. He organized a semi-
     annual gathering of his old unit from 1962 to 1980.
       Schoof couldn't recall a great negative impact from his 
     time in the war. He mentioned how thankful he was that he 
     served in a time with a clearly defined conflict.
       ``We knew who the enemy was when we went over there, but 
     the guys today don't,'' Schoof said.
       Schoof's father served in the First World War, fighting in 
     the forests of France. Schoof said he hopes the new veterans 
     from today's conflict will feel welcome in the veteran's 
     services groups like the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
       This past Memorial Day, he spent memorializing those who 
     hadn't made it home: helping to put flags on the graves of 
     veterans.

  I commend Don Schoof for his many years of loyalty and service to our 
great nation. It is an immense honor to represent him in the United 
States Congress, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

                          ____________________