[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 205 (Wednesday, December 13, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1223]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     RECOGNIZING ABRAHAM SCHNITZER

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BRIAN BABIN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 13, 2023

  Mr. BABIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 100th birthday 
of First Lieutenant Abraham ``Abe'' Schnitzer of Houston, Texas, and 
his service as a navigator in the United States Army Air Corps during 
the Second World War.
  Mr. Schnitzer was born in Port Arthur, Texas, on August 18, 1923. 
After graduating from Port Arthur High School, he went to work for 
Bethlehem (previously called Pennsylvania) Shipyard in Beaumont, Texas. 
In 1942, while working as a foreman overseeing shipbuilding operations, 
Mr. Schnitzer felt called to quit his ``safe job'' and join the 
military to defend his country. He did so and was commissioned in the 
United States Army Air Corps.
  He specialized as a navigator on the B-17 Flying Fortress. He was 
first assigned to the 445th Bombardment Group of the 2nd Air Division 
of the Eighth Air Force to continue training on B-17 bombers. He was 
soon designated the lead navigator of the entire group and guided many 
bombing missions over Nazi-occupied France and Belgium.
  As the war continued, he was eventually placed in the B-24 Liberator, 
where he and his crew carried out 20 dangerous missions over Germany. 
In fact, his bombardment group led the first bombing mission on Berlin. 
American actor and icon Jimmy Stewart was one of the officers in that 
group, and he would join Mr. Schnitzer and the other airmen in their 
downtime.
  During his time in the European Theater, Mr. Schnitzer flew 24 combat 
missions and accumulated 165 combat flight hours. According to his 
service records, he ``navigated B-24 aircraft over land and sea by dead 
reckoning, pilotage, celestial, and radio navigation.'' For his 
military duty, Mr. Schnitzer was awarded the Distinguished Flying 
Cross, Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, European-African-Middle 
Eastern Campaign Medal with four Bronze Service Stars, and a 
commendation from the French government.
  Interestingly, two of Mr. Schnitzer's missions over Kassel, Germany, 
carry personal significance, as it was the very town that his future 
wife and her Jewish family fled during the early years of what would be 
known as the Holocaust in 1937. He met Edith Isenberg as an Air Force 
Cadet in 1942 and sent her a daily postcard from Europe until he 
returned home in 1945. They were married for 68 years and had three 
children: Robert, Dinah, and Alan.
  Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to honor Abraham ``Abe'' Schnitzer, a 
centenarian and distinguished patriot of our great Nation. May God 
continue to bless Mr. Schnitzer--a proud member of the Greatest 
Generation.

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