Ralph Lester Schaubel

August 9, 1911 – April 9, 1974

Ralph was the oldest son of Herman and Myrtle Schaubel (nee Beeson) of Chicago, Illinois. Oddly, his birth certificate lists his ethnicity as "Canadian" despite that fact that his father's birthplace in the 1910, 1920 and 1930 federal census is listed as Michigan and his mother was born in Missouri. 

After his sophomore year in high school, Ralph apprenticed at Jack Teichman's Meat Market, later Eckert Brothers at Lincoln Meat Markets. He became a full-time butcher at the same market, prior to 1940, as evidenced by his draft registration from that October.  

Ralph was still single at that time, whereas his younger brother, Jack, was married and had a 4-year-old son.  Ralph and his brother's family lived together with their parents.

After enlisting in the Army on July 26, 1942, Ralph was sent to Texas for training, and he was assigned to Company E, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division. [1]  He rode for days on a train and then sailed from New York City on April 1, 1943.  The journey to North Africa was arduous and they arrived April 13, 1943.  He saw no action in Africa and was promptly shipped off again to Sicily, where he spent several months training for the assault on the Italian mainland. 

He first saw action at Paestum, Italy, on September 9, 1943. His unit was part of the Gulf of Salerno landings. Over the next 11 months, Ralph was part of some of the most intense battles of the Italian Campaign. Just when he thought he was going to get some "R & R", they were moved off the front lines and refitted for the next big jump:  the amphibious landings in German occupied southern France. Starting August 15, 1944, the 36th Infantry Division pursued the seemingly panicked and chaotic German armies northward.  

Though we know Ralph was wounded and captured near Remiremont, France, on September 21, 1944. [2], he never told family about the circumstances of his capture. However, thanks to the detailed records of the 142nd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division, we have the larger picture of what Ralph's regiment was doing at the time:

On the morning of 20 September the 3d Battalion, 142d Infantry, started toward the river at Remiremont, a mile east of its forward position, while the rest of the regiment moved toward the same objective from the southwest. As the 142d moved out, the 141st passed northward through its rear, covering the flank of the 142d and striking for the town of Eloyes, on the Moselle River about six miles north of Remiremont. Dahlquist kept his best unit, the 143d Infantry, in reserve to exploit any crossing sites secured by the two attacking regiments.

Almost immediately the leading 36th Division units heading for both Eloyes and Remiremont met unexpectedly heavy opposition from 189th Division forces, causing Dahlquist to adjust the division's plan of attack. Initially, he ordered his northern element, the 141st, to send its two unengaged battalions across the Moselle between Eloyes and Remiremont, with one battalion then attacking north and the other south in order to loosen up the German defenses in both areas. If suitable crossing sites could be secured, he could follow with the 143d; if not, the 143d would have to be used to reinforce one of the main efforts frontally.

Thus alerted, the 141st began scouting for likely crossing sites in its sector--which extended about six miles southeast along the Moselle from Archettes--and during the afternoon found an excellent ford at Noir Gueux, a tiny hamlet-cum-church on the far (east) bank about three miles north of Remiremont. On the west bank opposite Noir Gueux a narrow neck of woods extended to the river, affording the only covered approach to the water in the 141st Infantry's sector. As the site appeared undefended, Dahlquist decided to send the 141st Infantry's 1st and 3d Battalions across at Noir Gueux that night, with the two battalions separating thereafter, one striking for the rear of the German lines at Eloyes, and the other for Remiremont.

The units started out from their assembly areas at Raon-aux-Bois about 0100 on 21 September, marching off into a pitch-black night punctuated by cold, intermittent rain. As dawn approached, fog blanketed the Moselle valley near Noir Gueux, which helped the 141st Infantry's leading troops achieve secrecy and surprise. The men of the 1st Battalion waded through the Moselle's cold waters, meeting no opposition; but shortly after 0700, as the fog began to lift, small arms fire started to harass the attackers. Nevertheless, the leading unit completed its crossing and headed north for Eloyes. Meanwhile, General Dahlquist himself had arrived at the Noir Gueux crossing site about 0945, and found that the 3d Battalion had been unable to follow the 1st because of increased German fire. Subsequently an attempt to cross about a mile south resulted in the death of the battalion commander, Maj. Kermit R. Hansen. Hansen had led the first two platoons across the river and then had been ambushed by a company-sized German force that had withheld their fire until the crossing began. The battalion lost 8 men killed, including Hanson, 7 wounded, and about 20 believed to have been captured. Dahlquist, who remained determined to force a crossing and convinced that the German defenses were extremely spotty, reorganized the battalion and finally pushed it across the river at the original site; he then followed it with his entire reserve, the 143d regiment, on the afternoon of the 21st. [3]

He had been oversees for about a year, fighting in Italy, when the War Department notified Ralph's parents that he was Missing in Action while fighting in France. Several months passed before his status was updated to POW.  [4] Even then, Ralph's parents did not know where in Germany he was imprisoned because the letters he mailed home never arrived.

Ralph's experiences at Stalag 7-A and German farm family he worked for in Nussdorf. [5]

Liberation and Homeward Bound

His parents were notified by the Office of War Information on June 13, 1945, that Ralph was on his way home. [6]

Ralph embarked from Southampton, England, for home aboard the USS Monticello (see photo, below) on May 18, 1945, and arrived in New York City on the 3rd of June.  He spent a day or two NYC before taking the train to Miami Beach, Florida, for a full medical and rehabilitation check up. He was released on August 14, 1945 to go home.  A little over two months later, Ralph finally received a Purple Heart and was discharged on the 25th of October.

Home in Chicago, Ralph met and fell in love with a widow from the neighborhood, Ruth M. Koppelman, who was three years his elder and previously married. [7] They married on February 6, 1946. Ruth's first husband had been tragically killed in a bowling alley fire in 1943. [8] Ralph and Ruth lived for many years in the working class neighborhood of Humboldt Park, Chicago. Ruth died of cancer in 1965, leaving Ralph heartbroken. He continued to work as a butcher at a local meat market until he passed away in 1974.

[1] A Pictorial History of the 36th "Texas" Infantry Division, p. 71

[2] NARA: RG 64, DoD Fiche 1436 

[3] Jeffrey J. Clarke, Robert Ross Smith, eds.  United States Army in World War II: European Theater of Operations: Riviera to the Rhine, (1990) pp. 245-246; Kriegy Research Group writer Ann C. Rogers, "Maj. Kermit Read Hansen 1917 – 1999", pp. 2-4. 

[4] Chicago Tribune, Jan. 21, 1945, p. 11.

[5] Stalag 7-A and Nussdorf

[6] Chicago Tribune, Jun. 13, 1945, p.10.

[7] 1950 Federal Census: Chicago, Illinois.

[8] "Bury 6 Victims of Beverly Fire," Suburbanite Economist, Sun,, Jan. 10, 1943, pages 1 &19.  (Thomas R. Podzimek)