Russell Schuman was born in 1924 in St. Louis, Missouri. He grew up with an older brother, who later worked an essential job during the war making artillery shells. During the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], his father made furniture. Schuman worked as a paper boy to make money. When Schuman heard about Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] for the first time, he was ignorant about the whole event. He was drafted into the Army in late February 1943 and inducted at Jefferson Barracks [Annotator's Note: Jefferson Barracks Military Post in Lemay, Missouri]. There, he had his first encounter with German soldiers. He was on base at Jefferson Barracks when he noticed a soldier wearing what he thought was an American cavalry uniform who was working with a beautiful horse. When Schuman stated that the horse was beautiful, the man replied “ja,” the German word for yes. Schuman boarded a train for his basic training in Alabama.

[Annotator’s Note: The sound does not sync up to the video during this segment.] In late February 1943, Russell Schuman was drafted into the Army and was sent to three months of basic training at a facility in Alabama. He was able to train on a Tommy gun [Annotator's Note: .45 caliber Thompson submachine gun]. After completing his training, he was retained at the base for a period of time during which he taught new recruits how to operate and maintain the BAR [Annotator's Note: Browning Automatic Rifle]. Eventually, the time came for Schuman, now a corporal, to deploy overseas. He shipped out aboard a new vessel with about 1,500 other G.I.s [Annotator's Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] heading to Europe as replacements. After a long 17-day voyage during which he was incredibly seasick, Schuman went ashore in Firth of Forth [Annotator’s Note: Firth of Forth, Scotland]. The G.I.s off the boat were greeted with a bag pipe chorus. From there he went to Cardiff, Wales and then from Cardiff north to England. While he was in Cardiff, there was nothing to buy in the stores.

In England, Russell Schuman was assigned to a receiving company tasked with helping to construct a camp for incoming replacement soldiers. Once the camp was ready, Schuman spent several weeks processing G.I.s [Annotator's Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] who had just arrived in the country. Then, it was his turn. Schuman was shipped across the English Channel to France where he was assigned to Company B, 48th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division in the fall of 1944. Schuman cannot recall his first experience of combat while he was in Europe. He recalls being given training on how to properly communicate with all the various armored vehicles. Schuman was assigned to a half-track [Annotator's Note: M3 half-track; a vehicle with front wheels and rear tracks]. His half -track driver was late coming back from having a beer when the column was beginning to head out. Schuman volunteered to drive the half-track even though he had never driven one. When driving the vehicle, he was not sure if he was ever in the right gear because it was constantly a bumpy ride. He recalled his time in Holland [Annotator’s Note: the Netherlands] and recalled how beautiful the county was, but also how wet it was. He recalled seeing young children playing with little strips of aluminum that were dropped from the planes [Annotator’s Note: chaff, a radar countermeasure].

When Russell Schuman arrived in France, he was assigned to Company B, 48th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division and transported to the Netherlands, driving a half-track [Annotator's Note: M3 half-track; a vehicle with front wheels and rear tracks]. The camp in the Netherlands was soggy and wet. He did not have any interaction with the Dutch people, but he saw lots of young women wearing wooden shoes. He saw a dog with five legs and was surprised by how it looked. Schuman’s regiment was given orders to prepare for combat. He loaded in a half-track with 15 other guys and a .50 caliber machine gun [Annotator's Note: Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun]. He cannot remember the names of the towns he went through and he was not allowed to say anything when he wrote letters to his parents. [Annotator’s Note: Can hear a noise of something dropping on the floor at 0:53:44.000.] Schuman remarks about the food and how the G.I.s [Annotator's Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] would toss pork chop bones in the air and watch birds swoop down and catch them. [Annotator’s Note: Video break at 0:56:31.000.] Schuman volunteered to drive the half-track when the driver did not show up. Later, he was replaced by a qualified driver. They came under fire while his unit was headed for the Rhine River. Because the Germans’ aim was off, Schuman’s unit was able to evade the danger. His unit dug into foxholes to protect themselves from the German firepower.

During his service in Europe, Russell Schuman was assigned to Company B, 48th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division. In February 1945, they were pulled off the front lines to rest. They were able to take showers and received clean clothes. This was also the time when replacements replenished his unit. When it was announced that the Germans surrendered [Annotator's Note: Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945], not many people celebrated. Schuman and his buddies in his regiment drank a beer and wondered what was next for them. They soon learned that they would return to the Unites States for jungle training. Two days after he arrived in New Jersey, the United States dropped the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] and not long after, the Japanese surrendered [Annotator's Note: Victory Over Japan Day, 15 August 1945]. His unit’s orders to go to Japan were eventually cancelled. Everyone was happy, and he and his friends celebrated. Schuman was discharged from the Army and attended night school on the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment]. He never suffered from nightmares and assimilated into civilian life easily after the war.

During his service in Europe, Russell Schuman was assigned to Company B, 48th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division. Near the end of the war, Schuman’s unit helped Polish prisoners. During that time, he was able to secure a German pistol and coordinate its return to the United States with the help of a friend. Schuman’s father received the pistol in the mail not long after the war in Germany ended. He talked about when he unit took over a farm and the farmer oversaw the Poland prisoners working the farm. After the war ended in Germany, Schuman’s unit had to help clean up towns and look for weapons. He was wounded by shell fragments in the arm while walking across a frozen creek. He was put in an ambulance and sent to the hospital.

During his service in Europe, Russell Schuman was assigned to Company B, 48th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division. He was wounded in the arm by shrapnel near the war’s end. He was loaded into an ambulance and taken to a gymnasium that has been turned into a hospital. As he waited to be attended to, he saw that the gymnasium was filled with American G.I.s [Annotator's Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] and German POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoners of war]. He was bandaged up and taken to France near the coast where he rested. He noticed one night that his arm was swelling up because the bandages were too tight, so a nurse rewrapped it. Schumann stayed in the hospital for 10 days before returning to his outfit. During his trip overseas they had to watch out for U-boats [Annotator's Note: German submarine]. It took them about 15 days to cross the Atlantic.