They Fought in the Bloodiest Battles of World War II
[excerpt]
After the baptism at Dieppe, the Rangers kept training new volunteers, Elmer (Dutch) Vermeer took training for the Normandy invasion on the Isle of Wight. He and Max Schneider of Shenandoah were members of the Second and Fifth Ranger Battalions that scaled almost impossible cliffs on D-Day, June 6, 1944, to destroy German gun batteries.
Before the D-Day invasion, Rangers had participated in invasions of North Africa, Sicily, Salerno and Anzio (in Italy.) Later they took part in invasions of Leyte and Luzon in the Philippines. They participated in major battles at Arzew, Dernia Pass, El Guettar, Gela, Licata, Porto Empodocile, Butera, Messina, Chiunzi Pass, Venafro, San Pietro, Cisterna, Omaha Beach, Vierville, Grancamp, La Coquet Peninsula, Brest, Huertgen Forest, Point Du Hoc, Hill 400 and 105, Zerf, Oberleuken, the Bulge, Leyte and Manila.
Source: The DesMoines Register, Sunday, July 27, 1975 - page 21
Max Ferguson Schneider was born Sept. 8, 1912 to Fred M. and Abba Pauline Ferguson Schneider. He died Mar. 25, 1959 and is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Lt. Col. Schneider served in world War II with the U.S. Army 5th Ranger Battalion, Headquarters as Commanding Officer and led the 5th Ranger Battalion on the Battle of Normandy (Omaha Beach). He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
Sources: ancestry.com; americandday.org
