Salvage Sailor Posted July 23, 2013 Share #1 Posted July 23, 2013 To my neighbor from his friends in his home town of Kaneohe, Hawaii To my friend, WWII paratrooper, Zane Schlemmer, 82nd AB 508 PIR, who took his last jump last night....I thank you for your unselfish and unwavering energy commemorating your fallen comrades in Europe and Hawaii since WWII....Your spirit will live long in generations to come, especially in St Mere Eglise...It was truly an honor to know you...Many will be talking about you on the 70th D-Day Anniv...and you will be with many of us in spirit during the commemorations...You inspired me with your stories..One day we will meet again...ALL THE WAY..HOME....RIP, SHAKA ZANE...ALOHA. Zane Schlemmer, HQ Co, 2nd Bn, 508th PIR http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/112832-zane-schlemmer-hq-co-2nd-bn-508th-pir/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted July 25, 2013 Share #2 Posted July 25, 2013 Hi Salvage sailor, many thanks for adding the passing of Zane Schlemmer 508 PIR to the Taps section here on the forum I looked out for Zane this year in Normandy and was surprised not to have seen him or to hear of his being here. It was a great pleasure to have met him on what may well have been his last visit here, I shall treasure that meeting and the photographs that I had taken stood with him, both on my front door-step and beside the street sign bearing his name where he landed in Chef du Pont 6th June 1944 happy landing Zane, God be with you. ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gennaker Posted July 26, 2013 Share #3 Posted July 26, 2013 A special service will be held at the monument that bears his name in Picauville in Normandy on sunday afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted July 26, 2013 Share #4 Posted July 26, 2013 R.I.P. soldier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack's Son Posted July 26, 2013 Share #5 Posted July 26, 2013 God's speed, R.I.P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted July 30, 2013 Share #6 Posted July 30, 2013 Zane Schlemmer, HQ Co, 2nd Bn, 508th PIR, Normandy June 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyCanteen Posted July 30, 2013 Share #7 Posted July 30, 2013 RIP. Ken, Thank you for the photo. You can see the pride in his face. RC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1canpara Posted November 14, 2013 Share #8 Posted November 14, 2013 I just wanted to add this photo of Mr. Schlemmer and I taken in St mere Eglise in 2009. He was very engaging to talk to with a great sense of humor. He asked me what part of Canada I was from, and I told him "Vancouver Island, on the west coast" and he laughed and said, "I've been fishing in Campbell River, in fact I got a couple of girlfriends there!" It was an honor to have met him. RIP Zane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted May 26, 2019 Author Share #9 Posted May 26, 2019 Zane Schlemmer in Holland wearing his jump jacket, June 1977 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted May 27, 2019 Author Share #10 Posted May 27, 2019 Zane Schlemmer (WIA) and Paul Winger (KIA) Zane Schlemmer (on left) showing off his uniform during World War II. To his right is Paul Winger who was also from North Canton, Ohio. Pauls wife worked at the Hoover plant with Zanes father Raymond Schlemmer. Paul was killed in action the same day Zane was wounded in the fight for hill 131. Zane saw Paul killed and wondered how he was going to tell Pauls wife Bois de Limors to Hill 131 Normandy, France July 3, 1944 By D. Zane Schlemmer 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment http://www.508pir.org/pdf_files/bois_de_limors.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted May 27, 2019 Author Share #11 Posted May 27, 2019 By then, my arm was starting to ache and pain, so I made my way down to the front of a house in a hamlet called “l'Auvrairie,” where one of my mortar sections was moving forward and I gave my replacement my binoculars, map, and other needed equipment. While I sat there, someone took my picture with my wounded arm and I had a morphine syringe between my lips heating it up for injection in my arm for the pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted May 27, 2019 Author Share #12 Posted May 27, 2019 Tech Sergeant D. Zane Schlemmer autobiography http://508pir.org/pdf_files/bio_schlemmer_zane.pdf Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal with oak leaf cluster, Parachute Wings with two bronze stars, Combat Infantry Badge, Presidential Unit Citation, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, Europe-Africa Campaign Medal with arrowhead and four bronze battle stars, WWII Victory Medal, WWII Occupation Medal, French Fourragere, Belgian Fourragere, and the Militaire Willems Orde Degree of Knight from Holland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted May 27, 2019 Author Share #13 Posted May 27, 2019 THE FRENCH RABBIT THAT HELPED WIN THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY by D. Zane Schlemmer http://508pir.org/pdf_files/french_rebbit.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted May 27, 2019 Author Share #14 Posted May 27, 2019 Christmas Memories By D. Zane Schlemmer December 24th, 1944 Battle of the Bulge http://508pir.org/pdf_files/christmas_memories.pdf Photo: March 1945 Sissone, France Tent City. There are 18 men in this picture. These are all that is left from the original Headquarters Company 2nd Btn. 508 PIR of the 82nd airborne. There were originally 206 men that made up the company Zane Schlemmer is front row end on right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
644td Posted May 29, 2019 Share #15 Posted May 29, 2019 I am sorry for the lose. I know he was a great man and dear friend to so many. Marty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted October 28, 2021 Author Share #16 Posted October 28, 2021 From the Department of Defense website Veteran U.S. Army paratrooper Zane Schlemmer wears his original jump boots as he walks down the main street of Sainte Mere Eglise with other World War II veterans during a parade commemorating the 67th anniversary of the Allied invasion of France, June 5, 2011. Schlemmer was a U.S. Army sergeant assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division when he jumped into northern France on D-Day. French citizens applaud as he parades past, joined by current 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers and soldiers from other U.S. Army units. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1canpara Posted October 29, 2021 Share #17 Posted October 29, 2021 In 2009 I was honoured to have had a chance to meet and chat with Zane Schlemmer in St Mere Eglise. What an amazing man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermanus Posted October 29, 2021 Share #18 Posted October 29, 2021 RIP Sergeant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted October 29, 2021 Author Share #19 Posted October 29, 2021 From my library, Zane's well travelled guide books which he used on his post-war trips to the battlefields of France and Holland Well worn from his carrying this guide across the Normandy countryside. The maps and text inside are in primo condition. Although the cover is beat, up, you can tell that he took care not to mar the excellent fold out maps within. The Inscription Reads: TSgt. D. Zane Schlemmer, HQ. Co. - 2nd Btn., 508th, Parachute Inf. Regt. 82nd Airborne Division Ubbergen Municipality in the Front Line (Nijmegen) Margot van Boldrik Photos he taped inside of where he landed and fought during Market-Garden Inscribed by the Burgomaster, 1981 Personally dedicated by the Author in 1981 This special copy is for my very dear friends Zane and Ida Schlemmer, former Hdq. Co. 2nd Batt. 508 Parachute Inf. Margot Another book dedicated by the author with Photos of Driessen and Schlemmer in 1977 during the "Bridge Too Far" release aftermath. The town and windmills of Groesbeekse were completely destroyed in the fighting. The book was signed again in 2009 by Driessen. Also in the book was his 1944-2009 65th Anniversary program 65th Anniversary Operation Market Garden ceremony General Gavin Monument Groesbeek There ya go..... Zane at home in Kaneohe Zane Schlemmer was honored in 2009 by then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy and President Barack Obama for his D-Day actions after he parachuted into Normandy, France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted October 29, 2021 Share #20 Posted October 29, 2021 1 hour ago, Salvage Sailor said: From my library, Zane's well travelled guide books which he used on his post-war trips to the battlefields of France and Holland Well worn from his carrying this guide across the Normandy countryside. The maps and text inside are in primo condition. Although the cover is beat, up, you can tell that he took care not to mar the excellent fold out maps within. The Inscription Reads: TSgt. D. Zane Schlemmer, HQ. Co. - 2nd Btn., 508th, Parachute Inf. Regt. 82nd Airborne Divisio There ya go..... Zane at home in Kaneohe Zane Schlemmer was honored in 2009 by then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy and President Barack Obama for his D-Day actions after he parachuted into Normandy, France. . Hi Salvage Sailor, Thanks for bringing memories of Zane back to the top again, I just re-read the thread and annotated the same photograph that I first posted in 2011, post #6, looking at the photograph I suddenly thought of the bullet strikes to the side of my front door when the 508th captured my village, my house was some sort of German billet or such. . regards lewis. .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermanus Posted October 30, 2021 Share #21 Posted October 30, 2021 Thanks for showing the books. Very poignant. It shows that, even till today, my country still honors and remembers the veterans who participated in Ops. Market Garden, 1944. As the British so truly state: At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them. Herman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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