Alumni Hall of Fame
Military Service to Country (2024)

Vernon E. Schnelle attended Memorial High School before leaving school after his freshman year to work as a molder at the St. Marys Foundry. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on October 10, 1942, in Toledo, Ohio. Private Schnelle served in the 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, 3rd Battalion, Company L, under the command of Major General Raymond Oscar “Tubby” Barton. The regiment trained at Camp Gordon Johnston in Florida, and Fort Jackson, South Carolina, where they received amphibious training for their assault on Europe. Private Schnelle wrote to his family in August 1943 during maneuvers, telling them of the extreme heat, the constant thirst for water, and that he had lost weight from the training. He was looking forward to a promised furlough to visit home before being deployed. After maneuvers, the 4th Division was sent to Fort Dix, New Jersey, to await deployment. Private Schnelle wrote again on Christmas night, December 25, 1943, from Ft. Dix, thanking his family for the pictures and wishing for snow.

Shortly thereafter, in January 1944, the 22nd Infantry Regiment shipped out, arriving near Plymouth, England. There, they engaged in mock D-Day battles in places that resembled the actual landing places in France. One of these places, Slapton Sands in Lyme Bay on the Devon coast, was deemed to be an almost identical match to Utah Beach in France. The mock battles were so realistic that entire small towns were evacuated so that soldiers could gain experience fighting battles in real towns.

Despite the fierce training and mock battles, the 4th Infantry Division had no actual combat experience. They were chosen to lead the charge at Utah Beach on D-Day, the Battle of Normandy, by the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) commander, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Utah Beach was on the east coast of the Cotentin Peninsula, where the Germans controlled the causeways. General Eisenhower himself described Utah Beach as “miserable” and worried that troops would be trapped on the beach and slaughtered there.

On June 6, 1944, Private Schnelle sailed with the 4th Infantry Division from Plymouth, England, and landed on Utah Beach at H plus 75 minutes. The armada that was assembled on D-Day as part of Operation Overlord included more than 4,000 landing craft, 287 minesweepers, 138 destroyers, cruisers, and battleships, 221 escort destroyers, 1,260 merchant ships, and more than 400 ancillary ships. Private Schnelle and the 3rd Battalion landed in small craft with the mission of crossing the beach seawall and attacking and destroying fortified positions along the coast. They encountered fierce enemy fire and resistance. Throughout June 1944, the 3rd Battalion advanced northward. On June 25, 1944, they seized Bretteville, before advancing east to destroy the enemy garrison holding the northeastern part of the Cotentin peninsula. On June 28, 1944, they negotiated the surrender of 990 German officers and men, ending the fighting in the northeastern part of the Cotentin peninsula, and achieving their mission goal of securing the port at Cherbourg. During this period, the 4th Division sustained more than 5,450 casualties, with more than 800 men killed. 

Private Vernon E. Schnelle was killed in action on July 29, 1944. He was 29 years old. He was buried at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Plot F, Row 12, Grave 40, at Colleville-sur-Meir, Departement du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France, the American Battle Monuments Commission location. He was awarded the Purple Heart Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Marksmanship Badge, the American Campaign Medal, the Army Presidential Unit Citation, the Army Good Conduct Medal, and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal. At the time Vernon was killed, his brother, Technical Sergeant Ernest Schnelle, was serving in the Army in Italy; his brother, Private First Class Woodrow Schnelle, was deployed to England; and another brother, Corporal Leland Schnelle, was stationed at Langley Field in Virginia. His mother, Ella Schnelle, was presented with the United States flag that was used during Private Vernon Schnelle’s burial services, along with a communication that stated it “is being presented as a token of sympathy and appreciation of a grateful nation with the thought that it may prove to be of sentimental value to you.”

For his dedication, devotion, and service to country, for being part of the historic D-Day landing at Utah Beach in the Battle of Normandy on June 6, 1944, and for the ultimate sacrifice he made for his country, the St. Marys Memorial High School Alumni Foundation inducts Private Vernon E. Schnelle into the St. Marys Memorial High School Alumni Foundation Hall of Fame for Military Service to Country.