Hewitt "Lex" Schoonover, b. 1923
Lex Schoonover was born on 28 October 1923 in Stroudsburg, PA.
During the Depression years his family moved around, with stops in Bronxville,
NY, and Washington, DC, before settling in Shaker Heights, OH, a suburb of
Cleveland. Here Lex finished high school in 1941; he then attended Miami
University of Ohio until being drafted into the Army in March 1943.
Lex completed
basic training at Camp Wheeler, GA, and then spent time in the Army Specialized
Training Program (ATSP) at the University of Alabama. When this program was
disbanded, Lex was sent to the 106th Infantry Division, and assigned
to the 422rd Regiment, to an Intelligence and Reconnaissance (I and
R) platoon. In October 1944 this unit shipped out to Europe; one month before
the unit departed, Lex was married (wife Anne). Sent to the front line at the
village of Schlausenbach, Germany, Lex’s unit was overrun by the German
offensive in mid-December 1944, and on 19 December 1944, with more than a
thousand other Americans, he was captured by the Germans.
Lex spent the
next four months as a POW in Germany, at Camp IX-B in Bad Orb, Germany.
Conditions steadily worsened, and hunger and disease claimed the lives of many.
Lex was finally liberated when advancing US troops overran Camp IX-B on 2 April
1945. John was moved to a field evacuation hospital, then in early May 1945
shipped to the US; he spent the time until his discharge in November 1945 at
several medical facilities.
Again a
civilian, Lex completed his college education (University of Michigan, 1947) and
went to work for the retailer Sears Roebuck. He managed stores in Mansfield and
Cleveland, Ohio, and the Twin Cities, Minnesota, before retiring in 1987. At
the time of this interview (May 2003) Lex lived in Edina, Minnesota.
Silver Star recipient for actions of
16 December 1944.
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