Honoring our American Hero: Schermerhorn survived 11 months in enemy hands

Rochelle man enlisted in Army Air Corps after Pearl Harbor

Tom McDermott
Posted 1/7/25

Frank Schermerhorn was on the Rochelle High School track team in 1936. After graduation he was employed in the plastering trade with his father. F.W. Schermerhorn. Dec. 7, 1941 changed Frank’s life. On Dec. 8, one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Frank enlisted in the Army Air Corps. How his experiences changed him is difficult to tell, “he never talked about the war.” Fortunately, there are records which give us a glimpse into a small part of the price he paid in the service of his country.

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Honoring our American Hero: Schermerhorn survived 11 months in enemy hands

Rochelle man enlisted in Army Air Corps after Pearl Harbor

Posted

ROCHELLE — The price you pay for the price you paid. War changes people, for the better or for the worse, it changes them. The simple phrase, “he never talked about the war,” is one of the most common quotes I hear. 

Frank Schermerhorn was on the Rochelle High School track team in 1936. After graduation he was employed in the plastering trade with his father. F.W. Schermerhorn. Dec. 7, 1941 changed Frank’s life. On Dec. 8, one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Frank enlisted in the Army Air Corps. How his experiences changed him is difficult to tell, “he never talked about the war.” Fortunately, there are records which give us a glimpse into a small part of the price he paid in the service of his country.

Frank reported to Lowery Field, Colorado and was trained at the Armament and Gunnery School. From there he received further training at Summer Mines Field in California. His first overseas deployment took him to Ireland to prepare for the African invasion. The African invasion was followed by Sicily and Italy. While serving with the United States 515th Bomber Squadron, Frank was awarded with the Air Medal for Meritorious Achievement. 

To this point Frank was somewhat insulated from the war. At 27,000 feet one can only see so much. There was the pesky fact that each time he took to the air for his first 38 missions he was well aware that he had an almost 50 percent chance of being shot down. Going to war in a plane known as the “Flying Coffin” was the price Frank was willing to pay to do his duty. 

It was on mission 39, flying a bombing run on a Messerschmidt plant near Wiener Neustadt, Austria, on May 29, 1944 that Franks life was literally turned upside down.  Frank was the waste gunner on a B-24 Liberator when the plane was struck by a German 88 shell. The explosion tore off half of Franks clothes and forced him to parachute over enemy territory. Another crew member, Sgt. William Leibforth of Rockford, lost his life on the plane. 

Frank landed in a field injuring both ankles and was found by two Russian girls who were slave labor for their German guards. The two girls provided Frank with civilian clothing and he hobbled away in an attempt to get back to friendly lines. He made it to the train yard before he was caught by German guards. Schermerhorn was whipped, kicked, and dragged through town in chains. The German people had no love for American Airmen. They spat, cursed, and threw garbage at the injured prisoner. The guard even told Frank that his execution was imminent.

Execution may have been easier than the ordeal Frank faced. A prison camp (Stalag XIII-D) near Nuremburg, Germany became home for Frank. For months he lived on bread and water while kept in solitary confinement. The average prisoner of war lost a third of their body weight. Each day prisoners died, and the living moved a little closer to death. General Patton with the 99th Infantry and 14th Armored Division was pressing toward Berlin and as he neared prison camps the prisoners were moved further from the front. 

For the prisoners of Stalag XIII-D ,the first move was 384 miles. There were no trucks and insufficient fuel, so the half-starved prisoners were forced to walk.  If the prisoners were unable to keep the pace set by their guards, they were either bayonetted or shot. With each mile Frank watched as the trail of executed prisoners grew. 

Stalag Luft IV, near the Polish border offered little food, one blanket (if available), and prisoners slept on the floor. There were 40 wooden barracks and three heating stoves in the whole camp. After nine months Frank was again on the road, walking to Nuremburg. Prisoners fell and died on the 12-day journey. Some went quietly, others were executed for slowing the march. Frank pushed on.

Nuremberg offered lice, fleas and bed bugs. It did not offer food or beds. The prisoners slept on the floor with no blankets or bedding. At Nuremburg the Red Cross was allowed to visit the prisoners and deliver aid packages. Once the Red Cross left, the packages were gathered by the guards and prisoners randomly shot to show the disdain of the guards.  For Frank this was home for two months and he was marching again. This time to Stalag VII-A Moosburg, Bavaria. This was a large camp, built to house 10,000 prisoners. Frank was one of the 76,248 crammed into the camp. 

Frank spent 11 months as a prisoner of war. He spent about 86 days marching between various prison camps. On these death marches he watched as fellow servicemen were bayoneted, shot or simply beat to death by guards. Dysentery, pneumonia, diphtheria, typhus, and tuberculosis killed others. Some froze and others simply lost the will to live. They drank from ditches and slept in barns or by the side of the road. The strong helped the weak, and still, each day was marked with more deaths. On April 29, 1944, Frank Schermerhorn was liberated. Patton had finally caught up with the fleeing Germans. 

Frank and so many others had paid the price of war, but their minds could never forget what their eyes had seen. War changes people, for better or for worse it changes them. So, when you see a veteran remember they are still paying a price for the price they paid.

Honoring Our American Hero is a series that will print twice a month in the News-Leader. If you know an American Hero you would like to have featured, contact Jeff Helfrich at jhelfrich@rochellenews-leader.com or call 815-561-2151.