Leroy SCHNEIDER

  General Notes:

From a newspaper article October 18 (?) 1942 - The article reads:

"Parents Receive Direct Message From Marine Captive in Jap Camp

"Mr. and Mrs. Phillip V. Schneider of 1620 Wilmette avenue, Wilmette, received news recently that ended for them a long period of anxious waiting to hear from their son, Leroy, of the United States Marine Corps. The news came to them directly by way of a letter written by him in a Japanese war-Prisoners' camp in Shanghai, China, May 29. It was postmarked from Japanese Field Post Office No. 106, Central China.

"Private First Class Leroy Schneider was a member of the First Defense Battalion, United States Marine corps, under the command of Major James P. S. Devereux. Along with the others who survived he was taken prisoner by the Japanese after the fall of Wake Island. Mr. and Mrs. Schneider, thought notified by headquarters that their son was known to be alive and a prisoner of the Japs, had no other direct word until his letter arrived."

The substance of his letter was as follows:

"The opportunity has finally come for me to write you a few lines to let you know I am well and O.K. I hope you are in good health and that this war hasn't bothered you any. Say hello to Grandma and Grandpa [Anton and Mary Schneider] for me. Tell them I hope to see you all soon. Tell Pop to keep a place open for me on the police force 'cause I'm double sure what I'm going to do when this is all over. (Mr. Schneider is a patrolman on the Wilmette Police department). Good old Wilmette for me. Say hello to Ervin, Willard and Virginia for me. You don't have to worry about me cause I'm getting along O.K.

"Although this was the first direct message Mr. and Mrs. Schneider have had from their son, they have had four postcards from strangers on the West Coast who heard Leroy's name mentioned on a shortwave broadcast from Japan as being a Japanese prisoner but alive and well. The announcer gave the prisoner's name, age, and address of parents in the United States, and made it possible for those who heard the broadcast to pass on the information to anxious parents."