Sneak Peeks: Remembering Don Schoenau

Posted By Les Conklin on Nov 11, 2020

Originally Published May 28, 2018

By Les Conklin

Army Rangers scaled cliffs at Point du Hoc before Normandy invasion. Landings. Don Schoenau was one of those rangers and that was just the beginning of his service.

Actually, I think about Don Shoenau during many days during the year. He often comes to mind when I look at Pinnacle Peak because of his friendship and importance to our area, the Greater Pinnacle Peak Association, A Peek at the Peak (The Peak) magazine and Scottsdale’s Scenic Drive.

Don died on Sunday, August 20, 2000. I remember him on Memorial Day because of his incredible contributions to our country during World War II. Don did not talk about his war experiences. It was not until Jay, Don’s son, delivered Don’s eulogy four days after his father’s death that I and almost everyone else learned about Don’s harrowing wartime experiences. The following is a revealing excerpt from that eulogy.

Eulogy by Jay Schoenau

“Dad graduated from Fenger High School in 1942, one year ahead of schedule. He lied about his age and with his high school buddies enrolled in the Army, the Rangers in particular, which were just being formed at the time . He trained in Louisiana and Texas before being shipped to North Africa.

“He served with the 1st, 2nd, and 5th Ranger Battalions in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Germany. He was decorated for his service with multiple purple hearts, bronze stars, and a silver star.

“

Don Shoenau, Army Ranger

His was not a pretty war. At age18, he was killing people in hand-to-hand combat. His unit-the 2nd Rangers-was annihilated by the SS at Anzio. Of the hundreds of men in his unit, he was one of the few dozen to survive. He was at D-Day hours before the landings scaling Point de Hoc to remove German gun emplacements and once again to be greeted by the SS. He was at Malmady at the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge where the SS executed his comrades. From there he fought his way to the Rhine.

“I share this aspect of his life – one he never shared in this detail with me because he wished desperately to forget it not out of some grim fascination but because I believe in many ways it fundamentally set and changed his character. Anyone who has seen the movie Private Ryan, which ironically is about his Ranger Battalion, can get a feel of what his teenage years were like.

“He was shot in the head in the Heurtgen Forest in Germany, captured by the Germans, interned in a POW camp for five months, exchanged back to the Americans, and sent to Denver for brain surgery and recovery. His parents thought him dead for months. He survived and came home.

“He returned home to Chicago before the war had ended and, through a relative,he got a job at Jahn and Qllier,thereby beginning his 41 year career in sales and photoengraving. He later worked at a similar firm, Schawk Inc.”

Enjoying Don’s Contributions

It’s still difficult for me to believe that the happy, enthusiastic, out-going Don Schoenau that I knew had endured so many horrific war experiences. From the time I met him in the mid-1990s until his death, Don was the same positive human being.

Don Schoenau with box of freshly printed Peak magazines. Don served as editor of The Peak and GPPHA’s president.

I’ll never forget the day in 1998 when Don stopped by my house with two large black binders filled with copies of The Black Mountain News dating back to the early 1960s. Don loved to interview local characters and old-timers and write articles about them for The Peak.,He had been doing research in Cave Creek and had come across some rare papers. The old originals of The Black Mountain News had a wealth of historical information about the establishment of Desert Foothills Scenic Drive. Don knew I would want to review the information and he delivered them to me so I could do just that. Click on the link below, to review some of the information that Don saved for all of us to enjoy.

Before 2002, GPPA did not have a website and Don gave me his Peak articles about local history to publish on the Desert Foothills Scenic Drive’s website. Don’s articles have served as important sources of information for individuals studying north Scottsdale history.

The good news is that you can still enjoy some of Don’s Peak articles by clicking on the links below.

And while you are remembering Don Schoena, pay tribute to all the men and women of our military services past and present.

Photograph by Howard Myers.

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