Lt. Col. ERNEST J. SCHAUER, Gained his Distinguished Service Cross while commanding G. Company, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division near Sibi-ri, Korea, on 6 september 1950. On this date Captain Schauer was assigned the mission of utilizing his company in an attack to seize and hold a strategic hill, defended by a well entrenched, numerically superior enemy force. In the face of intense enemy automatic weapons fire and hand grenades, Captain Schauer’s lead platoons were twice forced to withdraw with heavy casualties. While assisting in the evacuation of wounded under the intense enemy fire, he found that the success of his mission was seriously endangered due to the threatened disorderly withdrawal of his men. Returning to the rear of his retreating troops he reorganized them and personally led a third attack up the hill in the face of bitter resistance. When the aggressiveness of the attack began to weaken, and it became apparent that the attack would again fail, Captain Schauer, with a view to instilling courage in his disheartened troops, leaped up and dashed forward into the very face of the enemy positions, hurling grenades and sweeping the area with bursts of fire from his automatic weapon. Captain Schauer’s troops, inspired by his actions, and evident disregard for personal safety, rallied to overrun the enemy positions and successfully accomplished their mission. By his actions, an untold number of men, wounded and unable to withdraw, were saved. Captain Schauer’s total disregard for his personal safety and willingness to exercise the rare perrogative of self-sacrifice, instilled in his men a brand of courage that enabled them to accomplish their mission in the face of overwhelming odds.

Lt. Colonel Schauer joined the Legion of Valor in 1963.