PFC Morton David Schaeffer 31357408, Merchant Marine, US Army. He was born on November 29, 1922, in Salem, Massachusetts. He was the son of William Scheffer and, Sally Scheffer. He graduated from Salem Classical and High School in 1941. He worked in the shipyards in Portland Maine before joining the Merchant Marines and as his first voyage, carried soldiers bound for battle in World War II. He left the Merchant Marines because he could not handle the sea sickness. He then immediately joined the US Army on May 20, 1943. At the time of his enlistment he was he was 5 foot 11 and 1/2 inches tall he weighed 197 pounds he has Brown hair and Black hair. He served in Troop B 124th Cavalry Regiment, 56th Cavalry Brigade at Fort Riley Kansas and Fort Brown Texas. He was transferred to I Company, 253rd Infantry Regiment, 63rd Infantry Division on March 24, 1944. On October 12, 1944 PFC Seymour N. Pekus 42075296, Cpl Henry W. Meyers 12225885, and PFC Morton David Schaeffer 31357408 was transferred out of I company to M Company, 253rd Infantry Regiment, 63rd Infantry Division. Because their officer did not want them in his unit because they were Jewish. He would go on to serve in Combat as a mortar man and radio operator forward observer in Company M. He received a Non Battle injury on April 6,1945 that sent him briefly to the 117th Evac Hospital. On Aug 19, 1945 he was transferred to the 3258 Sig Sv Co. During the occupation, he spent much of his time stringing telephone wire to improve com-munication. He was honorably discharged in 1946. He was awarded the Bronze Stare Medal, The American Theater of operations Medal, The European African Middle Eastern Theater of operations Medal, the World War Two Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal, the Combat Infantry Badge, The Merchant Marine Defense Bar, The Merchant Marine Atlantic War Zone Medal, and the Merchant Marine World War II Victory Medal.
After the war he earned a B.A. at Suffolk University in Boston, Mas-sachusetts, and a M.S.W. at Simmons School of Social Work in Boston. He finished graduate school in 1953. He married Norma Harriet Oboler in 1949. They had three children during their marriage. He had a sixty-year career in the field of Aging in Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey; with the Chicago Office, Department of Health and Human Services; and with the Los Angeles Department of Family and Children’s Services. After moving to Sebastopol, he volunteered with Stewards of the Redwoods and the Coast, River Child Care Services, Food for Thought and the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. He was a social activist speaking regarding local political issues and writing letters to State and Federal representatives. He died on August 15, 2013, at the age of 90.
You can find his Oral History on
https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.80690/