Private First Class Schmidt was a heavy machine gunner assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action by the enemy, while attached to Company I and attacking Hill 265 near the Naktong River, South Korea, on 22 September 1950.

Schmidt was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.