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First Name: Harold

Last Name: Schrier

Birthplace: Corder, MO, USA

Gender: Male

Branch: Marines (present)



Middle Name: George



Date of Birth: 17 October 1916

Date of Death: 03 June 1971

Rank: Lieutenant Colonel

Years Served:
Harold George Schrier

   
Engagements:
•  World War II (1941 - 1945)
•  Korean War (1950 - 1953)

Biography:

Harold George Schrier
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps

Harold George Schrier was born on 17 October 1916 in Corder, MO. He attended high school in Lexington, MO.

Schrier enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on 12 November 1936. After training in San Diego, CA, he was sent to China to guard the U.S. Embassy in Beijing; he also served in Tientsin and Shanghai. He became a Drill Instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in August 1940.

During World War II, Schrier fought at Guadalcanal as a Rifle Company Platoon Sergeant. He received a field commission as a Second Lieutenant on 28 February 1943 and became a Marine Raider. Schrier was awarded the Legion of Merit during the New Georgia Campaign, for a reconnaissance patrol on Vangunu, and he later fought in Bougainville.

Pacific Campaign

Schrier returned to the U.S. to become an Infantry Instructor at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in February 1944, but returned to the Pacific with Company "E" (Easy Company), 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines in September 1944. Now a First Lieutenant, he was Executive Officer of Easy Company. On 23 February 1945, Captain Dave E. Severance, Commander of Easy Company, ordered Schrier to take a patrol to raise an American flag at the summit of Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, to signal to others that it had fallen. He led a 40-man combat patrol up the mountain. After a fire-fight, a 54-by-28 inch flag was raised, and photographed by Staff Sergeant Louis R. Lowery, a photographer with Leatherneck magazine. Others present at this first flag raising included Corporal Charles W. Lindberg; Platoon Sergeant Ernest I. Thomas, Jr.; Sergeant Henry O. "Hank" Hansen; Private First Class Louis C. Charlo; and Private First Class James Michels. However, the flag was too small to be seen easily from the nearby landing beaches. This first flag was later replaced by a larger flag, the raising of which became famous due to a photograph taken by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal.

Schrier (Navy Cross) commanded Company D, 5th Marines after the U.S. Flag raisings on Mt. Suribachi and was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action on 24 March 1945, leading a counterattack against a fanatical Japanese attack upon his lightly manned command post.

Post World War II

He served in San Diego from July to October 1945, then in Seal Beach, CA; Samar, Philippines; and in Yokosuka, Japan. He returned to the U.S. in 1949, and appeared as himself in the 1949 film, Sands of Iwo Jima.

Schrier was sent to fight in the Korean War with the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade in July 1950. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions in August and September 1950, as Adjutant during the Battle of Pusan Perimeter. Commanding Company I, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, he was wounded 1 December 1950 during a hill fight (Hill 1520) with Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) during the breakout from the Chosin Reservoir.

Schrier was promoted to Major in May 1951. He retired from the Marine Corps as a Lieutenant Colonel.

Portrayal in Film

• Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) Harold G. Schrier ... Himself (as Capt. Harold G. Schrier, U.S.M.C.)

• In the 2006 film Flags of Our Fathers, Schrier was played by actor Jason Gray-Stanford.

Death and Burial

Lieutenant Colonel Harold George Schrier died on 3 June 1971 in Bradenton, FL. He is buried at Mansion Memorial Park & Funeral Home in Ellenton, FL.



Honoree ID: 3049   Created by: MHOH

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