Donald W. Schoeppner
World War II
Don Schoeppner was born on a farm northeast of Templeton on November 15, 1922 to Joseph and Chloris (Macke) Schoeppner. He was the oldest of four children in the family. He graduated from Sacred Heart High School in 1940 and moved to Kansas City for work along with other Templeton boys. He enlisted in the US Navy in Kansas City on August 10, 1942 as a Naval Aviation Cadet. At that time, he was employed by Transcontinental Western Airlines at the Kansas City airport and living with fellow Templeton boys Jim Fox and Joe M. Trecker.
He was called to active duty on January 7, 1943 and assigned serial number 701-56-99. He received his initial training at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, CA, one of the Navy’s five pre-flight centers. Upon completion, he was assigned to flight programs at William Jewell College in Liberty, MO and then the University of Kansas City where he made his first solo flight in April, 1943. That was followed by additional flight training at NAS Norman, OK.
Subsequently, Don was re-assigned by the Navy to Quartermaster training which he began in late 1943 at the Great Lakes Training Center in Chicago. He was earmarked for assignment to a large ship and took additional training at NAS Newport, RI and NAS Gulfport, MS. On June 17, 1944, he became a member of the first crew of the newly commissioned USS Alaska. This ship was designated CB-1 and was the first of its class of battle cruisers. She displaced approximately 34,000 tons, was over 800 feet long and had a crew of 1.500. Her primary armament was nine 12” guns in three turrets.
Don boarded the USS Alaska in Camden, NJ for her initial shakedown cruise in the Caribbean. During this time, he was promoted from S1c to QM3c (E-4). On December 2, 1944, the ship left Cuba, transited the Panama Canal and arrived in San Diego on December 12. She left California on January 8, 1945 and arrived in Hawaii five days later. After additional training, she moved on to Ulithi in the Caroline Islands arriving on February 6. There she was merged into Task Force 58 to provide anti-aircraft defense for the carriers USS Enterprise and USS Saratoga.
On February 10, 1945, the fleet conducted the first air strikes on Tokyo followed by 19 days of supporting the landings on Iwo Jima. In March, 1945, the USS Alaska was part of the fleet supporting the invasion of Okinawa. The next two months were spent shelling the island and providing anti-aircraft defense. This was a time of intense kamikaze action by Japanese pilots and the ship was successful in downing several Japanese aircraft before they could carry out their mission. In late July, USS Alaska was part of a raid on Japanese positions near Shanghai, China along with three battleships and three escort carriers.
The atomic bomb attacks on Japan on August 6 and August 9, 1945 brought the Pacific war to a close. On August 30, the ship left Okinawa and sailed to Japan. She moved on to Inchon, Korea to support US Army activities removing Japanese soldiers that had occupied Korea. On September 26, 1945, she sailed to Tsingtao, China to support the 6th Marine Division and stayed there until November 13. She then sailed back to Korea to take on a group of soldiers returning to the US. She disembarked the soldiers in San Francisco and arrived at the Boston Navy Yard on December 18 after again going through the Panama Canal.
The crew was involved in preparations to put the ship into reserve. The USS Alaska departed Boston on February 1, 1946 and arrived at Bayonne, NJ the next day. Don was promoted on February 1, 1946 to QM2c (E-5). As the USS Alaska was never reactivated, he was a member of the crew for its entire active service life. In all the action the ship had experienced, only two crew injuries were reported.
Don was discharged from the US Navy on February 9, 1946 and returned to Templeton. He was married to his wife Shirley in 1951. Don operated a Standard Oil tank wagon service as well as serving as a long-time bus driver for Kuemper High School. He died on February 5, 1974 at age 51.