Don Schwandt

Nine year old Don Schwandt of Appleton played with war toys in 1942. Friends of the family gave him paper soldiers, tanks, jeeps, and battleships. He sent in box tops for a pilot's instrument panel through "Sparkies" cereal. He made airplanes and a wooden gun. He used the gun when playing war games with neighborhood children. Schwandt acted as a German soldier, even mimicking the language. He had heard his grandparents speak German his whole life.

Schwandt learned about the war on the radio, at the movie theater, and in school. He participated in scrap drives and bought savings stamps at Columbus Elementary School on Oneida Street. Schwandt later attended Roosevelt Junior High School and Appleton High School. He married Gwen Krahling in 1967 and they raised three children. He retired from Valley Drafting as structural draftsman in 2000 and still lives in Appleton.

Don Schwandt shows patriotism by wearing a helmet and holding an American flag, 1939
Courtesy of Don Schwandt