Marian Grace Schedler became a special friend to my uncle, Charles D. Knight, while at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, in 1943 for nine months. He was training to be an Army soldier in the 2nd Infantry Division in Battery B of the 15th Field Artillery Battalion to use a howitzer in the European Theater of Operations in World War II.
While at a dance, Uncle Charlie was speaking to an adult lady who was a chaperone for the dance. They talked for quite awhile and by the end of the evening she had grown fond of my uncle's character. She said, "When I return to La Crosse, I am going to see if a young lady would like to meet you. She is a very nice girl and I would not introduce her to you unless I felt you would treat her as a gentleman. Would you mind if I ask her?"
Uncle Charlie shared he wouldn't mind meeting the young lady.
My uncle was from Maine and at the age of 27 was very homesick and missing his family a great deal. He had a girlfriend at home in Maine, but it was not a serious relationship. He thought having a platonic relationship with a young lady while at Camp McCoy would help him being so far from home. Of course, just having a female companion as a soldier didn't sound bad to him though he was concerned if Marian would be looked down upon as many "girlfriends" of soldiers were during this time in the United States. In fact, my uncle will share this concern with her.
In a few days he received a call from the lady he had met at the dance. Arrangements were made for him to meet Marian at the boarding home she was living at in La Crosse for a meal. My uncle met her along with the lady who owned the home and a few others.
The first meeting went very well and Marian and Uncle Charlie began to go out to a variety of places in the months ahead. They will have other meals together, visit special sights in Wisconsin, was introduced to her family in Tomah, Wisconsin, and just spent time together at the boarding home in La Crosse or at her family's home in Tomah.
Marian became a very special person in his life. He knew and told her their relationship could never become serious because of the war. Even if he survived the war he would return to Maine and he couldn't see how a serious relationship could happen since she would be living in Wisconsin. I, personally, believe by some things shared in his letters they had feelings that grew for each other but each kept those feelings to themselves.
You may be wondering how I have these pictures. I have been a genealogist for several years. I have discovered ways to contact living relatives of the family tree I am working on during the years. I sent out emails or Facebook messages to some individuals that had the last name of Marian's married name that lived in Wisconsin or had at one time around the area of Tomah. It did not take long to receive a message from Jeff Sauer, her grandson, and Tom Sauer, Marian's youngest son.
Jeff and Tom along with other family members of Marian's have become faithful readers of my posts and were willing to help me learn more about Marian's family and her married family including sending me several pictures. I wish to thank them all for being so helpful, patient and cooperative with all my questions and requests.
Marian next to her sister Irene the bride.
Irene is likely the sister Uncle Charlie
and Marian visited on one of their trips.
boarding with Marian in La Crosse.
I wonder if this is the Mary?
Marian and Bernard will have 40 years of marriage which included 4 more sons though one son died when only a day old. Marian will have a full house of men. Two boys from Bernard's first wife and three boys from Marian. As the saying goes, "A husband is just an older boy with larger toys," so Marian had six boys or men over those 40 years of marriage of her own. She could have had a small unit of her own soldiers. One of the boys did serve in the military.
The whole family in the early 1980's.
Marian will still have years ahead of her and some pictures of those years were sent to me as well.
Marian with son, Tom
Her family misses her greatly. There are also others that miss her though we never met her. My uncle passed away in 1984 but there are many family members that still remember our Uncle Charlie and we will remember Marian even if just through the letters my uncle wrote while serving his country. Thank you, Marian, for being a special friend to our uncle, Sgt. Charles D. Knight. You will always hold a special place in our hearts.
When Uncle Charlie left Camp McCoy in October 1943 and goes to Camp Shanks to get on a ship to Northern Ireland, we know Marian was going to send some items to Uncle Charlie's mother. We also know he encouraged his mother to invite Marian to Maine while he was overseas. Letters were written by Marian to Uncle Charlie's mother. From the letters Uncle Charlie wrote while fighting in the European Theater of Operations, we know there was some letters between Marian and Uncle Charlie as he trained in Northern Ireland for about 8 months and then landed on Omaha Beach on D-DAY+1, June 7, 1944, and fought battles in Normandy, Brest, Battle of the Bulge, and finally liberating Czechoslovakia in March 1945 just before V-E Day.
Uncle Charlie will return to the states in July 1945 and head to Camp Swift in Texas where he trained new recruits to go to the Pacific Theater of Operations to fight Japan. It was at Camp Swift Uncle Charlie became Sgt. Charles D. Knight. The atomic bomb will end the war with Japan so instead of going to Japan Uncle Charlie was honorably discharged in October 1945 and came home to Gorham, Maine.
Sgt. Charles D. Knight
While Uncle Charlie was in the last months of the war in 1945 and would soon return to the states, something very interesting was happening in Wisconsin. No letter has been found though I am sure Marian sent a letter to Uncle Charlie giving him the news she was dating someone because of her kind personality that clearly is shared in Uncle Charlie's letters.
A young man at the age of 32 from La Crosse, Wisconsin, had recently lost his young wife leaving him with two young sons. Sometime in 1945 Marian begins to date this young man and will marry him. His name was Bernard J. Sauer.
Marian and Bernard Sauer in the 1970's
Bernard worked several years as a Police Detective for the La Crosse police department. He retired in 1963 and the family that were still at home moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where Bernard will work for the State Patrol at their district headquarters and later for the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
I am sure you would like to meet the five sons. Here they are for you. A larger picture fades them out in the first picture so I kept it small.
I will let you decide where each son is seated.
In 1985 Bernard J. Sauer will draw his last breath. Leaving a family that dearly misses him.
Marian will still have years ahead of her and some pictures of those years were sent to me as well.
Marian with her grandson, Jeff Sauer
Marian will join her husband on June 19, 2004.
Her family misses her greatly. There are also others that miss her though we never met her. My uncle passed away in 1984 but there are many family members that still remember our Uncle Charlie and we will remember Marian even if just through the letters my uncle wrote while serving his country. Thank you, Marian, for being a special friend to our uncle, Sgt. Charles D. Knight. You will always hold a special place in our hearts.
As parents, Joy and I, also lost a child. His name was Paul Austin Lagasse and passed away in 2016 at the age of 25. We know the pain parents go through when they lose a child. I, therefore, dedicate this post to Marian and Bernard's sons that passed away before Marian and Bernard. They are Frank Arthur Sauer and Michael Robert Sauer.
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