Uncle Stash’s Silver Star

“Every man has two deaths, when he is buried in the ground and the last time someone says his name.”
― Ernest Hemingway

Stash is short for Stashu and Stashu means Stanley in Polish. He was married to my grandmother’s sister Ruthie who passed away in February 2020. Stash passed away in 1963 when I was six. I don't remember much about him but there were always stories about Stash in World War II. Rumors he was a member of a special forces group that captured a high level Nazi general. 

Stash worked in a factory in Springfield, MA before and then after the war. From what my parents have told me he was the kind of person that went to work, came home and went back to work again the next day. Never talked about the war but does have a Silver Star on his gravestone. 

After Aunt Ruthie passed away I did a little poking around on the web and came across Stash’s Silver Star Citation:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant Stanley J. Schab (ASN: 313466007), United States Army, for gallantry in action while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force while serving with Company M, 143d Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division, in action against the enemy on 3 December 1944 in France. Sergeant Schab and his men were manning a machine gun in a house on the edge of a town when a large group of the enemy infiltrated around the building and cut their communication lines. Although hostile fire was coming through every window of the house, Sergeant Schab moved from man to man, firing his sub-machine gun from each position to encourage them. When a burst of automatic weapons fire knocked his gun from his hands, he picked the weapon up and continued to fire. One group of the enemy succeeded in reaching the yard, but Sergeant Schab killed two Germans and wounded another within five feet of the rear door. His vigorous and determined defense forced the enemy to withdraw. Later in the day, as he moved his outpost forward, he surprised and captured five Germans who were attempting to return to their own lines. When two other Germans tried to rescue their comrades, he killed one and wounded the second. His gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty, without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

December 3, 1944.... today it's just another day a long time ago - an obscure link on the web and a gravestone marker in a small cemetery in Western Massachusetts. 

So many veterans like Stash - a regular guy that went off, did some heroic stuff, and was fortunate enough to come back home to his regular life.... so we can have our regular lives. Many did not get to come back and many came back very different people. The world sure would be a very different place without our current service members and veterans stepping up. Hemingway finishes: 

"Stories, too die when the last person who knows the story dies. So the trick is not only to know the story, but to make people remember the story, so it will live on.”

We can't forget.

SNOWBALLEXPRESS.ORG the charity for the children of our fallen military heroes

Yesterday (11/30) I flew from Connecticut to Dallas for a meeting. At the Hartford airport gate I noticed two women and a young girl that was maybe 11. They stood out a bit - I could tell they were not experienced travelers and not the returning tired and frazzled business people you typically see on a Friday afternoon flight from the Northeast to Dallas.  If it was a flight to Orlando it would have made a little more sense......

I also noticed the American Airlines gate agents were holding small American flags and there were  hand-made signs on the wall by the jetway entrance welcoming three Snowball Express families. These people were allowed to board first so I knew something was up. Once we were all boarded the flight attendant announced these were families of fallen military service members traveling to Dallas-Fort Worth for 5 days.

When we got off the plane at DFW the airport was full of families and volunteers wearing blue Snowball Express t-shirts. I did a little more research online and found out there were 1,700 coming to the event from all over the country. During the five days the itinerary includes the Dallas Children's Parade, Six Flags, a rodeo, concerts, the Fort Worth Stockyards and a whole bunch more.

It was sad and exciting to see the families in DFW. Lots of kids that looked like they were connecting with a lot of old friends. I'm still thinking about that little girl and what her story was. Did she lose a mom or a dad? A heavy price to pay.

Snowball Express has been going for seven years now, starting in Southern California in 2006 and moving to the Dallas area in 2009. A worthy charity for volunteering and/or a donation.