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Claude Schmidt took off his sophomore year of college in 1943 to return home to work the farm for his father Alfred, who had nearly died from a burst appendix the year before and was unable to handle all the farm chores. Working the family farm also gave Claude a deferment from the draft which followed the Pearl Harbor attack and the US's entry into World War II, which being a pre-med college student probably would not have.
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47: Claude Schmidt's high-school graduation photo, 1941. He was 16 years old.
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46: When Claude Schmidt was 14 years old, his dear pet cat Caesar gto run over in the road by their house. He asked his mother to take this picture of him with the cat.
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45: Ruben F. Schmidt's high-school graduation photo, 1937. He was 16 years old.
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44: Memorial Day 1936. Brother Ruben (center) and Claude (right) Schmidt pose in front of Spirea bush under elm tree on the family farm. The "chicken" barn is visible on the right.
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43: Alfred Schmidt and sons Ruben and Claude, circa 1936, pose on the driveway of the family farm.
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42: Claude Schmidt's 8th-grade class at the Hohn one-room country schoo, 1936. Left-to-right are Claude, Phyllis Peter, Bennie Schwartz, and Lorene Otto.
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41: June, 1936: Fred W. Schmidt, son Alfred, unknown (possibly William's daughter), Fred's brother William, Alfred's sons Ruben and Claude. At the back portch of the farmhouse built by Fred W. and owned by Alfred at the time the photo was taken.
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40: Road in front of the Schmidt farm after a big snow storm about 1932. The Herman H. Schmidt farmstead (later Vernon Schmidt's) is in the background. AlfredSchmidt is in front of his Model T Ford with son Claude and dog Glückie.
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39: Anna Fredericka & Fred W. Schmidt, circa 1930s.
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38: Brothers Claude & Ruben Schmidt on family farm, about 1928
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49: Alfred Schmidt family circa 1943, when oldest son Ruben was called into military service in World War II. Left-to-right are Irmgard (née Ruhbusch), Claude, Alfred, and Ruben.
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50: Claude Schmidt worked the family farm in 1943 with these horses. The "chicken barn" is in the background.
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51: Claude Schmidt and dog Mickey on the family farm, about 1944. Claude is wearing his Navy midshipman's uniform because he was enrolled in the Navy's V-12 program for pre-med students.
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52: Claude Schmidt in Navy cadet uniform, circa 1944.
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53: Claude Schmidt in Navy cadet uniform in 1944 at age 19.
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54: Alfred Schmidt models his World War I Army uniform alongside his son Ruben in his World War II uniform, about 1944.
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55: Alfred Schmidt in his World War I uniform alongside son Claude in his Navy cadet uniform, about 1945.
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56: Claude Schmidt on the family farm with a sheep, about 1946.
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57: Claude Schmidt college graduation, 1946.
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58: Claude Schmidt was working with his father Alfred (pictured) cutting hay when the load tipped over (about 1946). Claude ran to get a second pitchfork to clean up, and also grabbed his camera to get this shot. His father was less than amused that Claude stopped to take a picture.
