Civil War History Is Family Project

Envision this as Ray Schnierer Sr. of Costa Mesa paints a verbal picture of his visit to the Civil War battlefield in Gettysburg:

“It was the strangest feeling in Gettysburg when the fog rolled in over the field. It was very early in the morning when it was totally still and I could see the equestrian statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee loom up out of the fog.

“I could almost hear him giving orders. It gave me an eerie feeling.

“As I was looking across the field, I imagined that the fog was really smoke from the black gunpowder they used in that war to fire their cannons.

“It was like you could see the colors flying and hear the band play as they did in those days when the soldiers charged across the battlefield.” And so Schnierer relived in his mind yet another episode of the Civil War, which he and his wife, Barbara, and three children, Ray Jr., 32, Lori, 20, and Steven, 18, have zealously studied together.

As a family, they have visited 35 Civil War battlefields, collecting memorabilia as they went along.

“It started out when Ray Jr. was in junior high and his teacher divided the class into north and south sides, and studied the origins and reasons for the Civil War,” Schnierer recalled.

He said the entire family became fascinated with the Civil War and its effect on the young nation.

“You associate with your kids as they grow up and as parents we got wrapped up with them in the history of the Civil War,” explained the retired business manager for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

Besides studying the war, “We also started to collect artifacts while we were on those fact-finding trips to those Southern states where the fighting actually occurred,” he explained. Besides a “pretty good” library on the war, Schnierer has general orders, muskets, swords and a surgeon’s kit from the war in his collection of artifacts.

But the prize of his collection--much of it mounted on walls in his home--is a pocket watch once owned by Sidney Lee, the brother of Gen. Lee. An 1890 metal-engraved portrait of Gen. Lee is his second favorite relic.

“Most of the collection is from the Confederate Army side,” he said, pointing out that Union Army artifacts are easier to obtain. While he has some of each, Schnierer notes that Confederate artifacts will be worth more in the long run.

Schnierer’s son Ray Jr. lived out a fantasy by playing the role of a Union soldier last summer as part of a group of young men who were hired as park rangers at the Petersburg National Battlefield Park in Virginia. He and others re-enacted Civil War battles on the actual battlefields as part of the park’s living history presentation. He plans to do it again this summer.

A bus driver for the Newport-Mesa district, Ray Jr. hopes some day to become a resident historian at one of the battlefield parks.

His father said that one day he will pass the collection of artifacts on to the children. “It will remind them of what a great country this is and what it took to make it that way,” he said.

Huntington Beach residents Virginia and Everett (Deke) Diekoff, both retired, have four vehicles that they use for fishing, sightseeing and vacations.

Two are four-wheel-drive vehicles, one is a recreational mini-home and the fourth, their prize, is a 1954 Chevrolet pickup truck. Bought new, it has been driven only 38,000 miles.

“We don’t drive it any more, but we keep the battery up and keep it in running condition,” Virginia Diekoff said. “It’s a fun thing and we keep it polished.”

Asked if they planned on selling it, she answered: “There’s no reason to sell any of them.”

Acknowledgments--Julie Joosten, 9, continued on the path to the national Elks Hoop Shoot contest by winning the state competition Saturday in Fresno. The Mission Viejo youngster shot 16 out of 25 baskets to win against both boys and girls. She moves on to the regional finals in Las Vegas March 24.