Martin Schleis / Morton Spears - "One Man - Two Identities"

The Suburbanite
Posted Jul 03, 2010 @ 07:31 AM

Greentown, Ohio

One man who served in two branches of the military.

One man—so dedicated to his country that he was willing to sacrifice a relationship with his entire family in order to serve.

Martin J. Schleis was born Jan. 21, 1921. He went into the Marines in 1943, at the age of 22.

“He was in the infantry,” his niece, Paula Schleis, said. “He was in the Battle of Pellilou and the Battle of Okinawa. He came home the summer of 1945, after he was injured in Okinawa. He was honorably discharged.”

Paula’s mother, RoseAnn Schleis, remembers Martin’s stories.

“He told me what happened in the war. Martin was coming off of a boat to an island in Okinawa when his boat blew up from a bomb,” she said. “He and another friend were in the water for 24 hours before they got picked up. The day after getting picked up, his friend was shot and he died. He talked about how he was taught to shoot Japanese soldiers out of the trees. He spoke of how bad things were. He had to go into the jungle and you could hear a dime drop. All of a sudden, you heard this rustle and they would look up and they were all dead.”

Martin came home from war with post-traumatic stress and asked to be taken to a hospital.

“He said he was going nuts,” RoseAnn said. “He told my husband to put him away. They took him to Brecksville in 1947 and then to Chillicothe.”

Martin walked away from the hospital. His family never knew what happened to him.

“We looked everywhere,” said Clara Rohrer, Martin’s sister. “We could not find him.”

“The last time I saw him, he was in Chillicothe Hospital. He had loads and loads of educational books. That is the last we ever heard of him,” RoseAnn said of her brother-in-law.

In 1954, Martin walked into an Army recruiter’s office.

“They would not accept him because he was a disabled vet,” Paula said. “He says that the recruiter offered to change his identity, so he could. They said they would give him a different social security number to enlist him. They named him Morton Spears.”

Martin, now Morton, enlisted in the Army from 1954 until 1957.

“He did it because he wanted to serve that much,” RoseAnn said.

The family never knew.

“He had to hide,” RoseAnn said. “He had changed his name and when he came back, he went to a lawyer because he wanted to change his name back to Martin. They said if you do, you will probably be subject to jail because that’s forgery.”

Martin took on his new identity of Morton, moved to Cleveland and became a postal worker. “It had been 16 years since anyone had seen him,” RoseAnn said. “Martin was always fearful he would be caught for changing identities.”

The family kept their eyes open for their relative who had completely disappeared. “A nephew of mine told me, ‘Aunt Clara, there was a man here and he looked like Uncle Martin.’ I got his license plate number,” Clara said. “I called my niece. Her husband was with the a local police department and I asked if they could trace the plate and find out where he is at. They found him in Cleveland.”

The family could not believe that Martin was standing before them.

"He was so happy,” Clara recalled.

“It had been so many years without him,” RoseAnn said with emotion in her voice. “Every time someone says that it was a simple life back then, I think, it wasn’t for him. He spent his whole life for his country and then hiding away and nobody knew where he was.”

Martin went to school in Greentown and was one of 10 siblings.

“He was my big brother,” Clara said.” We were two years apart. He was very strong in his beliefs.”

“He was very patriotic,” RoseAnn added. “He had a flag in his house clear across his wall. That is how much he loved the United States.”

RoseAnn wanted everyone to know about Martin.

“He was so quiet,” said RoseAnn. “He never talked about what he did. I did this because my husband, Steve, always used to say, I can’t believe he served twice in the service and never told anyone what he did. He said he wanted to go out there and just yell to everybody what he did for his country. My mind always goes back to him because he was humble and quiet. I did this for my husband, too.”

The Ohio Veterans Memorial Park in Clinton wanted Martin to have a voice. A ceremony was held in Martin’s name. His burial flag was dedicated to the park by the family. On June 12, Martin’s flag flew over the park. Family and friends gathered to witness the event. A brick was laid by the family, in memory of Martin.

The flag will be displayed in Barberton until it is brought back to the park where it will permanently be on display.

Martin died July of 1997.

“We don’t have to be quiet anymore,” RoseAnn said.

Two gravestones lie in Greentown Cemetery. The first has the name of Martin J. Schleis. U.S. Marine Corps, World War II. The second was has the name of Morton J. Spears. U.S. Army, Korea.

“There is confusion,” said RoseAnn. “The funeral home says that he enlisted in 1954, after the Korean War. But yet, when the Army sent him a tomb stone, they put Korea on it.”

He talked about Korean War as well.

“When he came back he was such a lonely man,” said Paula. “He gave up his family. He lived alone in Cleveland. He was very confused. It was very hard to talk to him and he didn’t have a lot of friends. He was the kind of guy who would die and nobody would ever know the sacrifice he made.”

The family is so thankful for the park.

“Here it is, 14 years after his death and he is being honored,” Paula stated. “It is warm to know that you can be honored somewhere down the road. Someone can recognize the impact that you had. It is very moving for that reason.”

Patriot Guard Riders attended the event.

“Lots of times, you see individuals who were in two wars, but this individual, to be so dedicated to actually change his identity and start a new life to serve, it is an honor for us to be here,” Lakewood resident, Ralph Bago, stated. “He changed his identity to serve his country. We want to support him and show our respect. I think this is a once in a lifetime. This is a rarity.”

Ralph came to honor Martin, but he has another connection to the park.

“My younger brother is on the wall,” said Ralph. “He was killed in Nam. Bullet to the head. His name is Johnny Bago. He was supposed to get out, a month after he was killed. Didn’t make it home.”

Ken Noon, designer of the wall, heard Ralph’s words about his brother and handed him a park t-shirt.

“We want you to have this for your brother,” Noon said.

Feet away from Ralph, stood Martin’s family.

“This park is beautiful,” RoseAnn said.

“I think it is the prettiest one I have seen,” Clara added. “It is even nicer than the one in the Capitol.”