The papers of Sterling W. Schallert are divided into 3 series: Papers, Photographs, and Audio Recordings.
Papers (1899-2001) contains materials relating to Schallert's World War II service and also reflects his great interest in researching the history of Landing Ships-Tank (LSTs) and World War II amphibious assaults. Wartime materials include two pieces of Japanese propaganda, intended for Australian troops, which are fairly sexually explicit and encourage the men to return home before Americans steal their wives and sweethearts. The notebooks contain Schallert's handwritten notes taken in classes at Midshipman school in San Diego. The hand-decorated folder was made to hold his collection of poems and songs, which show the humor through which soldiers and sailors viewed their service at times. The path he took to the Pacific theater and back to the United States is traced on two maps. The biographical information/reminiscences folder contains a narrative description of his service during the war years. Following the war, Schallert collected and wrote articles pertaining to LSTs, Naval ships in general, and amphibious assaults (largely involving LSTs) during the war, many of which can be found in this series. The materials relating to the LSTs, in particular, contains information that would be difficult to find elsewhere. He also has the World War II reminiscences of Alvin Steinbach, a Wisconsin native who served aboard a different LST than Schallert. Some certificates and a newspaper clipping document the Spanish-American War service of Schallert's uncle, Frank, and a photocopied burial card reveals the details of his service at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Photographs (1898-1945) contain two scrapbooks that document Schallert's World War II service. While they contain mostly photographs, there are some assorted paper documents in them. The 1943-1945 scrapbook, in particular, contains foreign currency and several pages of colorful Japanese propaganda (similar to that found in the Papers series) that is less sexually suggestive but equally adamant in telling Australian soldiers that their best interests lie in surrendering. The photographs in the scrapbooks show Schallert in uniform, LSTs in action, and other crew members in both formal and informal poses. There are also shots of Schallert's ship, LST 465, at its launching and in action in the Pacific along with pictures of other LSTs. A large photograph of Moro Bay, California reflects his final assignment of the war at the Naval base located there. This series also contains photographs relating to Frank Schallert and George Van Norman. Several shots of Frank in uniform and candid photographs of U.S. soldiers and Philippine natives document his service overseas during the Philippine War. The three Van Norman photographs consist of a group shot of Company F, 18th U.S. Infantry, the unit's baseball team in baseball uniforms, and a military funeral, presumably Van Norman's.
Audio Recordings contains tapes and discs of Schallert discussing his time spent on shore patrol duty in San Francisco and how much he enjoyed being a supply officer on an LST during the war.
