Born on June 6, 1945, Dennis was the son of Bernard R. Schmidt and Belle A. Schmidt of North Plainfield, New Jersey. He was born and lived in Halifax, where he attended Tower Road School. He later moved to Kentville with his parents and lived there attending Kentville High School for four years before moving to the United States.

While in New Jersey, Dennis enlisted in the US Marine Corps on August 12, 1964, in New York, and upon completion of Boot Camp, at Parris Island, South Carolina, then Infantry Training at Camp Geiger, he was assigned to his first unit for duty as a Rifleman with Company H, 2d Battalion, 6th Marines, 2d Marine Division FMF at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina on December 11, 1964.

After leaving on October 8, 1965, he returned to his unit where he received orders for duty in Vietnam, and upon arrival in South East Asia on April 19, 1966, he was assigned to and served with Company E, 2d Battalion, 4th Marines, 3d Marine Division (Rein) FMF in northern Quang Tri Province.

With the termination of Operation HASTINGS, Operation PRAIRIE began in northern Quang Tri Province. On August 8, a Recon Team on patrol northeast of the Rockpile made contact with an enemy force, and a reaction squad was sent to reinforce the team, with the enemy retreating into the heavy undergrowth, both Marine units then moved to a designated location where a helicopter extraction could be made. Arriving at their destination, the ground units encountered a reinforced NVA Company; a fierce firefight broke out with the superior foe, and supporting arms from fixed-wing aircraft to artillery were called and began pounding the enemy. By nightfall, most of the troops were picked up from the hot LZ (Landing Zone), with sixteen men remaining on the ground until morning. Casualties sustained during the battle were four Marines killed in the action and eighteen men wounded. One of the casualties was CPL Schmidt, who was killed by hostile rifle fire.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com