David Schreiner was a product of southwest Wisconsin. Born and raised in Lancaster, living just blocks away from the Grant County Courthouse. By the recounting from people who knew him, Dave was a good boy who helped people whenever he could, and he was really good at playing football.

How good? Playing for the Wisconsin Badgers, Schreiner was named All-American twice, and was named 1941 MVP of the entire Big Ten Conference. On a team which also had Elroy ‘Crazylegs’ Hirsch, Schreiner was a special member of that team.

He was drafted by the Detroit Lions, but before he could go on and play professionally, World War II called, and Dave, like many on his team and in America, answered that call, and like 407,316 of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines that served, David Schreiner paid for victory with his life.

It is Dave’s story, and the story of several other prominent college football stars who then joined the Marines and fought in the Pacific that are the subject of the upcoming Netflix film The Mosquito Bowl, which comes out in limited release this Friday.

In the area, the only theater playing The Mosquito Bowl is at Lancaster’s Grantland Theater, which is the theater Schreiner would have gone to when he was a kid, as he was born two years before it opened. It will be playing, starting on Friday Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.; Saturday Oct. 31 at 1:40, 4:20 and 7 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1:40 p.m.; and then Nov. 3-5 at 7 p.m.

The Sunday showing will be followed by a discussion of Schreiner and the film attended by Judy Corfield, who is Dave Schreiner’s niece.

In addition to the movie, the Grant County History Museum has extended hours for their exhibits, that include artifacts and items from David Schreiner’s life. The museum will be open from 1 to 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, as well as 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1.
On Nov. 3-5, the museum will be open from 1 to 6 p.m.

Bissinger, who has worked with Director Peter Berg on previous projects, such as the film and TV adaptations of his book, Friday Night Lights, was drawn to the story of the Marines who played in ‘The Mosquito Bowl,’ a friendly game amongst former athletes held on Guadalcanal in December 1944. Of the 65 people involved, 15 were killed in action, and time has taken almost the rest - only one person was still alive from that day when the book came out in 2023.

The book tied the stories of several of the men who played in a game on Guadalcanal on Christmas Eve 1944 during the waining days of WWII. 

Schreiner was shot in Okinawa on June 20, 1945 during what some believe to be a fake surrender by a Japanese soldier. He died 10 hours later of his wounds on June 21, just 12 hours before the Japanese official surrender of the island.

“He could have sent out others,” Bissinger said of that patrol that Schreiner died on. As the leader of his group, Buzz noted it was not Dave to put others in harm’s way. “That wasn’t Dave’s style.”

“I felt it was important to memorialize them. We forget very quickly,” he explained. “I think there’s at least one generation that I don’t even know if they know about Okinawa. I don’t know how much they really know about the brutality of war, much less World War II. There aren’t many veterans left, and we have to remember, we have to memorialize those who gave their lives for this country at tragically young ages.”

English actor Tom Francis is playing Schreiner, who served with the 4th Regiment of the Marines’ 6th Division.

Francis remarked that he came closer to Schreiner during the production as he emulated his tendency to overthink. “I remember asking Bill loads of questions about whether I was doing a good job or what to do in certain situations and he just looked at me and said, ‘That’s your in. You overthink just as much as Schreiner did.’ So I just let myself feel that.”

“Dave was such a charismatic, charming man who was really self-deprecating,” Francis continued, noting how much he spoke with Bissinger to make sure he captured the spirit of Schreiner. “I feel like Buzz does such an excellent job of capturing that in the book, and then when you speak to him, you can feel his love for Dave. I think that says an awful lot about the kind of man Dave was.”

“The more you find out about what these men went through, the more your heart breaks,” Francis continued. “I’m just proud to be a small part in helping shine a light on their stories so more people know these incredible men.” 

“I would just love people to understand how young all these men were and how they had the rest of their lives ahead of them, but sadly, those lives were cut short.”

“He struck me as incredibly decent, very very self-effacing, shy, really did not like drawing attention to himself, had a beautiful relationship with his parents, I could tell from letters and some of the things his mom wrote,” Bissinger continued about his own research into making the book. “He was not ‘A’ All-American, but ‘THE’ All-American.”

“Dave affected me, they all affected me, they stay with me,” Bissinger added. “What he did and what so many others did in World War II, I don’t think could be done today. I don’t think people have any sense of service, including me. I believe in giving back, and this is a very small way of giving back.”

“I have a lot of respect for Dave, a lot of respect for his family and a lot of respect for Lancaster,” Bissinger said when he came to the community in 2023 as part of a book tour. His visit coincided with the anniversary of Schreiner’s death.  “I think it’s the quintessentially great American community, and I really mean that. In an age where American communities all over the country are really struggling. So it’s fun for me to be here.”

“He came from a great town,” Bissinger said of Schreiner. “I’ve spent time here, I did a lot of research. To me, he, his family and the town represented the very best of America.”

Corfield remembers the day the telegram was delivered to the home of her grandparents, with whom she was staying with at the time. “I remember standing at the arch when he came walking up, and when he walked away,” Corfield remarked.

David was the world to his family - they got season tickets to the Badgers, and they went to every game, and held those tickets until 1999 when Judy’s father passed away. The younger members of the Schreiner family went to every away game as well, and Judy remarked that one of her grandfather’s greatest regrets is that he did not take the long train ride to California to see his son’s last game in the East West Shriner game.

“My parents and grandparents would be very happy with how he is portrayed,” Corfield stated about the movie. Not one for ‘war films, Judy has seen the films several times - first at the 6th Marines Reunion in Quantico, VA, and again in Los Angeles for the premiere.

While it was not a permanent home for her, Judy said that Lancaster and southwest Wisconsin is the one she feels the most continuous connections with, the one she plan on being buried in, and the one place David always planned to return to.

Lancaster is the closest showing of the film in southwest Wisconsin - it has a limited release until it is going on Netflix in December, and Fitchburg is the next closest showing.