Bob Schmidt began his military service in 1968 by willingly enlisting, despite protests from his parents.
The draft had been established, and he thought it was just a matter of time before he was called up.
After graduating high school in 1967, he began working at Marion Body Works in Marion. Knowing there was a probability that he’d be heading into the military, he checked in with the veterans service office in Shawano. There, he learned about his options: He could go in as a draftee status, picking when to enlist.
“I figured this way I could pick where they’d send me instead of just getting told where to go,” said Schmidt. “It was a huge benefit because I went in October 1968, and it wasn’t terribly hot in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The weather was good. As soon as basic was over, it was close to Christmas and I got leave to come home for the holiday.”
After completing U.S. basic training in Kentucky, Schmidt was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for advanced individual training as a cannoneer with the 105 howitzer cannon.
“From there, I got orders to go to Hawaii for what I’d thought was advanced jungle training because the Vietnam War was big right then,” said Schmidt. “The Hawaiian National Guard was put on duty for six years. So as they aged out, I was called to fill in. I ended up in the Hawaiian National Guard. They’d load us up on planes, fly us over from our barracks to Honolulu to the Big Island of Hawaii, putting us way up in the mountains, right up there next to the volcanoes.”
Soon after Schmidt got off the plane at Honolulu, they heard former President Dwight Eisenhower had died. Within the first day, he was there when the infantry conducted a 21-gun salute at the military cemetery in Hawaii. The unit wasn’t stationed on the Big Island however, so they had to fly all the guns and the trucks and the unit back over to the cemetery.
As a gunner on a howitzer, which had a range of several miles, Schmidt was put in charge of loading the ammunition.
“The bullets were huge. I was one of the guys that started out loading the ammunition. I had to put the shells together with different charges of powder. They came separated. The gun powder came in little packs with strings on it and however many needed to get the proper distance, you load that many packs in.”
Just before leaving his military service, anything happening in the Pacific area, his unit would have been the first to be released to serve. At one point, Schmidt’s battalion was on the tarmac for three days awaiting any further flare-ups.
“Our unit was ready to be deployed with guns and trucks and equipment loaded up on huge C-141 planes,” said Schmidt. “We were there waiting and thankfully did not have to head out.”
Released after serving his two-year assignment, Schmidt had earned the rank of corporal. He returned to Wisconsin and tried his hand at a number of potential careers, such as working at Four Wheel Drive in Clintonville, then running a backhoe to put in septic systems and eventually, for a time, hauling calves all over the United States.
“I even tried my hand at selling insurance. That didn’t work; I was terrible,” said Schmidt.
Then he noticed an ad in the paper for the sheriff’s office in Shawano and applied for the position.
“And darned if I didn’t get the job,” said Schmidt.
Beginning with the police force in 1974, his salary was $450 per month.
“This job had no overtime, and we were put on 12-hour shifts if needed,” said Schmidt.
Moving quickly up the ranks, Schmidt went from jailer, to dispatcher, to patrolman — all in less than a year.
“Through the years progressing within the department, I was supervisor under different sheriffs and moved up to sergeant where I was running a shift. In the late 1980s with 20 years in, I felt the time was right to run for Shawano County sheriff,” said Schmidt. “The crew made me look good. I was the face. I was lucky enough I could talk to people, and I let my guys do the work. I retired in 2007 after serving in the police force for 33 years.”
Schmidt is a member of the Caroline Legion Blashe-Peters-Tober Post 456 of the American Legion where he attends monthly meetings.
“Our main purpose as veterans is to do as much as we can to honor past veterans, to donate what we can, where it will do as much good as possible,” said Schmidt.
To honor all servicemen and women who’ve served, Schmidt — along with the Caroline Legion branch — takes part in color and honor guards for Memorial Day and Veterans Day events, parades and especially presenting the honor guard at military funerals.
Before the fireworks at the annual National Night Out in Marion, the organization conducts a special tribute gun salute. Instead of using rifles as usual, fireworks are discharged. As Schmidt gives the command to fire, they shoot a rocket off.
“I think in my military time, I served I was very fortunate of where I went — what I got to see and do. Plus, I get great benefits now with the VA and good health insurance. They don’t owe me, I owe them,” said Schmidt.
Bob Schmidt loads ammunition as gunner on a 105 howitzer cannon, stationed at Pohakuhaku, Hawaii, in April 1969. (Contributed)
