I Remember "Schuh"

I learned that John was very tenacious. He had tried twice to get into the Academy, got into the Class of 1963, but had failed academics when his mother died. He washed out of '63, but was readmitted to '64.

One of our great shared experiences was going on the same European Field Trip together. In London one night we encountered two Arabic men in turbans, who stopped us to ask directions. They spoke no English, and kept pointing at their map. I tried my limited German. Didn't work. Then John tried his limited Russian. Their eyes lit up. Eventually John got them on their way.

When we stopped in Bavaria we had a day off. John, Jerry Schlegele, and myself rented bikes. We stopped and bought a loaf of bread, and a bottle of wine. As we bike along we came to the border crossing into Austria. We managed to convince the lone guard that our US ID's were all we need to get in. A few mile on, we found a nice spot by a water fall to enjoy our "old world" lunch.

Not only did we share rooms during the trip, we shared confinements for getting back to our hotel in Berlin in time. Following the European Field Trip, we had three weeks leave. John and I joined some classmates who had rented a car to go to Paris. We were not sure what next, but we had to see Paris. During the overnight drive, our classmates taught us a bit of French.

After separating from our car mates, John and I found a room on the Left Bank, four stories up a set of rickety stairs that were old in Napoleon's time. The bed sagged so much we spent the night trying to turn over, then rolling back into each other.

The next morning we wanted to see the Eiffel Tower. John went downstairs to ask if we could leave our luggage at the desk while we did so. That left we in the room alone. The maid, also from Napoleon's time, started jabbering at me in French. All that went through my mind was the small bit of French I'd learned the night before: "Vu le vu, avec moi?" ( Would you go to bed with me?) I couldn't use it. Fortunately, John returned in time to rescue me from my embarrassment.

We saw the Eiffel Tower, an toured the Left Bank. We found out we could not get into the Louvre, so decided to take a train north, where John caught a space available flight home, and I continued on to England.

After graduation, I stayed an extra week in Colorado Springs to attend Jane and John's wedding. I had met a few other dates of John's, but he was thoroughly smitten with Jane. Jane was a class act - warm, welcoming, and funny. When I showed her the scar on my shoulder from a cadet surgery, she nick-named me "Scarbod" and always called me that.

John invited me to visit his home town in Fayetville Arkansas later that summer, to meet up with him and Jane after their honeymoon. I arrived a few days early, but John's dad made me most welcome. I needed a haircut, so went to the barber shop his dad suggested. When I sat down, the barber said. "Oh, you must be that friend of John Schuhmacher's." After Jane and John arrived, I was treated to a week of southern hospitality.

During pilot training, I had an occasion to visit John and Jane while he was in navigator training. While Jane was fixing dinner, John gave me a tour of all the constellation. I was most impressed, not only by his knowledge, but how quickly John had faced the reality of not being a fighter pilot, and applied himself to his new opportunity. His Air Force career is solid testimony to his hard work and dedication.

When I met the love of my life, Nancy, we decided to get married in July, 1968. I wanted John to be my best man but by then he was in Quam. He wasn't sure he could make it, so my brother was best man. But John DID make it, and was there for me, as he always was. I learned how much he thought of me when he and Jane gave their first born son, Bret, my name as his middle name.

Later, John was stationed at Ellsworth AFB, in Rapid City, South Dakota, 50 miles from where I grew up. So Jane and John got acquainted with my beloved Black Hills. When I was en route to Vietnam, Nancy and I went through Ellsworth on our way back from Survival School in Washington state enroute to Denver. As always, we had a great visit.

Over the years, we kept in touch via our annual Christmas cards. Once John separated from the Air Force, he worked as a financial advisor. Jane became chronically ill, which I only learned in any detail when I talked to John a few months before Jane's death. It was clear to me that he gave the same dedication to caring for Jane as he had given to his careers. He called me the day she died to tell me. He was clearly heart-broken. But I was not totally surprised. That morning when I had come downstairs I had felt a cold chill in the hallway - so cold that I shivered. I'll always believe it was Jane saying goodbye to Scarbod.

I last saw John at our 50th Class of 1964 reunion. It was the first time we had seen each other in decades. I'll never forget the heartfelt hug we shared, and how great it was "catching up." He brought along his daughter Leilani, and her husband, proudly showing them his "old stomping grounds." It was great to meet them, and so fantastic to see John again.

So it is very sad to me to learn that John has passed to the other side. But for me, he will never be gone. The Lakota who lived near the Black Hills believed that when someone died, they became a star in the Milky Way. So whenever I look at the Milky Way, I'll think of John showing me the stars. Schuh will always be a part of me.

Al Larson 7/28/2021