Washington County, WI – On Saturday, May 20, 2023, 75-year-old Army veteran David “Dave” Schmidt of Kewaskum, WI, will be joining 14 other Washington County vets on the Stars & Stripes Honor Flight to Washington D.C.
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In 1967, David Schmidt was drafted into the US Army and began his military service with boot camp at Ft. Campbell, Ky, followed by Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at Ft. Polk, LA. Ft. Polk was the ‘stepping off point’ for soldiers being sent to Vietnam.
The training was more rigorous as the camp was 20%-30% swamp and other terrains you could experience in Vietnam. Schmidt said, “We’d be going through water, holding our weapon above our heads, making sure our supplies didn’t get wet.”
Schmidt served as a staff driver (11B20) for both the Pentagon and the White House. “I was always on call. Three other guys plus myself lived in the Driver’s Room which was in a room down below the barracks. When I was called, I would jump out of bed and into the vehicle, pick up the general or other staff personnel and take them to meetings,” Schmidt said.
In addition to staff driver, Schmidt was a guard for the Jefferson Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. He found the position exciting as thousands of people passed through each day to view the memorial. “Funny part about it is people would want to take their picture with me. I’d have my weapon with me, standing at attention. I probably had 100 pictures or so taken of me. I was always in my dress blues,” said Schmidt.
Though the guard duty at the memorial was rewarding, there was one part of the job Schmidt detested, “I had to shave every day. I hated that.”
Schmidt enjoyed traveling in DC when he wasn’t driving a captain, colonel or general around. He and his friends would go downtown DC to walk around and see everything downtown. They would spend time along the Potomac fishing.
At one point a colonel tried to talk Schmidt into taking on the role of a guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Requirements were that you had to be at least 6’1″ and 180 pounds. “The rules were really strict,” Schmidt said, “You have to be able to walk in the rain, snow, and everything had to be perfect every day. It was a tough thing. You also had to stay in DC, and I wanted to travel the US.” Schmidt declined the opportunity.
Schmidt has been married to his wife, Rae, for 53 years. They have two adult daughters, Mandy and Christa, and two grandchildren, Douglas Joseph (DJ) and Adeline.
Upon his honorable discharge from the Army, Schmidt entered the printing industry and worked for a time in silk screening at a company in West Bend. He then went to RR Donnelly and was the maintenance supervisor, repairing machines and air conditioners.
Retirement followed this career and Schmidt enjoyed time in the woods, hunting for deer and squirrels.
Woodworking has been in Schmidt’s blood since he built birdhouses with his Dad in their garage as a young boy. “I really like woodworking. When my wife and I were married, I put up a shed and turned it into a woodworking shop. I made kitchen cabinets on the side and built other things like beds and…you name it, anything made of wood,” Schmidt said. He never worries about making mistakes with his craft, “You just put it in the wood stove and it disappears.”
Schmidt is one of 14 veterans from Washington County, WI
that are traveling on the May 20 Honor Flight
Schmidt has been back in the DC area since his time in the Army. “Fifteen years ago we bought a camper and drove out east to the ocean. We went to DC to show the kids where I had spent time. We went back across the Potomac near Arlington Cemetery and we saw all the sights.”
On a more serious note, Schmidt’s older brother, Steve, serving in Vietnam while he was going through basic training and AIT (Ft. Polk) he had assumed he’d be getting his orders for Vietnam. He wrote to his brother to let him know he would be “visiting in 6 weeks.”
“My brother wrote back to me and let me know that I was full of “BS” because two brothers could not serve at the same time in a war zone. He told me about the Sullivan’s who were five brothers that were in the Navy and on a ship that got blown up. All five brothers died,” said Schmidt.
“I got lucky and got dispensation from going to Vietnam and could stay stateside. It was heaven sent,” Schmidt said.
Steve Schmidt was a roadbuilder in the Vietnam jungle who cleared the way for soldiers and vehicles. “Steve told me that the worst part was when the jets would fly overhead and spray the trees with Agent Orange,” said Schmidt, “He made it back and we got together later on and we were very, very happy we could see each other.” The joy was not to last as Steve suffered severely from the effects of Agent Orange and ended up taking his life.
Thinking back on a more sobering aspect of his military service, Schmidt said, “There would be anywhere from four to seven funerals per day that I had to take my Colonel to. I would drop him off, hide about five blocks away and wait until the funeral was over to pick him up again. From where I would be parked I could hear gunshots and taps each time, and each time tears would come to my eyes.”
“People would try to talk to me and I could hardly talk because you know darn well they were burying a soldier from Vietnam, and that was a sad thing; it was terrible,” said Schmidt.
Schmidt will be going on the Honor Flight with an appointed chaperone. He is most looking forward to seeing the Jefferson Memorial again, the reflecting pool, and the Washington Monument.
While 15 veterans from Washington County, WI are on the May 20, 2023 flight, two have asked that their names not be published.
Click HERE to read about other Washington County veterans
on the May 20, 2023 flight
Stars and Stripes Honor Flight is the Milwaukee area hub of the Honor Flight Network. Founded in 2008, Stars and Stripes Honor Flight has flown more than 7,600 WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War veterans from southeastern Wisconsin on a one-day, all-expense-paid trip to Washington D.C.
