By Joel McCleary
When Lester Schilling received a letter in the email telling him he
was drafted, he wasn’t upset or ruined at the thought of it. Instead, he
accepted this call to duty to help serve his country without complaints. At the
time “I didn’t know anything about it, it was a new experience for me.” And so
his journey began. One full of new experiences and self discovery that changed
the course of his life.
It
was November 1952, Schilling was an ordinary 20 year old living in Dubuque,
Iowa. He worked in a manufacturing plant, and enjoyed bowling and
spending time with friends. As soon as he received word he’d been drafted, it
wasn’t long before he was driving to Des Moines, Iowa where he then took a bus
to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. After arrival, “They checked me in and gave
me my uniform and everything and then put me through a whole bunch of different
tests.” It was from these tests that Schilling learned that he could take tests
well, as it was suggested that he should sign up for Officer Candidate School.
After
signing up Schilling was then sent to preliminary training. This consisted of
two weeks of infantry school, followed by two weeks of combat engineering
school. After that came a leadership course that would last 18 weeks. “The 18
weeks of school were very intense. It was preparing me for what I was going to
see when I got into officer candidate school.” However, Schilling began to
change his mind. “It was after about 16 weeks of that that I decided that I
really didn’t want to go to officer candidate school.” He then signed a waiver
that all but guaranteed he would be sent overseas to Korea. “They didn’t like
that.” Schilling stated.
Shortly
after Schilling got the opportunity to take 10 days of leave where he returned
to his home in Dubuque. It wasn’t long before he had to leave again, this time
on a plane to San Francisco during June of 1953. From there he got on a boat
heading for Sasebo Japan. While on the ship, Schilling remembers getting sick.
“I was throwing up the whole fifteen days.” Amidst it all, it wasn’t long after
his arrival in Japan that he became engaged to his future wife in July of 1953.
After
arriving in Sasebo the soldiers were processed to go on another ship to Korea.
Those soldiers were sent to Incheon, Korea, while Schilling was pulled out to
go to a school to learn about chemical, biological, and radiological warfare on
the island of Edajima, Japan. “Having taken that course in preparation for OCS
(Officer candidate school), I guess they pulled me out as being able to handle
a lot of different things.” After two long weeks of learning, Schilling
returned to Sasebo for another two weeks before being put on another ship
headed for Incheon.
“By then the war was over. I was very fortunate, the war had
ended by the time I was in that school.”
Once
in Korea, Schilling began learning about floating bridges. These bridges would
be used to transport large vehicles like trucks and tanks over rivers and wet
areas during monsoon periods. During these periods, cities would often be
surrounded by water making it hard to transport vehicles otherwise. As a member
of the 38th Floating Bridge Company, Schilling was trained to install these
bridges.
Located
on the 38th parallel between North and South Korea, Schilling stayed with the
company for several months.During that time he remembers the unideal living
that came with the countryside. They resided in tents built on sand with 8-10
people per tent along with one stove in the middle. “We only had the basic
necessities.”
During
this time Schilling learned a lot, not just about how to build bridges, but
also about how to make the best of an unfavorable situation. He remembers
watching how many soldiers would make their lives as unpleasant as possible.
“In the army some people went in and just made it as miserable as they could
because they couldn’t accept that they had to be drafted, where I had kind of
accepted it and lived with it.”
It wasn’t long before Schilling was promoted from Private First Class to Corporal thanks to the skills he demonstrated at the time. After a few months Schilling received a new assignment teaching other units how to build the bridges. Because of this, he was again promoted, this time to Staff Sergeant. “I got to teach other units… from Turkey and England how to build these bridges.” While life wasn’t ideal in Korea, Schilling continued to make the best of it regardless.
After
spending many months in Korea, Schilling was offered to be transferred back to
Japan along with the 58th floating bridge company. At this time he had only a
few months remaining in his service. Having little desire to enlist another two
years, Schilling declined, even turning down a promotion to Sergeant First
Class.
Schilling
remained in Korea until October 1954 when they sent him to the city of Busan on
the southern tip of Korea. “From there I got on a ship and finally returned to
the states.” After another long voyage plagued once again by sea sickness,
Schilling arrived in Seattle Washington. “When we arrived we had to be tested,
had to have our physical, and the first thing they did was let us go to a PX
where we sat at a table and each of us received a quart of milk.” As simple as
it was, the men hadn’t enjoyed such amenities for over 16 months while
overseas. “We really enjoyed that… The breakfast was delicious”
“The army taught me quite a bit. One of the things I learned was
that I tested well and that I learned fast.”
Once
he had finished all the tests and satisfied the physicals, Schilling was then
put on a train to Camp Carson where he was once again invited to reenlist. At
this point however, Schilling was sure he was done in the army. With plans to
get married the following December, any thought of reenlisting was off the
table. A few days later Schilling was on a plane headed for Dubuque where his
sweetheart awaited.
Schilling
credits the army for getting him to where he is today, happily retired with
many loving children and grandchildren. “The army taught me quite a bit. One of
the things I learned was that I tested well and that I learned fast. Because of
that I decided to go to college when I got home.” So, in September of 1955,
Schilling did just that. After four years of learning by day and working a job
by night, Schilling graduated with honors receiving a degree in
accounting.
As
Schilling reflects on his service, he notes that “the army was good to me.” It
allowed him to grow as a person and achieve many things he might not have
otherwise. While the war itself might not have resulted in much good, the
experiences and growth Schilling received throughout proved to be extremely
valuable.
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