A young man in a naval uniform with parted blonde hair and twinkling blue eyes watches the boats come into the French harbor. Sitting at Pauline’s, his favorite restaurant in Cannes, Lt. Cmdr. Elvin L. Schlegel samples the foreign cuisine that he has come to enjoy. While refusing to eat anything “that leaves a slimy trail or crawls on its belly,” Schlegel savors his vegetable soup, tomato salad, and crusty French bread at his favorite lunch spot.
Decades later at a diner in Bath, Pa., a man with gentle gray hair and the same blue eyes stares up from his steaming black coffee. After watching the cars drive past the diner window for a little while, he looks up. With a visible mix of pride, grief and nostalgia in those still piercing eyes, his words flow as naturally as seawater.
“Pauline’s was definitely my favorite restaurant when I was abroad. Those soups were so delicious; I could eat a whole vat. I really enjoyed sampling foreign foods,” said Schlegel. “But I always missed that Pennsylvania Dutch food, like shoo fly pie, scrapple, hot bacon dressing, and smoked sausage.”
Taking the Adventure
Born and raised in Northampton, Pa., Schlegel entered
the Navy as a reservist at the age of 17 in 1951. After graduating from high
school, he volunteered
for active duty during the Korean War. Little did Schlegel know that this
would be the beginning of many experiences and a lifetime of travel, excitement,
and friendship.
The soft-spoken, gray-haired man stirs the contents of his mug and looks up again. He gazes forward and gives a faint smile as he remembers the beginning of his naval adventure with fondness.
“I went into the Navy knowing nothing and 26 years later I came out as a Lieutenant Commander with a master’s degree and having seen most of the world. This truly was a great career,” said Schlegel.
Sea life obviously sat very well with Schlegel. He easily and effortlessly advanced through the ranks as a Hospital Corpsman until he first became a First Class Petty Officer. It was then that Schlegel was encouraged by an officer to apply for the commission as an officer in Medical Service Operations. In 1965 Schlegel applied for the position and after a rigorous exam and a scrupulous interview, he got selected as an Ensign.
“Life at sea really was an adventure,” affirms Schlegel as he glances out the window, his eyes following a green jeep down the road. “I would do it again,no questions asked.”
Schlegel was and remains to be a man of action. He does not like to sit back and do nothing. He was always ready to fight the battle.
Life at Sea
Sleepy azure eyes stare out from underneath the khaki sheets. The
young Medical Service Operator sits up in his bed, now wide-awake because of
the 6 am call
of Reveille. After quickly getting dressed in uniform, he has a brief breakfast
and then goes to the sick bay. It is here that the Medic spends most of his
time checking incoming messages and announcements, performing inspections,
and doing “sick call.” He also works at mini first aid stations
called “battle dressing stations” and reports to “battle
control central” at various times in the day. Control Central alerts
him of any damage aboard the ship and displays where the wounded are and
how to safely get to them. Life at sea for Schlegel was not easy work: it
involved a kind of meticulous attention to detail and a specific daily regimen
that could never be tended to halfheartedly. Schlegel looked forward to docking,
when the inhabitants of the ship could take a little break from sea duty
and spend some time on land.
On Land
“
On land we would basically do two things, eat ice cream and drink beer,” joked
Schlegel. These docks would normally last anywhere from five to seven days
and would give Schlegel and his buddies the chance to catch up on some of the
things there were missing on the boat. Set in usually exotic locations (i.e.
Singapore, Philippines, Japan) Schlegel would spend his first couple of days
sightseeing and would later help in facilitating tours for the locals aboard
his ship. These tours would allow thousands of visitors to experience the highlights
of marine life and would also give them a chance to see what was going on inside
those big, intimidating vessels. Schlegel would use his land time to stretch
his legs and would many times play baseball with the local teams in the area.
This was also an opportunity for Schlegel to communicate with his family and
for phone calls (when he had enough money). But, if Schlegel didn’t have
the money, he would send a letter home and wait for a reply, hopefully with
pictures.
All in a Day’s Work
Once back aboard the ship, Schlegel and his fellow officers were back to business
as usual—daily tasks, first aid, medical assistance and emergency support.
In addition, Schlegel and his crew always had to be prepared for anything.
One day, there was a crash on the flight deck during Schlegel’s shift. “There were a bunch of fires started by the crash and several people died that day. Some even had to get legs amputated and in all that it was my job to stabilize these guys,” recalled Schlegel, who never flinched at the gruesome scene.
“ By then I was used to the gore,” said the former naval officer from his seat in the diner. He let out a little laugh and explained that maybe the gore never really bothered him too much in the first place anyway. “These times were much too fun and exciting to worry about that,” he said.
Schlegel’s hard work and his passion for the sea made him a dedicated and professional officer who was well liked and respected by those around him. His motivation, initiative and persistence took him around the world with the United States Navy and allowed for him to have a plethora of different jobs at a Naval Hospital in Pennsylvania and one in New Hampshire, at a Catholic Hospital in Maine, and even as a malpractice claims specialist in Minnesota. During the end of his time in the Navy Schlegel was married and had three sons, who all developed a love and respect for sea life. David, Richard, and Robert all joined the Navy and often talked to their dad about how much they loved having an entire ship under their control as well as the adventure of a life on the ocean.
The Battle That Can’t be Fought
Suddenly Schlegel squirms uncomfortably in his plastic chair and asks the young
brunette waitress for another coffee—black. Tears start to collect
in his eyes and the mild-mannered gentleman subtlety changes. He begins to
talk about how proud he is of his children. His soft voice trails away when
he brings up Robert and then streams of tears roll down his cheeks. Schlegel
then explains that Richard was working in the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001,
and that he was killed during the terrorist attacks of that same day. “It
was about seven to ten days until they found him [Richard] and now he is
buried in Arlington Cemetery in Washington DC,” says an emotional Schlegel. “I
have a lot of anger right now and I am still grieving. I may get through
it, but I’ll never get over it. I feel frustrated and helpless and
I just wish I could serve again so I could actually do something about it,” said
Schlegel.
Schlegel, like any professionally trained and experienced soldier does not want to sit back and take his grief silently, he wants to be a man of action and fight for what he loves. But, this time there is nothing to be done. There is no battle for Schlegel to prepare for this time.
Belisa R. Gonzalez-Silva is a 2004 graduate of Lehigh University. Her hometown
is Randolph, N.J.