A Vet’s Story –
Elvin Schlegel
Truly a great
career
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
Decades
later at a diner in
“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.”
Born
and raised in
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.
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 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.
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.
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
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.