Bob Schug, Army, Vietnam by way of Korea
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Bob Schug
By Missy Klatt
Although Bob Schug served during the Vietnam era, he was stationed in Korea. Bob grew up in Emerald and has lived most of his life between Downing and Emerald. Bob graduated from Glenwood City High School in 1969 and was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1971. He served from May 18, 1971 to May 17, 1973. Bob remarks that he was glad that he was drafted and spent time in the service.
Bob goes on to say that the draft was just for two years but when he was in there were so many people in the service that they were letting people out early.
Bob did his eight weeks of basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, MO or as he jokes Fort Lost in the Woods. Going to basic was Bob’s first time in an airplane when they flew out of Minneapolis. After Basic Bob went to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX where he trained to be a medic. Originally they had pegged Bob to be a lab technician but he had trouble with the microscope work due to the fact that he wore glasses, so they made him a medic instead.
Next Bob was sent to Fort Jackson in South Carolina where he worked at the base hospital in the emergency room for a few months and then he got shifted to the ambulance crew where they would work a 24 hour shift.
He left there in early May of 1972 and came home for a brief visit. He then had to report to Oakland army base in California. He left there on May 30th and arrived in Korea on June 1st, losing a day as they crossed the international date line. He jokes that when he came home he was in Minneapolis an hour and a half after he left Korea (in reality it’s a 15-16 hour difference).
Fort Leonard Wood — Bob Schug, wearing glasses, is shown here with a group of fellow soliders during basic training.
Bob Schug standing in front of a quonset hut (where they stayed) in Korea.
Bob still has the newspaper clipping from the Tribune telling where people were able to write to him during his time in the service.
Originally Bob had orders to go to Vietnam but things got changed and he was sent to Korea. Bob said he knew what was going on in Vietnam but knew nothing about Korea. In Korea he was assigned to Headquarters company but he was attached to Alpha (A) company. He was at Camp Hovey in Seoul, South Korea. As to the area he was in, Bob goes on to explain “Camp Casey was next Camp Hovey and Uijeongbu, if you ever heard of that, that’s where MASH was filmed. That was about four or five miles away. The village by our base was Tukarie.”
While in Korea a typical day for Bob started with breakfast at 5:30 or 6 o’clock. Then there was a company formation after breakfast with sick call everyday. If someone was sick, Bob did the triage to see if they needed to go to the dispensary or not. The rest of the day varied greatly.
“Some days I did nothing.” remarked Bob, “I laid on my bunk. If the guys were out marching or whatever.” However, he notes that every Monday the whole company would run together. “that’s not easy to do, you gotta stay in formation.” The run would last for four or five miles. He did say that if the rest of the company were doing training exercises (target practice) he would go along in case anyone got hurt.
While he was in Korea, Bob met his wife, Ok. When asked how they met, he was quite honest in his response, “there was a village next door and we’d go to the village and look at the girls.” He continues that they had dance halls there. So he met Ok in the village.
While the marriage didn’t last, Bob and Ok had four wonderful daughters, Tracey (who was born in Korea), Christine, Sonya and Roberta. Bob also has seven grandkids, one step grand daughter and two great grand kids. Several of the grandkids have gone into the medical field.
Fort Leonard Wood — Bob Schug, wearing glasses, is shown here with a group of fellow soliders during basic training.
Bob Schug standing in front of a quonset hut (where they stayed) in Korea.
Bob still has the newspaper clipping from the Tribune telling where people were able to write to him during his time in the service.
Bob left Korea on April 14, 1973 because his father had a heart attack so they sent him home to see him. From there he just stayed stateside at Fort Sheridan in Illinois as his time was almost up.
After his time in the army Bob farmed for several years and then spent most of his career in the agriculture field working for various companies.
When asked what the best thing was about being in the service, Bob replied that once he got done with his training, it was a job. “I worked in the medical field. I worked in the emergency room, usually third shift.” While Bob enjoyed his work, he didn’t want to pursue medicine as an occupation when he got out of the service. As for the worst thing about being in the service, Bob replied “the basic training.” He jokes, “I was a cry baby.” He goes on to say he didn’t like the discipline. Once he was done with basic though he was fine.
Bob is the middle child of 13 siblings. His oldest brother, Jerry was in the navy, starting in 1961. He spent three years in active duty and about 30 years in the reserves. Bob also had an uncle who was in World War II.
Bob is a member of Glenwood City American Legion Post 168. He’s been a member for about 25 years. Doug Hill and David Booth were the ones who got him to join in a round about way. They came and saw him on a Tuesday, Bob recalls, “they were going to state bowling and they needed somebody else to bowl.” Even though that’s how Bob first joined the Legion, he has stayed with it. “It’s a good organization” he notes.