4,500 Lawrence County Residents Served; 36 did not return.

Roll of Honor

Lt. Cmdr. Robert H. Shumaker, a Wilmington Area High School and U.S. Naval Academy graduate trained as a Navy pilot. His F-8 fighter plane was downed shortly after takeoff from the carrier USS Coral Sea. His back injured in his parachute landing, he was captured in a field by enemy soldiers. Loaded on an open truck, he was driven 300 miles to Hanoi. At stops in tiny villages along the way, he was paraded, stoned and abused. In a propaganda attempt, his guards brought him to a news conference with fixed bayonets, but he exhibited only defiance, and as the Tass News Agency from Dong Hoi said, "He showed no signs of remorse."

The San Diego Evening Tribune commented Feb.15, 1965, that the correctness and courage with which the captured U.S. Navy pilot conducted himself during a press conference in North Vietnam should be a source of pride and inspiration to all Americans. The paper went on to say it is one thing to stand firm for the principles of truth and honor when one is in the company of upright and honorable men, but it is quite another thing - more demanding of character and fortitude - to stand by what is honest and true in the midst of one's bayonet-armed enemies.

Kept in leg irons in a tiny cell, he was frequently tortured. He and 10 other POWS considered resistance leaders referred to themselves as the "Alcatraz 11." They spent nearly three years in solitary confinement. After eight years, he and 142 other Americans were released Feb. 11, 1973. He was reunited in San Diego with his wife Lorraine and his son Grant, just six weeks old when his father was shot down. Shumaker was promoted to rear admiral in 1985 and is now retired. He holds the following decorations: Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star (2), Legion of Merit (4), Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and a number of others.