[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 190 (Thursday, October 28, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7450-S7452]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO JIM SCHMIDT

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, it is Thursday afternoon, and it is one 
of my favorite times in the Senate because it is the time I have the 
opportunity to come down on the Senate floor to talk about an Alaskan 
who is making a difference in their community or the State or maybe the 
country, you know, sometimes maybe the world. And I think we have one 
today. This is an individual we call our Alaskan of the Week.
  I really enjoy doing this. It is just really a good opportunity to 
recognize people who often don't get a lot of recognition.
  You know, Alaska is known throughout the world for many things: our 
physical beauty, the size of our State, giant mountains, great fishing, 
great place to take a vacation. By the way, if you are watching at 
home, come on up to Alaska. We would love to have you--summer, winter, 
it doesn't matter.
  All of these things, of course, about the State are true, but there 
are so many other great things about our State. The No. 1 thing is our 
people: strong, resilient, kind, tough American citizens--great people.
  Nowhere is this spirit of the people of Alaska and their patriotism 
more apparent than in our veterans across the State.
  In Alaska, we have the highest number of veterans per capita of any 
State in America, veterans and their families everywhere. Everyday 
heroes, I like to call them.
  It is amazing. In every city, village, community--it doesn't matter 
how big, how small--you will find proud American veterans, many of them 
working tirelessly together to make sure they help other veterans get 
the support that they have earned, the care that they have earned, and 
to support their families.
  Today, as our Veterans Day approaches, I want to highlight one of 
these heroes, one of these Alaska veterans whose service is so 
inspiring that for those who are watching, I think you are going to 
have a hard time actually believing it is true. This person, our 
Alaskan of the Week, is 94-year-old Jim Schmidt--husband, grandfather, 
great-grandfather, combat veteran, Alaskan, American hero.
  Let me tell you about this incredible, remarkable story, for which 
somebody should buy the movie rights right now.
  While you are watching, you better go buy the movie rights of Mr. 
Schmidt.
  Jim was 14 years old in 1942. Of course, the United States had 
already entered and was fighting in World War II. It wasn't going well 
in 1942, by the way. He was living with his parents in the San 
Francisco Bay area. Jim slipped out one day to see a movie. It was 
called the ``Parachute Battalion.'' That was the name of the movie, 
starring the beautiful Nancy Kelly. It was then, watching this movie, 
right then and there, he said: I am going to enlist. I am going to 
enlist in the Airborne.
  Now, he was a big guy, a big young man--actually, he was a young 
kid--200 pounds, 6 feet tall. A big kid, as I mentioned, but just 
think, he was 14 years old. He went to the recruiter and said he was 
18. He looked it.
  The Army didn't ask for IDs back then, so off he went, assigned to 
the 504th Infantry Regiment of the world-famous 82nd Airborne at the 
tender age of 14.
  His father was also in the Army, stationed at Fort Campbell, KY. And 
when there was a little confusion about where Jim was, when he didn't 
come home for days and weeks, his mother assumed he had gone to stay 
with his dad. His dad assumed he was still with his mother. Wires got 
crossed, and later his mom got a letter from Corporal Schmidt, CPL Jim 
Schmidt, who was now 15. He wrote:

       From somewhere in North Africa.

  Actually, it was near Tunis, which had just fallen to the British and 
General Patton, the American general, in

[[Page S7451]]

the battle against the Germans in North Africa.
  He wrote his mom:

       How are you [mom] and the girls?

  He was referring to his sisters. He talked about the hot weather. He 
sent her $30.
  Fast forward a few months later. It is now July 9, 1943. Jim is 
jumping out of an airplane onto the island of Sicily, a combat jump. In 
Sicily, it was the largest airborne offensive in U.S. history--a 
military airborne operation providing support for what was called 
Operation Husky, more than 170,000 Allied troops that would descend 
onto the island, drive the Axis powers--mostly the Germans--from the 
island and open up the Mediterranean front of the European theater. 
Combat operations, airborne operations, and Jim is 15.
  Now, mistakes were made in this very big operation. Communications 
were sporadic. Friendly fire happened, no doubt killing American 
servicemembers--ferocious combat.
  Some of these brave paratroopers--many were killed, many missed the 
landing spot--were scattered all over the island.
  When Corporal Schmidt, 15 years old, landed, he came under attack by 
the Germans. He lost one of his best friends and mentors, fighting 
together in a foxhole, hand-to-hand fighting. He engaged in combat, 
killing the enemy. He remembers one young German, a messenger about his 
age. He actually found the boy's wallet because he wanted to get in 
touch with his family after the war to tell them how brave the young 
German soldier was--tough stuff.

  During the battle, he was wounded, but he continued to fight. But 
because he was wounded, a telegraph was sent home by the Army to his 
mom. And at that point, he and his battalion, which was part of the 
504th Infantry Regiment, Airborne Regiment in Salerno, Italy, were 
fighting to hold off a major German counterattack.
  You can imagine Jim's mother was beside herself. Her 15-year-old son 
was wounded in combat in Italy. So guess what she did. You can tell 
what kind of stock Jim comes from. His mom wrote the President of the 
United States directly, President Roosevelt.
  She said to the President she was glad to have her husband serve in 
the Army, but it was a bit much that her 15-year-old son was fighting 
in Europe and ``lying wounded and unattended in a Sicily field.''
  That is Jim's mom to President Roosevelt.
  Remarkably, she received a response. The letter has since been lost, 
but those who saw it said that President Roosevelt himself wrote Jim's 
mom and said: I am sorry the military didn't know that Jim was only 
15--14 when he joined--and that he would make sure he was located as 
soon as possible and sent back to the United States. Sounds a little 
bit like ``Saving Private Ryan,'' the movie.
  So that happened. Shortly before he turned 16, Corporal Schmidt was 
put on a ship, pretty much at the direction of the President of the 
United States, and sent back to the United States.
  Jim later recalled that when his mom saw him, of course, she was 
happy, but she ``chewed me out. What would any other mother say to 
their son'' for enlisting at the age of 14 and not telling the mom?
  A local newspaper heard about Jim and wrote a story. Here is what it 
said:

       Fifteen year old [then] Pfc James O. Schmidt . . . left his 
     desk in the Eighth Grade at Ross Grammar School . . . to 
     enter the Army, [he] has retired from active duty [at the age 
     of 15] after seeing action with the [Airborne unit and] 
     Paratroopers in [North] Africa and being wounded in the 
     Battle of Sicily.

  He was 15.
  The newspaper wrote about how Jim had received an invitation to his 
own grammar school graduation when he was in Sicily.
  He wrote back to his grammar school and said:

       It will be impossible [for me to attend eighth grade 
     graduation] as I am rather busy with the job of hunting 
     Germans and Italians.

  This alone makes a great story. Grade school graduation was missed 
because he was fighting in Europe and North Africa and Italy. But there 
is more to this story.
  Shortly after being home, you guessed it, Jim walked into a Navy 
recruiting office. Again, nobody in the Navy asked how old he was.
  The recruiter said:

       Congratulations. You're now in the U.S. Navy.

  So off to boot camp he went at the age of 16, already a veteran, a 
serious combat veteran--16 years old, unstoppable, American patriot, 
wanting to fight for his country in World War II.
  Six months later, Jim is on a Navy destroyer deployed. But his age 
finally caught up with him. The Navy found out, figured out he was 16, 
and sent him back home. Here is an Airborne combat veteran of World War 
II, he is 16, and he has already been kicked out of the Army and the 
Navy because he is too young.
  Obviously, this young man was hell-bent on serving his country so he 
found another organization where age didn't matter. He joined the 
Merchant Marines, where he remained for the remainder of World War II, 
serving on an ammo resupply ship in the Atlantic, participating in the 
war until the war was won and wound down.
  So the war is over. He is a little older. What do you think he does? 
Eight months after he turned 18, he reenlisted in the U.S. Army.
  Now, the Army was gracious and recognized: Hey, we got a combat vet. 
Yeah, he was only 14. So they brought him in as a sergeant, a D5. And 
guess what. By luck, he was assigned to occupation duty in Germany with 
the 508th Infantry Airborne Regiment that he had fought with in North 
Africa and Sicily.
  So he did that duty; then he went to Japan for occupation duty. And 
then what happened in 1950? The Korean war breaks out. So he is sent to 
Korea.
  As if his service in World War II wasn't enough, this remarkable 
story of James Schmidt continues.
  He went alongside the U.S. Marines to fight in one of the most 
brutal, ferocious battles of the 20th century--the Battle of the Chosin 
Reservoir. It was 30 below zero, 120 communists, People's Liberation 
Chinese soldiers, surrounding 20,000 marines and the Army, soldiers and 
marines.
  It was incredible, horrible odds. And yet the Marines and the Army 
persevered, despite brutal combat situations, relentless Chinese 
communist troops attacking, attacking, attacking.
  He was wounded, broke his shoulder again, led his men in many 
counterattacks, and got the rest of his men out of the Chosin 
Reservoir.
  So, Mr. President, you are seeing that this is remarkable, but we are 
not done.
  He survived Chosin Reservoir. He survived the rest of the Korean war. 
He survived World War II.
  Fast-forward another decade, another American conflict in Southeast 
Asia, and now Jim Schmidt is a master sergeant, Special Forces, in 
Laos, charged with raising local forces to fight the communist Lao 
guerillas.
  Now he has been in combat in three wars, presented his third award, a 
Combat Infantry Badge, for his actions in Laos. And, then, it was on to 
Vietnam, where Jim was the sergeant major in charge of the 7th Special 
Forces A-Teams and then the 5th Special Forces Group, one of the most 
famous units of all of the Vietnam war--5th Special Forces, an airborne 
unit--until he returned to Fort Bragg in 1965.
  So here is what he has done so far for his country: two Silver Stars 
for heroism, three Bronze Stars for heroism, two Purple Hearts.
  He wanted back in the action, but the Army said: Nope. You are going 
to go into recruiting.
  According to one of his daughters, he was never much of a handshaker 
and did not like the idea of riding a desk. So, despite the heroism, 
despite the service, he opted to retire from the military, and then he 
joined Air America, which was doing covert operations in Vietnam, until 
1967, when he finally decided to settle down with his wife Peggy and 
focus on another critically important task for our country: raising 
three strong, wonderful, beautiful daughters.
  Mr. President, that is something I can certainly relate to.
  Now, I want to say that this is an amazing story. Unfortunately, Jim 
was not always treated like the hero he was. During his Vietnam 
service, his father died--the World War II veteran I mentioned 
earlier--and so he rushed home through the San Francisco airport to 
attend his father's funeral. And, unfortunately, he was in uniform

[[Page S7452]]

and, unfortunately, was jeered and booed by many in the airport.
  Can you imagine that, America? Think about that. What a shameful 
period for our Nation that so many failed to honor obvious American 
heroes like Jim. But, fortunately, that didn't last long for our 
country. But we should never forget that.
  But I am digressing because he wasn't just an American hero in 
uniform but, according to his daughters, a great father. He was engaged 
in their activities--his three daughters--taught them to be determined, 
independent, hard-working young women where the sky was the limit. He 
didn't let them sleep in. That was the military dad, I am sure.
  He and his wife Peggy, a registered nurse, came to Alaska in 1993 to 
be close to one of their daughters, who is now a renowned chef--
actually, one of the best chefs in all of Alaska, and a lodge owner in 
Alaska, Kirsten Dixon. His other daughter Katherine is now a successful 
real estate broker, and his other daughter Jami lives in the DC area, 
who is also working in the intelligence field, kind of like her old man 
did. What a great legacy for Jim and Peggy and the whole family.
  So Jim loves Alaska, the freedom in Alaska, the frontier spirit, the 
fact that he is in a State with more veterans per capita than any 
State. And he is certainly one of the great ones that we have in our 
State.
  At 94 years old, he is surrounded by his children, his grandchildren, 
his great-grandchildren. According to his family, like most heroes in 
our country, he doesn't talk much about the war--still really doesn't--
and his full story was only fully revealed when one of his 
grandchildren, Henry, began to get interested and did a podcast about 
his grandfather and shared it on social media--his amazing grandfather. 
Since then, the letters have flooded in, people wanting to know about 
this incredible American hero who missed his grade school graduation 
because he was doing airborne operations in Sicily.
  Just the other night he was on a Zoom with a 15-year-old because he 
always has time for veterans, and he gives advice to young people who 
are interested in serving in the military and hearing his story and 
getting advice. Jim says that he doesn't believe the military is for 
everybody, but if you have the calling, then you should follow the 
calling, even if you are young--but, I would caution, not 14. But Jim 
should know.
  Mr. President, this is a remarkable American story, one for the 
history books, and it is one of the reasons, many reasons, that so many 
people in my State have served and sacrificed for their country--
everyday heroes we call them--in Alaska. There are heroes all around 
us, and certainly Jim is one of the most important, one of the most 
prominent, one of the most humble. We are proud to have him in our 
State.
  We thank him and his wife Peggy and his wonderful three daughters and 
their whole family for sharing Jim with us, and we want to thank Jim 
for his incredible tenacity, patriotism, remarkable service, and 
example.
  And, Jim, we want to thank you once again for being our Alaskan of 
the Week. Happy Veterans Day to you and all the veterans back home in 
Alaska.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, well, first, I just got to hear the story 
of Jim Schmidt of Alaska--what an amazing American hero. I thank the 
Senator from Alaska, Senator Sullivan, for sharing that with all of us.

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