John Lawrence Schick

West Point, 1955

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Ron Rule on June 11, 2005:

A pleasant surprise awaited me when I arrived in G-1 after the first summer. My two rommies were Bob "Huck" Nourse and John Schick. John came with a package - his parents, Col and Mrs Schick who would be my plebe parents. When the description of a person being an officer and a gentleman surfaces, they must have had Col Schick in mind. John was a chip off the old block. He was a true and trusted friend. Neither John nor I had too many academic problems other than the English Department so we spent many evening hours in light conversation with some time out for assisting Huck with his homework. Without John's positive attitude and support coupled with the guidance of Col Schick I doubt that I would have remained at West Point. John would tell me to "hang in there" and graduate and then you can get married and fly airplanes. John just may have been smart beyond his years. Watching John's hockey expertise provided both Huck and I many enjoyable hours. I hold one thing against John. He deserted Huck and me our senior year when he was assigned to the Regimental Staff. However, we stayed close. The last year, John, Ellen, Ruth and I spent many hours together. Huck and Anne would often be with us in our NYC and off post adventures. While Huck was my best man on June 7th, John wanted to be a swordsman along with Bill Anderson, Bob Wiegand and John Steakley. I guess these gentlemen owe me as their picture appeared on the chapel steps along with the happy couple in the NY Times. After the wedding and a reception hosted by the Schicks Ruth and I departed WP. With John going Army and I to the Air Force we did not see each other for years but we kept in touch. If I recall correctly the next time I saw John was the summer of 1968 when he appeared at my squadron hqs in Saigon. He was in pressed fatigues with new silver oak leaves on his collar. I had just returned from a flight, hot and tired, and he was a welcome sight. I had only had my majority for a short time so the silver leaves were a topic of discussion. Over martinis and steaks at the O'Club we caught up on family activities. After RVN our next get togethers were in DC where both of us had "five sided building" duties. We got to briefly know each other's children as well as to renew our lasting friendship with John and Ellen. Again, our duties necessitated drifting apart. It was only after retirement that we renewed our correspondence. John is gone and he is missed. As I mentioned earlier, he was a true and trusted friend. RIP John.

admin