- Raymond R. Schumacher
Raymond Richard Schumacher (15 Apr 1924
Chicago - 04 Nov 1973 Oak Lawn,IL) served in theArmy Air Force duringWorld War II , played as a fullback for theChicago Bears after the war, and later worked ascivil engineer for the City of Chicago.History
Early Life
Born in Chicago, Raymond R. Schumacher attended
Tilden Technical High School, studying engineering, and was awarded the Purdue Club's 1942 Kizer MVP Award in football. He then attendedPurdue University .WWII
He was first inducted February 17, 1943 into the US Army and went to basic training in North Carolina, where his bunkmate was Charles Clark. Others in his group included Wally Kokockis (Cicero Kid), Sgt. Nelphi, Sgt.(Porky) Thorton, Charles Clark, Jack Sather from Berkeley CA, Jimmie Spallus from Wisconsin, and Ray Shaw. All then went on to Janesville Wisconsin for flight training.
Ray Schumacher later was based at:
* Hondo Texas for navigator training, and served as an instructor afterwards
* Miami
*Macdill Air Force Base in Tampa about 7/43
*Lincoln, Nebraska where he trained navigators until mid-1945
*Victorville, Ca.
*Tinian Early in his training he accepted an Argus camera as payment for a debt, and used it to take hundreds of photos of US Army training camps and around the Pacific theater, including the
atomic bomb [http://rjs.org/ww2/abombcovered.jpgwaiting on the runway] onTinian .Near the end of the war B-29 crews did not always have exclusive use of a plane but rotated with another crew; his plane assigned while stationed onTinian was known to havenose art of a lady and a name, but the number is unknown.He flew in the formation over the treaty signing on the Missouri, was finally stationed in Tokyo until January 1946, and officially released March 17, 1946.
Final rank:
First Lieutenant , Navigator, 20th AF, 313th Bomb Wing, [http://www.heavybombers.com/504thbg.html 504th Bomb Group] (Circle-E).Service: 17 Feb. 1943 - 17 Mar. 1946, #02068876Football
Upon returning home, Ray played a season for the Akron Bears before
George Halas signed both Raymond and his brother Harold to theChicago Bears at the same time. He played in the 2 Aug 1947College Football All-America Team vsChicago Bears which set the record attendance (105,840) for American football. He went on to play two seasons as fullback before retiring with knee and other injuries.Professional Life
Ray spent most of the rest of his life as a civil engineer for the City of Chicago, responsible for planning on the
Deep Tunnel Project and others in theMetropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago . He also owned and operated Parkview Lanes Bowling Alley with two of his brothers and a small farm in Pepin County Wisconsin.ee also
*
United States Army Air Forces External links
* [http://rjs.org/ww2/ U.S. Army Air Corp 504th bomb group, Tinian]
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