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yellowwing
09-24-05, 05:32 AM
Island Marine goes beyond the call
By Gunnery Sgt. Claudia M. LaMantia (http://www.marines.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/0/073757E08A74829985257086000335E3?opendocument)

MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii — (Sept. 23, 2005) -- He had flown in for a conference, but 13 hours later found himself in Katrina’s path.

Master Gunnery Sgt. Louis L. Schumacher was one of approximately 270 who stayed in a New Orleans hotel during the category five force hurricane.

“Louis was in a position to leave. He had a rental car. Instead, he recognized the potential for disaster and decided to stay and help,” said Mitch Tinney, a charter boat captain from Tennessee who was in town for the weekend.

Schumacher realized how serious the situation was upon checking into the hotel. The front-desk clerk gave him paperwork with emergency procedures, according to the staff noncommissioned officer of Installation Personnel Administration Center, Headquarters Battalion.

The staff and some guests gathered in a conference room to prepare strategies, according to Tinney. They decided to use the pool water to wash and for flushing the toilets. Schumacher offered to help and became instrumental in establishing a water brigade. “He hauled thirty-five hundred gallons of water to the sixteenth floor from the pool. His hands were split and bleeding, but he didn’t stop ‘til the job was done,” Tinney continued.

As night approached, everyone prepared to settle in for the evening. The guests moved toward the center of the building, away from any windows.

Then, just as he fell asleep, the sound of a window crashing in suddenly woke him. The noise elevated quickly, and for the next 10 hours it sounded like a whistling train going through a tunnel, said the 5-foot-11-inch tall South Dakota native. “We had to scream at each other to talk.”

No one slept through the night. For the next two days, Schumacher lent a hand wherever needed.

“I saw him put his hands on a small child’s head, pat an old man’s shoulder, and hug a terrified woman ‘til she was calm. He worked tirelessly for fifty hours, slept an hour and came back for more. He saw that the sick received care, the hungry were fed, and was always the first in line to work and the last to eat,” said Tinney.

When asking the silver-haired Marine what he did during that time, he simply said, “Not much.”

Schumacher said that he was equally impressed with the hotel staff. “The staff was amazing; they were calm and well organized.”

As the weather settled down, there was an opportunity for Schumacher to leave, but he hesitated.
Even though the hotel staff had arranged for everyone to evacuate, Schumacher wouldn’t leave until transportation was confirmed for all, according to Tinney.

When Schumacher was ready to go, he took Tinney; Tinney’s wife, Denise, and hotel employee Will Hammock with him. But, before getting out of town, they encountered a few obstacles. He drove around fallen trees, mounds of debris, downed power lines, and on sidewalks. In addition, they knew they could encounter shooters along the way.
The foursome made their way north and Schumacher’s generosity continued.

He could have stopped at the first airport, but insisted on taking them closer to home, said Tinney. He dropped off Will first in Jackson, Miss.; and continued to Memphis, Tenn., where the Tinneys had family waiting.

From there, he checked into a hotel and had what he said was the best shower of his life, then slept soundly for the first time in five days. The next morning he flew back to Hawaii where he found a message on his phone that informed him that the conference had been cancelled.

The impression Schumacher left on those he had helped prompted Tinney to contact Schumacher’s command and explain his version of events.

“I wish I was capable of articulating just what his presence meant to all of us. Louis’ calm manner reassured many frightened people,” said Tinney.

Back at work, Schumacher hesitantly talks about his ordeal, but fresh scars on his arms and healing blisters on both hands tell another story. For the Tinneys there’s no doubt that not all heroes are found in a battlefield.

Semper Fidelis, Master Gunnery Sgt. Schumacher!