HMC Clifford Schmidt, U.S. Navy (1975-1996)

It was in the year 1986. This young First-Class Hospital Corpsman (HM1), attending Independent Duty Hospital Corps School in Portsmouth, VA, who just happened to be part of a football team that won a game. To celebrate, he and his teammates went to celebrate at Doc’s Inn (the base club). They all sat together celebrating their victory! A couple of the team members saw a cute young lady sitting off to the side studying. So, they invited her to celebrate with them. She politely refused, but when they threatened to pick her up in her chair, she begrudgingly obliged.

Conversation flowed until someone asked this good-looking young woman where she was from! She stated, California! Then, the shy young man at the other end of the table, broke into the conversation and asked, “Where in California?” The woman, looking a little annoyed, stated, “Southern California.” Well, that was not enough for the young man! He asked again, “Where in Southern California?” Everyone at the table stopped talking, and she replied with a little disdain, “Near Disneyland!” This was obviously not enough for the young man, so, with a little more exuberance, he asked again, “Where near Disneyland?!” The young woman was getting annoyed now! She then blurted out, “La Mirada, okay!” That was all the young man needed to hear, and he pronounced he was from “Whittier, right next to La Mirada!” Small world!

They continued their conversation from there, finding out more about each other. She had gone to a rival high school remarkably close to where he went, only two miles away! Strange how that works! They also found out that they had a similar family lineage. Irish and Italian, from Chicago, and Irish, Italian, and German, from Chicago! This is just too coincidental! They had grown up only three miles from each other yet never met. However, there were just too many similarities to ignore. Over the course of a few months, they started finding themselves in the same locations too frequently to ignore. It turns out that the young man had really taken a shine on the young woman to the point of having all his friends keep him informed on her whereabouts so he could meet up with her! Sounds creepy, but it was not! Their relationship blossomed, and they really desired to make it more permanent. One thing got in the way…the US Navy!

After finally getting married on April 15^th, 1988, the most challenging thing about their marriage was when he entered Chief’s initiation in 1990! She was an HM1, eligible for Chief! So, the Chief’s initiation body could not tell her anything about the initiation process! It placed an intense burden on their relationship. She thought they were taking advantage of him and strongly protested about things! After the initiation, things settled out and their relationship strengthened even through the First Persian Gulf War! Today, Clifford and Laura Schmidt, after 38 years of marriage, are still going strong!

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