Man of honor

Cabot veteran first to be interviewed by library for preservation project

World War II veteran Fred W. “Bill” Schoonover was the first veteran to be interviewed by the Cabot Public Library for the Veterans History Project. Schoonover served in the Pacific Theater of World War II as part of the 3198 Signal Service Battalion.
World War II veteran Fred W. “Bill” Schoonover was the first veteran to be interviewed by the Cabot Public Library for the Veterans History Project. Schoonover served in the Pacific Theater of World War II as part of the 3198 Signal Service Battalion.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Fred W. “Bill” Schoonover went to a restaurant in his hometown of Guthrie Center, Iowa, not knowing that his life was about to change forever. He paid a dime for a cup of coffee and two doughnuts and settled into his seat when devastating news came over the radio.

“The minute they said Pearl Harbor had been bombed, I went home. I don’t know why, but I went home. My folks were listening to the news on the radio,” he said. “On Monday after Pearl Harbor happened, every recruiting office opened up. The line went around the block to get in. I had two brothers-in-law who were on the farm, and I had a brother who was on the farm. I was single, so I decided there was no sense in my staying at home. I enlisted.”

Schoonover served in the U.S. Army during World War II, eventually earning the World War II Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. He was also recently recognized for 70 years of continuous membership in the American Legion.

In a conference room at the Eugene J. Towbin Healthcare Center in North Little Rock, Schoonover recently sat with doctors, family, American Legion friends and employees of the Lonoke/Prairie County Regional Library System to talk about his life. Schoonover told stories from the war, recalled his childhood and gave advice on how to live a happy life while the members of the small crowd asked questions.

Leisa Horness, genealogist with the Cabot Public Library, recorded the exchanges, and soon those videos — along with photos and transcripts — will be sent to Washington, D.C., to be entered into the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress.

The Veterans History Project is a part of the American Folklife Center. This particular project has been set up to collect, preserve and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans. This is done so that future generations can hear veterans’ stories straight from the source through video and audio recordings, as well as documents and photographs.

For more information on the Veterans History Project, visit www.loc.gov/vets.

The Cabot Public Library recently started collecting stories from local veterans to be preserved in the Veterans History Project. Horness said she has done interviews with three veterans so far, and Schoonover was the first. Other veterans on the list waited until Schoonover was interviewed so he could have the honor of being the first veteran to be interviewed by the Cabot Public Library for the project.

Schoonover served in the 3198 Signal Service Battalion in the Pacific Theater of the war. He was involved in the Army’s cryptography, using codes and cipher systems to send and receive messages.

“I really enjoyed crypt work,” he said. “Handling top-secret and secret messages was very interesting. Our news department handled the war correspondence messages, and they went through our signal center in Shanghai. … It was really interesting.”

There were times when Schoonover had to be protective of his messages, even with the people serving alongside him.

“Once, a one-star general came up and wanted to know what outfit I was with. I told him, and he said, ‘Is there anything to [these rumors] about boats coming to take us home?’ This was after the war was over,” Schoonover said. “I said, ‘Well, sir, if there is, I can’t tell you. It didn’t come through my teletype.’ I was lying to him because it did come through my teletype, and I had the names of every ship that was coming in and when they were coming in and when they were going out. I didn’t know if they were testing me or not, so I just didn’t know.”

Schoonover was on active duty for four years, and there are still classified secrets he will not divulge to his friends or family. When he had finished his service and returned to Iowa, he spent time with his family and married Norma Lower, who died last year after 67 years of marriage.

In 1978, the Schoonovers moved to Cabot, and he has made many friends in the American Legion. Schoonover said he has had a wonderful life, and he hopes the generations that are coming after him love the United States as much as he and his fellow World War II servicemen did. Above all, he said, he hopes people focus on love and enjoyment instead of hate and fighting.

“The closer you get, the happier the world is going to be. Closeness brings happiness; happiness brings joy; joy brings love; love brings everything to us,” he said. “Get peace back on this Earth.”

Staff writer Angela Spencer can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or aspencer@arkansasonline.com.

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