RICHARD D. SCHNEIDER, CAPT, USMC
Richard Schneider '48
Lucky Bag
From the 1948 Lucky Bag:
RICHARD DANA SCHNEIDER
San Diego, California
Always accused of slashing but everybody came to him for help ... he understood things from those books that nobody else could . . . resulted from driving effort and ambition to feel secure when exams rolled around . . . we envied his study habits . . . schedule so rigid that it never failed him. Not a believer in horseplay . . . mature in that respect . . . held firm to principles to personal integrity that eliminated many of the things we did . . . stern . . . Marine through and through after his father . . . that spring inside him acted when anything was said against the Corps . . . fought to the last ditch regardless. It must be said that he was sincere in his ideals . . . never lacking the courage of his convictions . . . somewhat tactless at times but it was his way of being firm in his beliefs . . . the goal was the main thing . . . usually cheerful . . . sometimes moody . . . usually kept pretty much to himself about private affairs . . . extremely serious about his religion. Sometimes his subtle humor was out of this world . . . loved good music . . . deeply interested in radio and electronics . . . thorough in what he did . . . the only man who could live on the paltry sum they gave us.
Richard was commander of the 5th Battalion in the fall. He graduated from the 18th Company with the class of 1948-B in June 1948. (The top half of the class academically, designated 1948-A, graduated in June 1947 as the last wartime-accelerated class.)
RICHARD DANA SCHNEIDER
San Diego, California
Always accused of slashing but everybody came to him for help ... he understood things from those books that nobody else could . . . resulted from driving effort and ambition to feel secure when exams rolled around . . . we envied his study habits . . . schedule so rigid that it never failed him. Not a believer in horseplay . . . mature in that respect . . . held firm to principles to personal integrity that eliminated many of the things we did . . . stern . . . Marine through and through after his father . . . that spring inside him acted when anything was said against the Corps . . . fought to the last ditch regardless. It must be said that he was sincere in his ideals . . . never lacking the courage of his convictions . . . somewhat tactless at times but it was his way of being firm in his beliefs . . . the goal was the main thing . . . usually cheerful . . . sometimes moody . . . usually kept pretty much to himself about private affairs . . . extremely serious about his religion. Sometimes his subtle humor was out of this world . . . loved good music . . . deeply interested in radio and electronics . . . thorough in what he did . . . the only man who could live on the paltry sum they gave us.
Richard was commander of the 5th Battalion in the fall. He graduated from the 18th Company with the class of 1948-B in June 1948. (The top half of the class academically, designated 1948-A, graduated in June 1947 as the last wartime-accelerated class.)
Loss
Richard was lost on August 25, 1952 when the plane he was piloting crashed in California.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Born in the Virginia, Richard graduated from San Diego High School in 1942. Prep School, Military Service, Beachcombers, Camera Club (Vice Pres.-Treasurer,) Guard Force (Deputy Chief,) yearbook (Business Manager.)
From The Clatskanie Chief (Clatskanie, Oregon) on September 19, 1952:
Gen. Schneider's Pilot Son Killed
Lt. Richard Dana Schneider, marine pilot, was laid to rest in Arlington cemetery near Washington, D.C. recently.
The young marine was killed in an accident in California and details as to the time and cause of his death have not been learned by Clatskanie relatives and friends.
Funeral services were held in San Diego, California, where his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Merlin Schneider now live since his retirement from the Marine Corps in which he had the rank of Brigadier General.
Young Schneider's wife and three children had been living near Santa Ana, California but are now in Washington, D.C. with her family.
Merlin Schneider left Clatskanie when a young fellow and entered Annapolis Academy and his two sons have followed his footsteps and the three have graduated from Annapolis.
Besides his wife and children, his parents, he is survived by a brother, Merlin F., Jr., now stationed at Billings, Montana and who has been seriously injured in action in Korea, and by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Schneider, who recently left Clatskanie to reside in Portland. An uncle, Harlan Schneider, lives in Albany.
Both Richard and his wife, Therese are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Photographs
18th Company in the 1948-B Lucky Bag
From his high school yearbook
From his high school yearbook
Family
From Dignity Memorial, the obituary for his wife:
On June 16, 2012, THERESE O. SCHNEIDER of Washington, DC. Beloved wife of the late Captain Richard D. Schneider; devoted mother of Richard Schneider (Barbara), William Schneider (Joann) and Anne Schneider Leber (Christopher); sister of Mary Otley Hyland and James Otley; grandmother of Courtney Schneider, Carol Schneider Dillon, William Schneider, Melissa Sullivan, Caroline Rivers, Suzanne Leber, Brian Schneider, Dana Schneider and the late Scott Schneider; great-grandmother of five.
From Clarion Ledger on Dec. 19, 2009, the obituary for his brother:
Merlin Frederick Schneider, 82, died at his home in Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday, December 13, 2009. Known as "Gim" by family and friends, he was the son of the late Brigadier General Merlin Schneider, United States Marine Corps, and Catherine Rhoads Schneider.
He was born in Haiti in 1927. He graduated from Boyden Preparatory School in San Diego, California, in 1945. He attended the United States Naval Academy, graduating in the Class of 1949 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He was then commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps.
He graduated first in his class at Marine Corps Officers Basic School. Assigned to the 1st Marine Division, he participated in the 1950 amphibious invasion of Inchon during the Korea War. He was awarded the Purple Heart after being badly wounded during the battle to recapture Seoul, Korea.
Related Articles
Gordon Farmer '48 and Hubert Loheed '48 were also in 18th Company.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
