East Meadow vet recalls serving in three wars

Members of the East Meadow Veterans of Foreign Wars spent a quiet morning on Nov. 11 drinking coffee and catching up with one another at Veterans Memorial Park. One of their comrades, however, couldn’t make it.

Fred Scheattler, 92, of East Meadow, celebrated Veterans Day in his Strattford Drive home with his wife, Maria. There, he recently spoke with the Herald about his 20 years of active duty in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam.

Scheattler, whose mobility is limited, spends most of his time at home, but often makes his way to VFW meetings at the American Legion Post 1082 hall on Bellmore Road. He said that friendship, above all else, has inspired him to continue serving his country.

Scheattler was drafted into the Air Force at age 18, in 1944. After heavy losses in Germany and France produced the need for more boots on the ground, he and some of his fellow soldiers were assigned to an infantry unit, despite having no previous experience in the role. “That was quite a show,” he said. “We went from carrying a wrench to carrying a rifle.”

During one ambush, Scheattler was hit by a stray bullet that tore through his hand and snapped a bone. “My friend said, ‘Hey Fred, you’re hit. You’ve got blood coming out,’” he recalled with a laugh, adding that he could still feel the scarred bone through his skin.

When World War II ended in 1945, Scheattler stayed in Germany as a member of the military police. “In the beginning it was tough,” he said, explaining that poverty was rampant in the country. “But we had no trouble,” he added, explaining that most of the civilians obeyed the law despite their hardships.

When America went to war with North Korea in 1950, Scheattler was deployed north of Seoul, South Korea, not far from the demilitarized zone. He served there for a few years before being transferred to U.S.-occupied Japan in 1955. There he met Maria, who is Japanese, at a dance hall while celebrating a friend’s birthday, and the two married the same year. “I’ve been attached to her ever since,” he said.

A collection of memorabilia from his time in the military fills several shelves in Scheattler’s home. It includes photos of him and his wife in Japan, and shadow boxes of traditional Japanese dolls his wife painted, among other statuettes, flags and paintings from her country.

Fred brought Maria to America a few months after they married, and the two traveled around the country. “I was so excited,” she said, recalling that she wasn’t homesick because of the experiences she was having in America with her husband, with whom she would eventually raise three children.

They settled in Vermont in the early 1960s, where Scheattler was stationed before he was deployed to Vietnam for a short time. He served with the military police there until 1966, when he retired from the military at age 40. He moved his family to East Meadow that year, and he worked for Grumman for 20 years before he retired.

“There’s the old saying” ‘War is hell,’” Scheattler said of his experiences. “Don’t live it. Keep away from it. But you got no choice. You do the best you can. You get through it with your friends.”