At "Skip" Schumacher's St. Louis company, you can find financial support services.
"We do basic bookkeeping work for individuals," he explains.
What many of his clients don't know is that you can also find history.
"In September of 1967, I received orders to join the USS Pueblo," he says.
Schmacher was a 24-year-old officer on the USS Pueblo, a naval ship captured by North Koreans in 1968, in what Americans claimed was international waters.
"With no warning, no shot across the bow," Schumacher remembers, "I think it was a 57 millimeter cannon they had and they swing the cannon toward us and they pulled the trigger and opened fire."
One man was killed, 82 other crew members were taken, imprisoned and tortured for 11 months.
"They'd beat you for 25 minutes," says Schumacher. "And they'd say, 'ok now answer our questions' and you'd say, 'no,' and they'd beat you for another 25 minutes."
The North Koreans tried to milk the incident for propaganda but the crew resisted. For instance, when forced to pose for photos, the Americans told the North Koreans, naïve about American culture that they would show the "Hawaiian good luck sign." What they really did was raise the middle finger.
"They were very upset about it and started what was known as Hell Week. Which they really opened up on us for about 10 days," says Schumacher.
The crew was finally released in exchange for a signed statement from US negotiators that the ship had been engaged in spying, an apology they later retracted.
NewsChannel 5 was there when they finally arrived in San Diego. We even sat down with Skip's mom and dad.
"He had lost a great deal of weight, he kind had a black eye and his back hurt where he was beaten," said Carl Schmacher in 1968.
A few years later in another NewsChannel 5 interview, Schumacher admitted that he and several other members tried to commit suicide during their captivity.
"Given the assumption that they can get information out of you by torture, and you can't get out, the only rational thing to do is to eliminate yourself," Schumacher said.
Despite receiving a hero's welcome when they came home, the Navy board of inquiry recommended that Commander Pete Bucher be court-martialed for allowing the USS Pueblo to be boarded, but that rankled the public.
The Navy eventually backed down, threw out the charges and awarded the Silver Star for valor to Skip Schumacher. Still, pride is tinged with bitterness, because the North Koreans still have the USS Pueblo, which they use as a museum of American atrocities.
"It's an embarrassment," says Schumacher. "I think most people feel like the whole Pueblo incident has never been resolved."
It's been said that everybody has a story but clearly some are more interesting than others.
Now 67, "Skip" Schumacher is a family man, a businessman and man who knows more than most what freedom in this country really means.
"To have had this experience and to understand what it is that we've got, it almost makes it worth it," says Schumacher. "Almost."
For more information about the USS Pueblo visit USSPueblo.org./>
