“We left with a skeleton crew for Cuba…Kennedy had just given his speech about Cuba and the missiles and it was a very scary time because you just didn’t know what was going to happen.”
- Yeoman Third Class Stephen Schneider, USN
The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program is honored to announce the December 2017 story of the month has been selected to recognize the service of United States Navy Veteran, Yeoman Third Class, Stephen Schneider. The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program was privileged to interview Yeoman Third Class Stephen Schneider at the USS Harwood Reunion in Philadelphia Pennsylvania in the fall of 2016.
Yeoman Third Class Stephen Schneider shared, “I joined the Navy in November of 1959, I liked the idea of serving my country and I went to Great Lakes Naval Training Center.” At Great Lakes he learned valuable lessons focused on firefighting, damage control, drill, and following commands to prepare for his service in the fleet. He joined the USS Harwood DD 861 a Gearing-class destroyer while the ship was undergoing an overhaul at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Schneider discussed his role as a Yeoman aboard the Harwood and working on the ships log in the Operations Department. While on the USS Harwood, Schneider would participate in the shakedown cruise following the overhaul and traveled to the Mediterranean from 1961 to 1962. He remarked, "we went all around the Mediterranean and through the Suez Canal to Aqaba Jordan, Karachi Pakistan, and French Somaliland."
The day after returning home from the Mediterranean Cruise he was immediately ordered to report back to the USS Harwood due to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Schneider recalled, “We left with a skeleton crew for Cuba…Kennedy had just given his speech about Cuba and the missiles and it was a very scary time because you just didn’t know what was going to happen.” He spoke in detail about the role of the USS Harwood during the Cuban Missile Crisis and his memories of the Cold War.
Part One Joining the Navy and Service on the USS Harwood
Part Three Memories of the Cuban Missile Crisis
Part Two Memories of the Mediterranean Cruise 1961 to 1962
The United States Navy Memorial honors United States Navy Veteran, Electronic Yeoman Third Class, Stephen Schneider, featured within this series titled, Stories of Service, Story of the Month. Each month, this series honors a Veteran’s story recorded by the Stories of Service Program at the Navy Memorial. To learn more about this story and to explore the Navy Memorial archive, visit the Navy Memorial Stories of Service site at https://www.navymemorial.org/stories-of-service.