America's warriors: Pilot: Holladay man 'always happy' to share stories of WWII

HOLLADAY — There's a "me" room in World War II veteran Jack Bering Schade's basement where papers, mail, books, awards and war memories in myriad forms overflow from shelves and his desk and on to the red shag carpet.

After chatting about the 26 missions he flew over Japan in 1945 as a co-pilot in a B-29, Schade plucks from a dusty shelf a safety tag he took from a bomb before it made its deadly drop over a target. The tag produces one more story from Schade, 86, who has just spent two hours talking — and only scratching the surface — about his wartime experiences.

And that's the way it is with Schade, as Alene, his wife of 63 years, will attest. Once you get him going on the war, she said, it's hard to stop him.

"He is always happy to talk about it," she said.

Which is different from many World War II vets, most well into their 80s, who are dying off at a rate of about 1,000 a day and taking their war stories with them. About 3 million World War II vets are left. It's the reason why the University of Utah Saturday chose to honor Schade and 10 other World War II vets in a special Veterans Day ceremony. (Related article: U. rite to honor veterans)

These days Schade considers himself to be in good health, despite needing a hearing aid and 13 surgeries to correct a broad range of health problems. He says he's a happy person, mostly because of how lucky he's been in life.

Lucky that Alene said "yes" to his marriage proposal, sent via telegram from Kansas to Utah just before he left for Cuba, then Guam and war in Japan. Lucky his B-29 didn't get shot down. Lucky he was able to make a career of flying planes after the war. Lucky to have raised two daughters with Alene.

In the war room of his basement, he peppers vignettes about disturbing battle images with a joke or sarcastic remark that catches the listener off guard. Sometimes the crack comes by way of a single word.

When asked whether he thought much about the people and places — the targets he never saw from 18,000 feet in the air — he frames his answer in the context of saying what he would have done if he was shot down and captured by civilians instead of the Japanese military. After destroying some guy's "shed," he said, his chances of survival with that civilian probably wouldn't be so hot.