Peter J. Schram

Email: pjschram@aol.com

Along with others I decided to leave the ASTP program after basic because of rumors that the program was going to be discontinued and all would end up in the infantry. I guess the rumors were wrong, at least for the Iowa City program, but from what I can see from the web site pages many finished advanced ASTP but went into the infantry anyway. I consider myself luckier. I ended up in the Signal Corps attached to the Air Corps and spent many months in radio mechanic and radar mechanic schools, some close to my home in Chicago. I was at Truax Field in Madison, Wis., and Chanute Field in Champaign, Ill., as well as Boca Raton, Fla. Airbase, and airbases in New York, and North and South Carolina. I ended up on a radar blind landing (GCA) team in Greensboro, N.C. and was on my way to Seattle and the Central Pacific after VE day. I spent some not-too-unpleasant time on Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Guam after the islands were secured, and came home in Feb, 1946, three years to the day after I went on active duty from the reserves.

After the army I went back to school at the University of Wisconsin in Madison where I received my BS in Electrical Engineering in June, 1959. After a short stint designing electric fence controllers I found a job at Underwriters Laboratories (UL) in Chicago. I stayed with them for 30 years.

I was married in 1957. We lived in Chicago and Oak Park, IL. We had 2 children and 7 grandchildren.

My job at UL was very rewarding. It was my good fortune to represent UL, and in some cases the United States, on a number of national and international technical committees, resulting in considerable business travel, both in North America and Europe. My wife and I also traveled to Europe several times purely for pleasure, took some cruises, and had a wonderful 5 weeks in Australia, New Zealand, and points in between.

In 1980 1 was offered the job of Chief Electrical Engineer at the National Fire Protection Association in Boston, so we sold our home in Oak Park, IL, and moved to Braintree, Mass., a suburb south of Boston. My job there was similar to the one I had at UL - a great deal of travel and committee work. I was also responsible for the processing of the National Electrical Code and was the editor of the National Electrical Code Handbook.

I retired in 1989 and my wife and I started to spend our winters in Delray Beach, FL, where we eventually bought a second home. In 1996 my wife passed away after a brief illness. We had 39 happy years together.

I still split my time between Massachusetts and Florida, although I spend more time now in Florida than Massachusetts. Also, I still do some consulting and expert witness work. It keeps the mind fresh.

In 1946 1 obtained an amateur radio license, and am still an active ham radio operator with my original call letters, W9UBP. I also play golf 2 or 3 times a week, and bridge as often as possible. My (twin) brother and I go on fishing trips once a year to out-of-the way places where the fishing is good. Last spring we were tarpon fishing in Honduras.

It has been a good life, and it's still going strong.