Born in 1933 in New Castle, Pennsylvania Robert Shumaker (Bob) graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1956, and went on to marry Lorraine Shaw in 1963. In 1965, while flying an F8 Crusader, Shumaker became the second airman to be shot out of the sky over North Vietnam, his parachute barely opening before hitting the ground. He was picked up and brought to the Hoa Lo Hilton, the prison he would later humorously dub, The Hanoi Hilton. Shumaker endured a broken back from his parachute fall, but was denied medical treatment. Eventually the painful injury healed on its own, but for six months Shumaker struggled to walk and remained in excruciating pain.
During his eight years in captivity Shumaker helped coin the nickname the Hanoi Hilton, was involved in the creation of the Tap Code, an elaborate system created to allow US POW’s communicate through their cells and in person without their captors becoming aware, and was part of a group remembered as the Alcatraz Gang. The Alcatraz Gang-separated from the regular prison population at the Hanoi Hilton this group of Navy and Airforce officers- were thought to be extremely resilient and defiant in the face of their NVA captors. They were placed in solitary confinement and endured extra rounds of torture based on rank and age. Upon homecoming in 1973 Shumaker Shumaker attended US Naval Post Graduate School, receiving a PhD in Electrical Engineering and retiring in 1988 from the Pentagon at the rank of Rear Admiral.
Awards:
Admiral Shumaker’s military decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, two Silver Stars, four Legions of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, a Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts. In 2011 he was presented with the Distinguished Graduate Award from the U. S. Naval Academy.
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