SK1c Herman Lincoln Schuman

Herman Lincoln Schuman was born on Feb. 12, 1912 in Hartford, Connecticut. His father, Herman R. Schuman, was a cook and his mother, Lydia Schuman, a homemaker. She was a German immigrant.

By 1920 the family lived in San Francisco. The son graduated from high school before enlisting in the Navy in April 1929. His first ship was the U.S.S. Mississippi. Mr. Schuman went aboard the U.S.S. Arizona on March 23, 1931.

By April 1935 he lived in Long Beach. On Aug. 14, 1937 he married Marjorie Lois Ogle in Yuma, Arizona. The battleship was at its home port of San Pedro, California, that month. Yuma was a popular wedding destination for sailors because it was within driving distance and, unlike California, Arizona had no waiting period.

A year later the couple had moved to Anaheim 25 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, but by April 1940 were back in Long Beach as lodgers. For 1939 Mr. Schuman reported earning $900 – more than $19,000 in 2022 dollars.

Mr. Schuman was a storekeeper and petty officer first class when he was killed on the Arizona in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

Sources: Special thanks to Edward Garcia of Granbury, Texas, for sharing his research. Other sources are: Census; Navy muster roll; San Francisco County voter registration; San Francisco City Directories; Arizona marriage license. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.