Air Force veteran Debbie Schneider was the guest speaker at the Peace Lutheran Church in Peoria for a luncheon honoring veterans.

Schneider is also the chapter historian for the Sun City Agua Fria Daughters of the American Revolution Chapter. She is a descendant of one of America’s first veterans, Patriot Joseph Taylor, who served as a Connecticut soldier in the Revolutionary War. Both her grandfather and great uncle served during World War I as Army Air Corp pilots.

Schneider talked about her time spent at Fairchild Air Force Base, Spokane, WA, from October 1979 to May 1983, where she was assigned to the motor pool. Since she could type, she spent most of her time in the base driver school. Since it was peace time, it was a quiet time to serve.

She also spoke about two events that happened during this period of time. In 1980, during the winter Olympics, the USA won the gold medal in men’s hockey. On May 18, 1980, Mount Saint Helen erupted. They spent the better part of two weeks cleaning ash off the base by wetting it down and shoveling it with snow shovels off the flight line and the roads. The ash from the volcano caused very dry skin, dry hair and dry, cracked combat boots.