After failing his army physical twice, Larry Schroeck passed on his third try and his two-year tour of duty in the U.S. Army was underway.

He's the subject of this week's Remembering our Veterans series, a story of intrigue and the unexpected.

After a year of training, Larry was sent to an Army medical center in Germany. At that time, it was determined that because of his experience in photography, he could be better utilized as an illustrator.

"It's very interesting. I wanted to be a photographer, and so that's how I wrote on my records," said Larry. "When I got to Germany as a medic at the hospital. It just happened; they needed a photographer."

He also worked in the operating room and photographed autopsies in the morgue.

"About 180 autopsies a year. And that was before just the beginning of Vietnam," said Larry. "So, that's quite a field for almost peacetime. The first one was difficult, and after that, it wasn't too bad."

He was also in Germany at the time of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

"It was almost a day later that we heard it because I was in a movie. I can't remember the name of the movie, but they shot the film off and had an alert. And it's unusual to have two alerts a month because they usually have at the beginning of the month and the 22nd, they have another alert for the morning walking over to the hospital and seeing missiles sitting there," said Larry. "It was really a scary time for  me, for being a peacetime, you know." 

Larry Schroeck also volunteers at the Santa's workshop, making toys out of wood.