Dick Schlink was born and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana. After graduating high school, he began working for General Electric. About 18 months later he was laid off, after which he and several of his friends decided to join the Navy. He chose the Navy because he liked the sea and the quality of life sounded better. He completed basic training at Naval Air Station Great Lakes, Illinois and remained there for approximately six months. He wanted to become a storekeeper with the idea that he would save up his money and use it later to attend school and become a Certified Public Accountant, or CPA. Toward the end of his time at Great Lakes he was told that he had been ordered to school to become a Hospital Corpsman. [Annotator's Note: In the years prior, and through the war, the rating was called Pharmacist's Mate or PhM]. Schlink was sent to the six month school in San Diego, California, followed by his first assignment to the Naval Hospital at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He arrived in 1939 and was assigned to the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) approximately nine months later in 1940. He describes life in Hawaii during those days as, "paradise." In 1939 he was allowed to wear civilian clothes, a practice that ceased in 1940. He wanted to go to sea and so was happy when assigned to a battleship. He originally joined the ship in San Pedro, California [Annotator's Note: the homeport of the Pacific Fleet until it was sent to Pearl Harbor], followed by a transit out to Pearl Harbor two weeks later. He enjoyed a very pleasant routine that entailed the ship getting underway on Monday, returning Friday, conducting an inspection on Saturday, then liberty on Sunday. He characterizes life on a battleship as the, "Spit-and-Polish Navy," particularly when compared to life on the smaller ships. He further enjoyed life as a corpsman, since he was berthed in the medical area of the ship and had more comfortable sleeping accommodations. His time off activities included swimming, driving around the island, and playing golf. In the days and weeks leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, he and his fellow sailors had no inkling of what was about to occur. He describes the attack as, "a complete surprise." The week prior to the attack, the ship had been at sea conducting formation maneuvers, darken ship drills, and practicing short-range gunnery. Returning to port on 5 December 1941, he had liberty the next day just prior to the attack.

On the morning of 7 December 1941, Richard Schlink was standing watch as the duty Pharmacist's Mate [Annotator's Note: aboard the USS Oklahoma (BB-37)] and had finished up his clerical duties including drafting the binnacle list. [Annotator's Note: The binnacle list is the daily report of which crewmembers have medical issues that prevent them from their normal duties.] He was in the medical office wrapping presents to be mailed home later on when the ship's public address system announced an air attack and for all hands to seek cover. This announcement was followed almost immediately by the sounding of General Quarters. [Annotator's Note: General Quarters, or GQ, is often referred to as "Battle Stations" and describes the pre-assigned duty stations aboard ship where each sailor is to report when enemy action is in progress or expected very soon. Battle dressing and gear is to be donned, and the ship is to be set to the maximum level of preparedness, e.g. all doors and hatches closed, weapons manned, etc.] Schlink's first thought was that it was only a drill and very odd to have such a drill on a Sunday, just prior to liberty being announced. Schlink goes on to describe how the ship was due to have its annual military inspection on Monday, 8 December 1941, and as a consequence all of her hatches were wide open in preparation for an inspection party of an admiral and some 200 personnel. He recounts that even the blister plates had been removed for the inspection. [Annotator's Note: Schlink is likely referring to the anti-torpedo blisters that ran along the sides of the ship and bulged out.] At first in disbelief, he quickly recovered, grabbed his medical kit and proceeded to his GQ station, which was the after battle dressing station located in the carpenter's shop on the 3rd deck. The carpenter's shop had been chosen as such a location due to the presence of a large table that could have been put to use as an operating table. As he proceeded to his station, the ship began to list. When he arrived along with four stretcher-bearers, they realized that preparations for the inspection had made the ship extremely vulnerable to attack. The ship's list continued to increase such that when they quickly made the decision to make their way topside, they had to use overhead pipes for balance as they walked along the various machinery that had been bolted to the deck. Eventually, there were 15 to 20 sailors on the starboard side by the time the ship listed to 45 degrees and men began to evacuate. Schlink, in back third of the line, moved through an ammunition loading hatch and moved up the bulkhead to the topside where he was next to the number four gun turret. [Annotator's Note: Warship turrets are numbered from the front (bow) to the rear (stern), so the number four turret would be the furthest aft.] By this time, the main deck was vertical and the ship was capsizing; he realized that he would be trapped as the ship continued to list over. At that moment, he dropped his first aid kit and kicked off his shoes and jumped into the water. He swam until he needed to breathe and then surfaced through a pool of oil. He dove again, repeating the sequence three times until he was clear. He was in the middle of the harbor with many other sailors. He recalls a plinking sound that he determined to be machine gun fire from strafing Japanese planes. He was eventually picked up by a motor launch that, after picking up more sailors, dropped them off on a small island that connected to the submarine base. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer inquires as to whether or not this was Ford Island; Schlink answered that it was not.] The island contained married quarters and he collapsed and remembers seeing the bottom of his ship protruding from the water. After some time, he discarded his oil-soaked T-shirt and removed his Bermuda shorts [Annotator's Note: part of the uniform of the day in Hawaii] and turned them inside out to wipe the oil off of his body. He even removed his undershorts in this effort and recalls having a female voice asking him if he needed assistance, the female being one of the wives whose quarters were nearby. The sailors went over to the submarine base and showered to get the oil off after which they were provided dungaree shirts and trousers and some sandals. A prior Oklahoma commanding officer, who was still at Pearl Harbor, was soliciting Oklahoma sailors so that he could provide them a short post card to address and send to their families letting them know they were safe. He mailed the post cards later upon his return to the mainland. He later returned to Ford Island amidst rumors that the Japanese were landing on the north shore of Oahu. The next morning he reported to the hospital for duty.

Having escaped the ship [Annotator's Note: the USS Oklahoma (BB-37)] as she capsized, Richard Schlink survived the day and reported the following morning to the naval hospital at Pearl Harbor. He recalls that he was working the burn ward which he found frustrating since they lost two to three men per day due to severe burns. He remained in the ward until 16 December 1941 at which time he was assigned to an Army transport ship evacuating wounded to San Francisco. During the transit, he was on duty during the night watch and was responsible for the care of four men who were in full-body casts. The ship arrived in San Francisco on Christmas Day and he took the opportunity to call home. He received no answer so he went to the local Western Union office and sent a telegram to his parents. They replied via telegram before he even left the office and sent him 35 dollars; the telegram was the first notice that they had received that he was alright. [Annotator's Note: Schlink becomes emotional when describing the interaction at the telegram office]. He and 26 other Pharmacist's Mates were assigned to the USS Henderson (AP-1), where they were issued basic dress uniforms and provided ten dollars. They were then granted special liberty chits identifying them as having been at Pearl Harbor with directions to the Shore Patrol [Annotator's Note: Navy military police] that they were not to be bothered. These chits expired just before the ship was due to get underway three days later. Schlink recounts that no matter where he went, he couldn't spend any of his money because of his being in uniform [Annotator's Note: someone else paid for anything he purchased], to include staying at the Rialto Hotel. He also describes being stopped several times by the Shore Patrol; when he asked why he was told that there were other sailors who had been tearing off their rank insignia so as to appear like those who had been at Pearl Harbor and thus be able to take advantage of the benefits. He also recounts having some 42 dollars when the ship got back underway and that he was able to increase that to over 600 dollars by playing poker aboard the ship. He remained part of ship's company until mid-February 1942, at which time he was assigned recruiting duty in Boston. This duty lasted for the next 13 months.

[Annotator's Note: The beginning of this clip is a continuation of a previous discussion on the Pearl Harbor attack; the interviewer asked further questions about the attack after the interviewee had recounted his experiences in the weeks immediately following the attack.] Richard Schlink recounts that as the attack opened, he never felt any of the torpedoes that struck the ship [Annotator's Note: USS Oklahoma (BB-37)]. Once he escaped her as she capsized, he found himself surrounded by thick black smoke and was awestruck by the "terrible sight" of the capsized battleship. When asked if he felt any animosity toward the Japanese at the time, he said he didn't; his anger manifested itself later when he was assigned to the USS Ellyson (DD-454). He was assigned to Ellyson in 1943 after he had made Chief Petty Officer and he served with her almost until the war's end. When he first joined the ship she was assigned to the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and he recounts numerous engagements including anti-submarine actions in the Mediterranean and participating in the Normandy landings off of Utah Beach. The Ellyson also provided naval gunfire support to the Army Rangers who were assaulting Pointe du Hoc and later provided a smoke screen during the bombardment of Cherbourg. Subsequent to the Normandy landings, the ship went to Boston, Massachusetts for conversion to be a minesweeper and, following that, proceeded to the Pacific. Schlink describes that she was supposed to participate in the Iwo Jima assault but didn't arrive in time. The ship did provide minesweeping off of Okinawa prior to the landings, followed by picket duty off of the island. He discusses that while there were no Japanese ships, there were plenty of Japanese aircraft, kamikazes in particular. He eventually was appointed as a Warrant Officer in March 1945 and received orders to the naval hospital at Newport, Rhode Island. He expresses disappointment at having transferred off of the ship prior to the end of the war, since the Ellyson was one of the first major combatant vessels to enter Tokyo harbor at war's end. Had he been aboard when she did, he would have truly been there at both the beginning and the end of the war. He remained in the Navy after the war's end, reverting back to Chief Petty Officer. He had been that his warrant commission would be temporary. He ultimately retired as a Master Chief Hospital Corpsman [Annotator's Note: the Pharmacist's Mate rating became the Hospital Corpsman rate after the war] in June 1960. Subsequent to his military service he became an engineer and worked on the Polaris and Poseidon ballistic missile programs. After his second retirement, he traveled extensively, including numerous trips back to Pearl Harbor and participating in the groundbreaking of the USS Oklahoma Memorial. [Annotator's Note: The memorial is located on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, on the approach to the current location of USS Missouri (BB-63).] He closes the interview by recounting a humorous story involving sailors and circumcision.