General Robert M. Shoemaker

General Robert M. Shoemaker

Funeral Services for General (Ret.) Robert M. "Bob" Shoemaker were held at 1:00 PM Wednesday, June 28, 2017, at the Killeen Civic & Conference Center, 3601 South WS Young Drive, Killeen, Texas. Burial, with full military honors, followed at the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery. Visitation was held 6:00-8:00 PM Tuesday, June 27, 2017, at Crawford-Bowers Funeral Home in Killeen.

Robert M. "Bob" Shoemaker was raised on an 80 acre farm in rural Michigan.  He attended the same small school building from kindergarten through the 12th grade and graduated in a class of 23 from Almont High School in 1941.  In 1942, while a pharmacy student at the University of Grand Rapids, he enlisted in the Navy V-12 officer training program.  A few weeks before entering active duty in the Navy he switched to the Army by accepting an appointment to West Point earned though a competitive examination.  After graduating from West Point in 1946, he was commissioned in the Infantry and attended Basic and Advanced Courses as well as parachute and gliderman training at Fort Benning, Georgia.  His assignments as a junior officer emphasized duty with troop units.  He commanded four infantry companies; a rifle company in the 1st Infantry Division in Germany in 1949-50, rifle and heavy weapons companies for a year each in the 82nd Airborne Division in 1951-52, and a rifle company in the 2d Infantry Division in Korea, 1953.   While in Germany in 1948 he married Tuke Rickard.

In 1958 he attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth followed by pilot training at Fort Rucker.  After command of the Army's original Armed Helicopter Company at Fort Rucker in 1962, he was assigned to Vietnam to test an armed Mohawk unit.  He returned to Fort Benning in 1963 to serve as operations and training staff officer (G3) of the 11th Air Assault Division (Test).

When the Air Assault Division was redesignated the 1st Cavalry Division, Shoemaker deployed with it to Vietnam in 1965 and commanded in succession the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry (airborne infantry) and the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry (air cavalry).  After attending the Army War College and serving in the Pentagon for a year and a half, he returned to the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam in 1969 as Chief of Staff and, after promotion to Brigadier General, as Assistant Division Commander.  Task Force Shoemaker, a combined force of eight U.S. and three Vietnamese maneuver battalions, made the initial U.S. incursion into Cambodia in May 1970.

In July 1970, he began a seven and one half year tour at Fort Hood, Texas serving successively as Chief of Staff, III Corps; Commander MASSTER ( an operational test organization); Commander, 1st Cavalry Division; and in 1975 Commander, III Corps.

Beginning in 1978, General Shoemaker served four years as Commander, U.S. Army Forces Command, Fort McPherson, Georgia.  In that position, Shoemaker supervised about one million Active, Reserve and National Guard soldiers in the Continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Panama, and Puerto Rico.

Since retiring from the Army in 1982, he has been active in community affairs in Central Texas.  In December, 1994, he completed eight years as an elected County Commissioner of Bell County, Texas.  In the mid-1980's he served for three years as the President of the 12 County Heart 'O Texas Council of the Boy Scouts.  A strong supporter of the United Way, he served on the board of the United Way of Texas for six years and many more years as a board member of the Greater Fort Hood Area United Way including the positions of President and Campaign Managers.  His community work has been recognized by the Frank W. Mayborn Humanitarian Award and the Roy J. Smith Award for community service.  In 2000, the Killeen Independent School District named Robert M. Shoemaker High School with over 2,000 students, in his honor.  He has visited the school several times weekly and is well known to the teachers and students through his regular attendance at athletic and extra-curricular events.

General Shoemaker was preceded in death by his parents, Uriah Beebe and Pomola Orda Morin Shoemaker, brother, Thomas Gordon Shoemaker and sister, Betsey Shoemaker Murphy.

Left to cherish his memories are his wife of 70 years, Mary "Tuke" Shoemaker; brother, John "Jack" Marshall Shoemaker and his wife Barbie; several loving nieces and nephews, a large extended family and thousands of grandchildren from Robert M. Shoemaker High School.

Should friends desire, memorial gifts in lieu of flowers may be made to any of the following foundations; Killeen Independent School District Foundation, 1st Cavalry Division Association, Central Texas College Wolf Warrior Endowed Scholarship, or the Texas A&M University Centex Scholars Endowed Scholarship Fund.

Family and friends may express condolences and sign the online guest book at www.crawfordbowersfuneralhome.com. Arrangements are under the direction of Crawford-Bowers Funeral Home in Killeen, Texas 254-634-2638