Class of 2011

Bernard Schriever

Lifetime Achievement

Biography

Born in Bremen, Germany on September 14, 1910 U.S. Air Force General Bernard Schriever grew up in a small house near the 12th green of the historic layout of Brackenridge Park in San Antonio, Texas. He and his younger brother, Gerhardt, were best friends with Tod Menefee (1994 Texas Golf Hall of Fame inductee) and the Schriever's mother (Elizabeth) operated a small, but popular sandwich stand for the golfers in the back yard.

Bernard won the State Junior and the San Antonio City Golf Championship twice. He captained the Texas A&M golf team for two years before entering the Army. He is mostly known for his role as the Air Force's “father” of the space and missile program, and managing the nuclear arsenal during the Cold War. He retired from the military as a four-star general and remained devoted to the game until his passing on June 20, 2005.

Legacy Video

A New World in New Braunfels

Born in Germany in 1910, Bernard and his family immigrated to the United States in February 1917, just two months before the United States declared war on Germany and the Central Powers in World War I. The Schrievers settled in New Braunfels, Texas, a community with a large German-speaking population. The family endured tragedy (his father died in an industrial accident when Bernard was eight) as well as abject poverty during which time the Schriever brothers, Bernard and Gerhard, were sent to live in an orphanage so their mother could work

A Refreshing Change

After moving to San Antonio, Bernard’s mother, Elizabeth, became the primary housekeeper for a wealthy banker, Edward Chandler, and supervised the mansion’s staff. She earned enough money working to be able to take her boys back from the orphanage, and Chandler ultimately built her a small house near the 12th hole of historic Brackenridge Park Golf Course. After Chandler died, Elizabeth turned the refreshment stand that he had built for her children into a thriving business that sold sandwiches, cookies, lemonade and soft drinks to golfers playing Old Brack.

A Schriever Believer

Bernard, or Ben and Bennie as he came to be known, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1923. He and Gerhard, or Gerry, became best friends with 1994 Texas Golf Hall of Fame inductee Tod Menefee, who also grew up in and around Brackenridge Park Golf Course. Bernard grew to become a standout golfer who reached the semifinals of the 1927 Texas Junior State Championships and twice won the San Antonio City Golf Championship. He was featured in Ripley’s Believe It or Not after driving his tee shot more than 300 yards to the same green and one-putting for eagle on three occasions.

Leave It to Schriever

Bernard’s mother paid his $1,000 annual tuition at Texas A&M University, then known as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, from her sandwich stand profits. An extremely gifted and proficient student, Bernard also captained the Aggies’ golf team in his junior and senior years. He graduated from Texas A&M in 1931 with a Bachelor of Science degree in structural engineering. Following graduation, Bernard turned down the opportunity to become a professional golfer and instead accepted an Army Reserve commission as a second lieutenant in the Field Artillery.

A Military Force

After earning his wings and commission in the U.S. Air Corps Reserve, Schriever left the corps in 1937 to fly commercially with Northwest Airlines. However, after playing a round of golf with Hap Arnold, the first general of the Air Force, Bernard decided to reenter active service a year later. Bernard was one of a handful of air officers onboard the USS Missouri to witness Japan’s Sept. 2, 1945, surrender ceremony ending World War II. Known as the father of the Air Force Space and Missile Program, Bernard managed the United States’ nuclear arsenal during the Cold War. He retired from the military as a four-star general, and the Schriever Air Force Base (now known as Peterson & Schriever Space Force Base) in Colorado Springs, Colo., bears his name.