Captain Eric "Scorch" Schmidt

Captain Eric 'Scorch' Schmidt passed away on February 1, 2011.
He was born in Sleepy Eye, MN, on December 14, 1974. He grew up in Windom, MN. Following high school, Eric enlisted in the Air Force and became an AC-130 aerial gunner for six years. He attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN, graduating in 2003 with an Industrial Engineering degree.

Commissioned through ROTC, Eric began pilot training at Whiting Field near Pensacola, FL, flying T-34s, and finished at Vance AFB in Enid, OK, where he flew T-38s.

While stationed at Vance, Eric met Laura Ediger, and they married on September 22, 2007. The two were stationed in Minot AFB, ND, from September 2007 through September 2009 as part of the 23d Bomb Squadron flying B-52s. Eric deployed as part of Pacific Command's Continuous Bomber Presence mission with Minot's Bomber
Barons to Guam in 2009. In September 2009, Eric and his family moved to Barksdale AFB, LA, joining the 96th Bomb Squadron. Following a year with the Red Devils, Eric changed squadrons to the Posse, the 2d Operations Support Squadron.

The Lord blessed Eric and Laura with a healthy baby boy named Landon Eric on October 11, 2010.

Eric was a source of inspiration and strength to everyone who crossed his
path. He was a pilot, a leader, a husband, a brother, a friend, a son, and a father.
He
will be dearly missed by his wife, Laura; son, Landon; his parents, Bill and Rita Schmidt, Fargo, ND; brother, Gregg (Martha) Schmidt and their children, Will, and Micah; and by a host of family and friends. He was a man who lived devoted to his perso
Visitation will be on Friday from 5 - 7 PM at the Hill Crest Funeral Home, 601 Hwy 80, Haughton, LA.

Funeral services will be conducted at 11 AM, Saturday, February 5, 2011, at Barksdale Air Force Base Chapel 2, Shreveport, LA.

Interment will follow on Monday, February 7, 2011 at 4 PM, at the Enid Mennonite Brethren Cemetery in Enid, OK.