Michael D. Scholl dies from combat wounds

Lincoln High School graduate Lance Cpl. Michael Scholl, 21, was killed in Iraq on Tuesday.

He is the son of Debora and Jack Chandler of Lincoln and Steven and Donna Scholl of Friend.

Michael Scholl lived in Burwell and Crete when he was young but grew up in Lincoln’s Air Park neighborhood, Debora Chandler said. He graduated from Lincoln High in 2002 and was fulfilling a longtime goal by being a Marine.

And he was a new father.

His wife, Melissa, gave birth to Addison Rose on Oct. 11. They are living in Vancouver, Wash.

The young Marine never got to see or hold his daughter, but he did talk and sing “You Are My Sunshine” to the baby while she was still in the womb, his mother said.

“It’s the same song I sang to him and his brothers,” Chandler said Thursday night.

He also recorded himself telling stories for Addison, just in case.

Scholl was riding an armor-outfitted vehicle in Haditha, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device exploded and wounded him and other soldiers serving a seven-month tour northwest of Baghdad.

This was Scholl’s second tour of duty in the Middle East.

Scholl became a Marine in 2003. He had been denied enlistment at first because he was diagnosed with a kidney condition as a toddler, but he overcame several hurdles to obtain a medical waiver, Chandler said.

Scholl met his wife when he was stationed in Hawaii, his mother said, and theirs was a real love story.

He saw Melissa in Hawaii, who was on vacation with her grandfather, who had a military background.

“My son was a big flirt, I guess,” his mother said, laughing. “(And) he really impressed her grandfather.”

The two stayed in touch by e-mail and soon were spending hours on the phone.

By the time Melissa flew to Nebraska in May 2005, they knew he would soon be sent to Afghanistan. They were wed at the County-City Building in Lincoln.

Scholl was in Afghanistan from summer 2005 to January 2006, and within a month of his return, he and Melissa were expecting a baby.

“They were hoping he could be there when the baby was born,” his mother said. “There were things he could have done not to go.”

He had knee surgery before he left for Iraq, and still, he went.

Scholl’s company commander told his family the young soldier had saved his life, and other’s lives, during a battle in October.

Scholl was a machine gunner, part of a tough unit the commander called “his hammer,” his “knock-out punch” and his “rescue unit,” Chandler said.

She still can’t believe her son is gone, but she knew his role in the unit put him at risk.

“When things got bad, they would call them in,” she said.

He had talked about being a Marine since he was a child. And he believed the U.S. military should be in Iraq.

“He said it’s what helps him get up in the morning, the things he would see over there,” Chandler said.

Scholl went through a troubled time when his older brother, Trenton, died in 2000, his mother said. But he turned it around and graduated from high school at 17.

He worked at McDonald’s near the airport and a convenience store. He studied briefly at Southeast Community College in Milford, and he loved fast cars.

Scholl was active in a Lincoln car club, Camaros Inc., where he met Erich Kaiser.

“He was just one of those kids,” Kaiser said. “He brought a whole new kind of life to our club.”

Kaiser said Scholl e-mailed him twice a week from the Middle East.

“I always thought, nothing will happen to him, because I only know just this one person in Iraq, and there are thousands of soldiers over there. There’s no way it could happen to him.”

The Scholl and Chandler family phones have been ringing all week.

“He had an ornery, mischievous sense of humor,” his mother said. “I’m sure there’s more stories out there than I even know.”

A memorial service will be Monday at 2 p.m. at Holy Savior Lutheran Church, 10th and Superior streets.

“He had so many friends, so many adopted moms,” his mother said. “We are all so proud of him.”

From the Journal Star