Janet Santomauro met retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf years before he became a household name in the first Gulf War.
The West Scranton widow's late husband, Frank Santomauro, had been a classmate of Gen. Schwarzkopf at Valley Forge Military Academy in the early 1950s and they kept in touch over the years. Gen. Schwarzkopf died Thursday at age 78.
"I was very sorry to hear that, because I really liked Norman," Mrs. Santomauro said. "He was a great man. He was a laid-back person. He didn't need a lot of glory."
At the academy, Mr. Santomauro and Gen. Schwarzkopf were buddies who were on the football team and called each other by their nicknames, "Hugo" and "Santa."
An autograph by Gen. Schwarzkopf in Mr. Santomauro's Valley Forge yearbook stated, "Frank: You're one of the best guys a fellow could know. Don't ever change! Your buddy, Hugo."
After graduation from the academy, they went separate ways but periodically remained in contact. Gen. Schwarzkopf went to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served in the Vietnam War before Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. Mr. Santomauro went to the University of Scranton and later became a social worker for the Department of Public Welfare. In letters, Gen. Schwarzkopf addressed his pal in Scranton as "Dear Santa," as their time at the academy apparently left lasting impressions on both men.
Frank Santomauro Jr., an attorney in Dunmore, said, "My dad was a very regimented guy, too. He lived by a code of ethics. We marched to his drum every day."
Mr. Santomauro Sr. died in 1992. A few years later, his family and Gen. Schwarzkopf attended a Valley Forge function. It was then that Frank Jr. got to meet the decorated general who had been his father's friend.
"He remembered my father and their days at Valley Forge," Mr. Santomauro Jr. said. "It was a wonderful experience to shake the hand of a man of that stature."
EDITORIAL: Remember general for leadership, understanding. A12
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