Peter V. "Pete" Schoeffel

Pete Schoeffel entered the U.S. Naval Academy in June 1950, and was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy on June 4, 1954. His first assignment was aboard the destroyer USS Eaton (DDE-510), followed by flight training until he received his designation as a Naval Aviator in January 1958. Lieutenant Schoeffel served as an A-4 Skyhawk pilot with VA-66 at NAS Oceana, Virginia, and then received an assignment to the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, California, to complete his degree in Operations Research. After serving at the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Lieutenant Commander Schoeffel served on the staff of the Director of Naval Warfare Analyses (OP-91) in the Pentagon. He then completed A-4 Skyhawk Replacement Air Group training with VA-45 and VA-44 before serving as an A-4 pilot with VA-15 at NAS Cecil Field, Florida, and deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid (CVS-11) from December 1965 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on October 4, 1967.