William L. Schaefer

Photos provided by:
LtCol. William Schaefer, Retired

Schaefer Biography page 1 of 3

                                                 BIOGRAPHY

I was born in Wheeling, West Virginia and grew up all over the world -- Guatemala, Panama (twice), France, and about a dozen places in the USA – until I settled down and went through high school in Altus, Oklahoma. As you can probably guess, my Father was in the Air Force.

I graduated from Notre Dame in 1966 with a degree in accounting and went to work in Melbourne, FL for a small CPA firm while awaiting my Air Force Officer Training School class to start in January 1967 at Lackland AFB, TX. In March 1967 I was commissioned and assigned to Moody AFB, GA for Undergraduate Pilot Training. I had a ball flying the T-41, T-37 and T-38. Upon completion of pilot training, my Dad pinned my wings on me - - the same ones presented to him when he earned his commission and wings through the Aviation Cadet program back in World War II.

After UPT, I attended Survival School at Fairchild AFB and then reported the 39th MAS at Dover AFB, DE to fly the C-133 (looks like a C-130, straight wing 4-engine turboprop, high tail with aft ramp and doors, only about three times as big as a C-130). Had fun flying back and forth to Southeast Asia and over to Europe every month – those two trips usually maxed us out for our normal 110 hour per month limit.

November 1969, I headed to Sheppard AFB, TX for helicopter school – flew UH-1 and HH-43B. After graduation in March 1970, I was sent on a hardship tour of four months TDY to Eglin AFB, FL to upgrade to aircraft commander prior to being shipped to Viet Nam.

July 70 I stopped off at Jungle Survival School in the Philippines on my way to Tuy Hoa AFB, RVN to provide HH-43 local base rescue (LBR) for the F-100s that mostly flew strikes on the Ho Chi Minh trail. The base was right on the South China Sea an absolutely a beautiful place. I was one of only two aircraft commanders in the detachment which had a two-aircraft alert commitment. So, I spent over three months on continual alert (24 hours on immediate alert at the Det followed by 24 hours of 30-minute alert). In October they sent the last F-100 home and closed Tuy Hoa AFB. I was transferred to Tan Son Nhut AFB, Saigon RVN (now Ho Chi Minh City). Still flew LBR in the HH-43. It was at Tan Son Nhut that I first met Jim Woolace, when he spent a couple days in Saigon on his way to NKP, Thailand.

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Douglas C-133 Cargomaster

Bill & Susan Schaefer