Les Schneider
Encyclopedia
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United States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy is an accredited college for the undergraduate education of officer candidates for the United States Air Force. Its campus is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States...
Leslie (Les) George Schneider, born December 13, 1939, grew up in Woodstock & Staten Island, New York. He and his younger brother Wayne were raised by their grandmother and grandfather. He attended New Dorp High School
New Dorp High School
New Dorp High School, administered by the New York City Department of Education, is a public school located on the East Shore of the New York City borough of Staten Island in the New Dorp neighborhood. The school is located at 465 New Dorp Lane next to Miller Field, an army airport turned park,...
from 1953 to 1957 and was captain of the school's undefeated, untied PSAL championship football team in 1956 and attended the United States Air Force Academy
United States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy is an accredited college for the undergraduate education of officer candidates for the United States Air Force. Its campus is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States...
in Colorado Springs, CO from 1957 to 1961. Shortly thereafter he began his tour of duty in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
as the captain of search and rescue missions ("Crown Rescue") using DC-4 and C-130 Hercules Aircraft.
Following Vietnam, Les began as a flight engineer for Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
(TWA). He then transferred to Saudi Airlines and spent seven years there where he learned Arabic and earned his gemologists degree. Upon return to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, he flew for TWA until his retirement in 1997 as a DC-9 captain.
Gemini 8
Gemini 8
-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:* Mass: * Perigee: * Apogee: * Inclination: 28.91°* Period: 88.83 min-Objectives:Gemini VIII had two major objectives, of which it achieved one...
capsule containing Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong is an American former astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor, United States Naval Aviator, and the first person to set foot upon the Moon....
and Maj. David Scott
David Scott
David Randolph Scott is an American engineer, test pilot, retired U.S. Air Force officer, and former NASA astronaut and engineer, who was one of the third group of astronauts selected by NASA in October 1963...
in case of an emergency re-entry.
Mechanical problems forced Armstrong to do just that: he had to perform an emergency re-entry into the East China Sea
East China Sea
The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km² or 750,000 square miles.-Geography:...
. Captain Schneider was the pilot who saw the descent of the capsule; three pararescuers jumped from his plane and attached a flotation collar.
Although not as well known as the Apollo 13
Apollo 13
Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was launched on April 11, 1970, at 13:13 CST. The landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days later, crippling the service module upon which the Command...
crash and rescue, the rescue performed by this crew proved to have great importance since it was Mr. Armstrong who would be the one to first step onto the moon.
Resources
- On The Shoulders of Titans, Chapter 13
- American Heritage Magazine, December 1992
- Interview with Les Schneider