This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Tommy Burgdorf (Birddog), FC2
to remember
Schoeppner, Leonard John (Chops), LT.
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This Sailor has an (IMO) Memory Of Headstone in Courts of the Missing, Honolulu, Hawaii
LT Leonard J. Schoeppner and LTJG Rex L. Parcels Jr. were F4 pilots assigned to Fighter Squadron 21 onboard the USS RANGER. On March 9, 1970, the two were assigned a photo reconnaissance escort mission in their F4J Phantom. Schoeppner was the pilot and Parcels served as the Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) on the flight.
Schoeppner and Parcels launched at 1200 hours on that day. Their climbout and aerial refueling were normal. Because of low ceilings and poor visibility in the reconnaissance aircraft's target area, the escort mission was cancelled. Schoeppner's aircraft was diverted to their secondary mission assignment as combat air patrol for the Task Force. The reassignment occurred about one hour after their takeoff.
Schoeppner reported his position as overhead the RANGER in the Gulf of Tonkin at 17,000 feet. He was instructed to rendezvous with another squadron F4, but he failed to contact the newly assigned control agency for the required vector. Contact between Schoeppner's and Parcels' aircraft and the ship's search radar was also lost at about this time (1330).
A preliminary search was conducted, using aircraft already airborne in the vicinity of the carrier. With no success on this preliminary search, the assistance of other assets was utilized (seven destroyers, seven helicopters, four A7's, three OV10's, two HC130's, two E1's, one E2, one C1A, one C131, and one P3). A thorough and detailed coverage of this large area was attested to by a variety of non-pertinent floating debris recovered by the SAR force, including objects as small as an old life jacket.
A pilot from the HANCOCK reported that he had seen an F4-type aircraft in a dive at approximately 4,000 feet. All other F4 pilots airborne at this time stated that they had not engaged in such a maneuver. The diving aircraft was thought to possibly be that of Schoeppner and Parcels. With weather conditions as they were, they may have inadvertently entered a maneuver, such as a dive, which carried them to an altitude too low to effect a recovery after their condition was realized.
