RICHARD A. SCHENK
Richard Schenk '63
Richard Andrew Schenk was admitted to the Naval Academy from Missouri on July 7, 1959 at age 19 years 6 months. (His birthdate is also noted as December 29, 1939.)
He resigned on February 11, 1960; he was "deficient in studies and discharged under honorable conditions."
Photographs
Clipping of the group photograph of the 4/c midshipmen of 13th Company from the 1960 Lucky Bag.
Loss
Richard was killed on March 2, 1968 in a land mine explosion in the District of Due Pho, Province of Quang Ngai, Vietnam. He had been employed with the Agency for International Development for the previous 20 months, with over a year spent in Vietnam.
Other Information
From the July-August 1968 issue of Shipmate:
RICHARD ANDREW SCHENK '63
Mr. Schenk was born in Missouri, and attended the Naval Academy with the class of 1963. He attended the University of Missouri, Harris Teachers College and was graduated from Southern Illinois University. He had formerly been employed with Dunn and Broadstreet.Surviving are his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Howard A. Schenk, 2643 Herbert St., St. Louis, Mo. 63107.
He is buried in Missouri.
Remembrances
From Steve Coester '63 via email on December 15, 2019:
Richard was my plebe year roommate along with Ron Machens. We were all from the St. Louis vicinity although none of us knew each other before the Academy.
Richard had a rough time at USNA. He had trouble with maintaining his uniforms, wasn't very military and took so much heat from the upperclassmen that it affected his studies and I think he failed three courses. It was obvious from the start that he just didn’t fit in.
Memorial
Richard's name is listed on the memorial wall of the Department of State, located in the lobby of the department's headquarters.
Memorial Hall Error
Richard is not listed with his classmates in Memorial Hall nor on the killed in action panel in the front of Memorial Hall. This error was discovered when reviewing the July-August 1968 issue of Shipmate.
Richard is one of 29 members of the Class of 1963 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
