Mr. Wesley H. Schmidt

CDR Wesley Henry Schmidt, USN (Retired), passed away in Alexandria Hospital on 28 June 2009 in Alexandria, Virginia. The son of Frances Elinor (Kurtz) Schmidt and Henry Rudolph Schmidt, he was born in his parents’ home in Baltimore, MD, on January 20, 1922, but grew up in Chicago, IL. CDR Schmidt graduated in 1939 from Lane Technical High School in Chicago, and attended Purdue University where he majored in Civil Engineering and was a member of the Pistol Team and Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. He was also a member of the Purdue Army Reserve Officer Training Corps Battalion and held the position of Sergeant Major until 1942 when he was appointed as a Midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, with the Class of 1946. At the Naval Academy, CDR Schmidt was Sailing Master of “Highland Light,� a 65 ton Cutter Rigged Sloop; was a member of the Pistol Team, winning his “N-star� for a victory over Army; and played Hawaiian Guitar in the Mandolin Club. Graduating a year early because of World War II, CDR Schmidt was commissioned an Ensign in June 1945 and married Elisabeth Helene Whitman of St. Louis, MO, on June 15, 1945, before proceeding to the Pacific Theater of War to join USS David W. Taylor (DD-551) in time to participate in the Battle for Okinawa. He thus began a long and adventurous career as a Naval Officer. At the end of the war, he participated in the Occupation of Japan; Coastal Quarantine and Patrol Operations off Korea and Japan; and 7th Fleet Operations at sea between Tsingtao, Shanghai Hong Kong and Manila. In 1948 he was designated a Naval Aviator (Airship) and reported to Airship Squadron ONE (ZP-1) at Weeksville, NC, where he flew anti-submarine patrols in blimps against Soviet submarines along the Atlantic Coast. CDR Schmidt then attended the Communications Curriculum at the US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, and subsequently was designated a Naval Aviator (Heavier than Air) at Pensacola, FL. He continued his anti-submarine career, flying P5M Seaplanes with Patrol Squadron 44 (VP-44) at Naval Air Station, Norfolk, VA, and then serving as Aide and Flag Secretary to Commander Fleet Air Wings Atlantic and Commander Fleet Air Wing Five. After graduation from the U.S. Air Force Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, AL, he reported to the Staff of the Chief of Naval Operations in The Pentagon, where he also served as the Navy Representative on the Joint Chiefs of Staff Command & Control Requirements Committee. CDR Schmidt subsequently served on the Staff on the Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet; Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic; and, as Chief of Joint Communications War Plans in Norfolk, VA, before returning to The Pentagon for his final active duty on the Staff of the Chief of Naval Operations, as Chief, Surface Ship Radar. After his retirement from the Navy in March 1970, he worked for International Telephone and Telegraph, RCA and Wheeler Industries in the Washington, DC, area as a Systems Integration Engineer. Preceded in death by a son, Geoffrey Adrian Lange Schmidt; he is survived by his wife Elisabeth Helene Whitman Schmidt; Sons: Commander Wesley Henry Schmidt, Jr., USN (Retired); Colonel Austin B. C. Schmidt, USA (Retired); Colonel Rodney H. C. Schmidt, USA (Retired); Mr. Peter H. V. Schmidt; and a daughter, Mrs. F. Mitchell Alexander (Elisabeth Garland Schmidt), the wife of Commander Frederick Mitchell Alexander, USN (Retired). Further, he leaves four Grandsons: David W. Schmidt (Son of Austin), Wesley H. Schmidt, III (Son of Wesley Jr.), Zachery Schmidt (Son of Peter), Mark Mitchell Alexander, Airman, USN (Son of Elisabeth Garland), and four Granddaughters: Leah W (Schmidt) Glicoes (Daughter of Austin), Rebecca C. Schmidt (Daughter of Wesley Jr.), Mary E Schmidt (Daughter of Rodney) and Elisabeth Garland (Daughter of Elisabeth Garland) and one Great Grandson: Christopher Daniel Glicoes (Son of Leah, Grandson of Austin). Funeral services will be at 1:00 PM on November 18, 2009, at the Old Post Chapel, Ft. Myer, VA, followed by interment at Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please direct donations in his memory to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, 875 N. Randolph St., Room 225, Arlington, VA 22203.