USMA Class of 1947, Captain Schlegel was the pilot of a F-80C Shooting Star fighter interceptor with the 16th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 51st Fighter-Interceptor Group. On April 23, 1951, while on a combat mission, his aircraft received a direct hit by anti-aircraft fire, crashed and exploded five miles west of Chorwon, Korea. He was listed as Missing in Action and was presumed dead on December 31, 1953. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.