Robert Allan Schlegel – Commander, United States Navy

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SCHLEGEL, ROBERT ALLAN (Age 38)

COMMANDER, USN

On Thursday, September 11, 2001, as a result of a terrorist act on the Pentagon, ROBERT A. SCHLEGEL, COMMANDER, UNITED STATES NAVY, of Alexandria, Virginia.

Husband of 13 years of Dr. Dawn Marie Schlegel; son of Elvin and Patricia Schlegel and brother of David and Richard Schlegel. Friends may call from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, October 5, 2001, at CUNNINGHAM FUNERAL HOME, Cameron and Alfred Sts., Alexandria Virginia.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, October 6 at 11 a.m. at the Fort Myer Memorial Chapel, with full military honors to follow at Arlington National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Commander Robert Schlegel Scholarship Fund at Washington & Lee University, (make check payable to the AOD Educational Foundation) c/o Paul Farquharson, 5213 Bordeaux Cove, Ellicott City, MD 21043.


Commander Robert A. Schlegel
Attack Location: Pentagon
Age: Not Available
Home: Gray, Maine

Commander Robert A. Schlegel, like his father and two brothers, saw the Navy as a calling.

Before being posted to the Pentagon last September, Schlegel was executive officer of the USS Arthur W. Radford, a 9,000-ton destroyer. That assignment followed tours aboard the USS Scott and the USS Yarnell.

With so many others, Schlegel’s name was on the Pentagon’s list of those missing after the deliberate crash of American Airlines Flight 77. From their home in Alexandria, his wife, Dawn, said it was premature to talk about her husband in anything but the present tense.

“He comes from a military family,” said Schlegel, adding that she is proud of his accomplishments, including a recent promotion. “It was a big deal that he was selected for command.”

Schlegel, who was born in Gray, Maine, graduated from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, where he was a French and journalism major. He also received a master’s degree in international affairs.

— Michael Laris


Commander Robert Allan Schlegel

Like the other men in his family, Commander Robert Allan Schlegel, 38, was a career Navy officer.

Schlegel, who lived in Alexandria, Virginia, worked at the Pentagon as a scheduler, assigning the cruise routes and dates for Navy ships, according to family members. His wife, Dawn, is a government psychologist.

One of Schlegel’s brothers is also a Navy officer, and another brother and his father are retired from the service. “They’re all Navy,” said his sister-in-law, Debbie Schlegel.

A 15-year veteran of the Navy, Schlegel grew up in the Philadelphia area before moving with his family to Maine about the time he started high school. He and his brother, both sports fans, would call each other during televised games to boast about their team’s success.

“That’s how we all are with one another,” said Debbie Schlegel, who was gathered with other family members Thursday in the family home in the tiny town of Gray, Maine.


NOTE: Commander Schlegel was laid to rest in Section 64 of Arlington National Cemetery, in the shadows of the Pentagon.

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