He left the Navy months later but his final flight became famous. A 1954 film, "Men of the Fighting Lady," dished up the incident with Hollywood license, making jets of the men's prop planes and staging Schechter's landing as a flaming wreck back on his carrier.
The son of European immigrants in the garment trade, Schechter was born in New York City on Jan. 30, 1930, and grew up in Los Angeles.
He attended UCLA for two years before his active duty, later receiving a bachelor's degree from Stanford University. He went on to receive a master's degree from Harvard Business School.