Tony Schneider was from Hillsboro, Missouri, and he attended college at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. He recounts that in his third year at the school [Annotator's Note: later in the interview he states that he graduated in 1939, so that would place this in either 1937 or 1938], Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] was clearly taking Europe on a path to war. He considered himself a prime candidate for the draft, so he thought he should do something to prepare for that eventuality. He went to Lambert Field in Saint Louis, Missouri, where the U. S. Navy had established a program to determine an individual's suitability to be a naval aviator. He spoke with the staff there, and upon learning he had completed three years of college already, they convinced him to finish his final year, which he did. He subsequently returned, took the requisite exams, and passed. He was accepted into the aviation training pipeline and reported to Pensacola, Florida, to begin. He discusses that he had applied to West Point [Annotator's Note: the U. S. Military Academy in West Point, New York which produces officers for the U. S. Army], but had been selected only as an alternate. He opines that he likely would have been just as happy flying for the U. S. Army Air Corps, but things didn't work out that way. At Pensacola, he flew Stearman biplanes that had earned the nickname of the "Yellow Peril" [Annotator's Note: the N3N]. Proceeding to the advanced phase, he flew the Douglas TBD [Annotator's Note: Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bomber]. He describes that while he flew this aircraft as part of his training syllabus, once war began it was put back into front-line service. He surmises that this was due to the success of the British Royal Navy, who had successfully employed obsolescent biplane torpedo bombers against the Italians. Once he completed training in 1940, he was assigned to VB-6 [Annotator's Note: Bombing Squadron 6 (VB-6)], a dive bomber squadron. While he, like most, had wanted to fly fighter aircraft, he was pleased to fly dive bombers. The squadron was assigned to USS Enterprise (CV-6). He joined the squadron in San Diego, California, and the ship was home-ported at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He fondly recalls the ship as beloved; the crew worked well together and the ship served proudly throughout the war. He also recalls being very proud to have been assigned to the USS Yorktown (CV-10).

Tony Schneider reported to VB-6 [Annotator's Note: Bombing Squadron 6 (VB-6)] in 1940. The squadron was assigned to the USS Enterprise (CV-6). At first flying the BT-1 aircraft [Annotator's Note: Northrop BT-1 dive bomber aircraft], the squadron transitioned to the Douglas SBD Dauntless. He describes the SBD as a "great airplane." It was easy to fly and very well suited to its mission. On the morning of 7 December 1941, the ship was approximately 100 miles from Pearl Harbor and he was sitting in his aircraft awaiting launch as part of the second wave of planes to fly off. He recounts that this was standard so as to avoid having to crane off the aircraft. They overheard one of the first wave aircraft make a radio call in an effort to identify himself as friendly, followed by a call from the pilot to the rear-seat gunner to prepare to man the aircraft's life raft. They subsequently heard radio traffic from Honolulu, Hawaii, and they determined that an attack was in progress. His plane was then loaded with a bomb and he took off with orders to search south of Oahu [Annotator's Note: the Hawaiian Island that contained most of the military installations, including Pearl Harbor]. The aircraft fly-off was suspended. He flew off the ship the next morning just before she pulled in to Pearl Harbor to refuel. He flew to Hickam Field [Annotator's Note: the Army Air Corps base just outside of Honolulu] and had a brief rest before returning to the ship. The ship got underway before dawn the next day and began to patrol north of Oahu. They would continue this patrol for the next month or so. He recounts one incident where he had launched as a single aircraft and somehow become lost. Unable to contact the ship due to radio silence being practiced, the ship eventually called him up and gave him a vector to its location.

Tony Schneider begins by discussing that the crew aboard USS Enterprise (CV-6) wanted to "get back" at the Japanese after Pearl Harbor and that the ship spent the first part of 1942 patrolling around the Hawaiian Islands. On 1 February 1942, he participated in his first combat action as part of a raid on the Marshall Islands. He made two flights that day. On the first flight, he recalls that he was assigned to attack Kwajalein Island, but he had no specific target. He made a bombing run on a Japanese cargo ship that he saw moored pier side, but was unable to score a direct hit. He returned to the ship and rearmed then took off for Taroa Island in the Maloelap Atoll. Armed with one 500-pound bomb and two 100-pound bombs, he attacked an airfield. He dropped his 500-pound bomb on a building and then dropped his remaining ordnance on some aircraft he saw parked at the field. As he pulled out of his second dive, he noticed tracer fire coming by his airplane. [Annotator's Note: Tracers are bullets with a small pyrotechnic charge. They are spaced periodically in a belt of ammunition and when fired, it is possible to see the path of those bullets, enabling the shooter to make aiming corrections.] He aircraft was being engaged by a Japanese Nakajima Type 98 fighter. His tail gunner was unable to bring his weapons to bear since his gun ring had been damaged. Schneider began a low-altitude dogfight with the Japanese plane but was able to out-maneuver it so he broke off the engagement and start a return to the ship. He recalls that on the return, he was joined by another SBD [Annotator's Note: Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber aircraft] being flown by Norman "Dusty" Kleiss. He comments that the major lesson he learned on this day was that while occasionally individuals can make a big difference, the majority of the time it is cooperation and teamwork that win battles.

Schneider recounts that after the Marshall Islands raid in early February 1942, the USS Enterprise (CV-6) participated in attacks on other Japanese-held targets including Marcus Island and Wake Island. In his mission against Wake Island, he recalls that when he pulled out of his attack run his aircraft was struck by an American .50 caliber armor piercing round. The Japanese were using the guns they had captured when they took the island, and had it not been for the armor plate behind his seat, he would have likely been killed by this round. He discusses that the squadron [Annotator's Note: Bombing Squadron 6 (VB-6)] had only installed the armor plate after the war began, having scavenged scrap metal for that purpose. Following this engagement, the ship was proceeding in the direction of the Coral Sea and his squadron was conducting 300-mile, single-aircraft searches out in front of the ship. They arrived in the area too late to participate in the Battle of the Coral Sea and were ordered to return to Pearl Harbor shortly thereafter. They were only in port for a short time before getting underway again. While at the time they didn't know specifics, he recalls that everyone felt that something big was about to happen. After they were back at sea, they were told that the Japanese were advancing on Midway Island and that they were positioning to intercept and prevent this from happening.

As a pilot in VB-6 [Annotator's Note: Bombing Squadron 6 (VB-6)], Tony Schneider sailed aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6) on her way to engage the Japanese Navy near Midway Island. On 3 June 1942, there had been some sightings of the Japanese Fleet and the pilots all felt that sooner or later they would be involved in a large sea battle. On the morning of 4 June 1942, he remembers awakening early, eating a steak and eggs breakfast, and taking off before dawn. His squadron orbited above the ship for what he estimates to be at least an hour before the squadron commander began leading them off towards the Japanese fleet. After approximately three hours flying, they arrived at the anticipated location to find no enemy ships. They began what he describes as an expanding square search and then located a Japanese destroyer proceeding at high speed. He comments that he couldn't see any detail on the ship, but could clearly make out her large white wake. The squadron proceeded toward what would prove to be the Japanese aircraft carrier force, but as they approached, his aircraft ran out of fuel. He comments that this was due in part to the time spent circling his own ship earlier that morning. He jettisoned his bomb load and directed his gunner to jettison his guns, which he did not. He successfully ditched, but the gunner was knocked unconscious by his guns, which broke loose from their stowage mount. Schneider managed to inflate the survival raft and pull his unconscious gunner into it. He comments that while he did see the Japanese fleet as he descended down to ditch his plane, he didn't see them once he was in the water. He did see smoke from the battle. He and his gunner wound up being in the water for the next two and a half days before they were rescued by a PBY [Annotator's Note: Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boat]. During this time, they were circled by a group of sharks, but he shot one of them with his pistol, and they left the area. After his rescue, the PBY flew him to Midway Island.

Having been rescued from his ditched aircraft at the Battle of Midway, Tony Schneider was taken first to Midway Island and then on to Hawaii, where he spent a few days at the Pearl Harbor Naval Hospital. While there, his roommate was George Gay. [Annotator's Note: US Navy Ensing George H. Gay, Jr. was the sole survivor of Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8) flying from the USS Hornet (CV-8) during the Battle of Midway.] The pair was visited by ADM Chester Nimitz [Annotator's Note: US Navy FLeet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet]. He recounts that upon his return to the USS Enterprise (CV-6), his air group [Annotator's Note: Air Group 6] had broken up so he collected his personal records and returned to the United States. There, he joined the newly-formed Air Group 11. He discusses his personal admiration for Richard "Dick" Best, one of the pilots in VB-6 [Annotator's Note: Bombing Squadron 6 (VB-6), the squadron in which Schneider flew during the Battle of Midway]. He briefly describes his follow-on wartime experience, which includes two other deployments. During the first with Air Group 11, his command was sent to Guadalcanal to relieve a U. S. Marine Corps air group, since they not assigned to an aircraft carrier at the time. During the second, with Air Group 9, he was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10).

Tony Schneider recaps his involvement in the Doolittle Raid that took place on 18 April 1942. Assigned to VB-6 [Annotator's Note: Bombing Squadron 6 (VB-6)] aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6), his ship was assigned to escort USS Hornet (CV-8), which carried the B-25 [Annotator's Note: North American B-25 Mitchell medium bomber] bombers that were to be used in the raid. The morning the bombers launched, he was assigned to a search mission, during which he located and attacked a Japanese sampan. He scored a near miss. He reflects during the remainder of the interview on his service later in the war. In addition to his participation in the Battle of Midway, he recounts that he made two other deployments and served aboard USS Lexington (CV-16) and USS Yorktown (CV-10). During one of these, he participated in the sinking of a Japanese cruiser that was operating in company with the Japanese battleship Yamato. He discusses his decorations and comments that they are indicative of him being at the scene of action throughout the war.