Albert Schaufelberger

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At approximately 1830 hours on 25 May 1983, the senior U.S. Naval representative at the U.S. Military Group, El Salvador, Lieutenant Commander Albert Schaufelberger, was assassinated on the grounds of the Central American University in San Salvador. A group under the umbrella of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), the Central American Revolutionary Workers' Party (PRTC), was thought to have carried out the act. LT Cdr Schaufelberger had been dating an employee of the university, Ms. Consuelo Escalante Aguilera, for several months and had established a pattern of driving to the university in civilian clothes to pick her up after work. While he varied the days of the week, the time was always the same, between 1830 and 1840. On the 25th he arrived at the normal time and honked the horn of his armored embassy-provided Ford Maverick. This was the usual signal to inform his date that he had arrived. Ms. Aguilera exited her office and observed what she believed to be a white Volkswagen microbus pull up and stop near Lt Cdr Schaufelberger's car. Three men got out of the bus; a fourth man stayed with the vehicle. One gunman, carrying a revolver, went behind the victims car and stopped Ms. Aguilera. The second gunman took up a security position while a third gunman ran to the open window of Lt Cdr Schaufelberger's car and fired four rounds of .22 Magnum from a handgun into the left side of the victim's head. The assassins then jumped into their vehicle and escaped. Unfortunately, the air conditioner in Lt Cdr Schaufelberger's vehicle had broken, and he had removed the bullet-resistant lexgard glass on the driver's side. He carried a revolver underneath his right leg while driving to have it ready if needed, but did not have the opportunity to use it.

Albert Schaufelberger's assassination featured on the front cover of the June 6th 1983 edition of "Newsweek" magazine (U.S. edition "THE FIRST CASUALTY" / International edition "SHOOTING TO KILL"). World exclusive cover picture of Schaufelberger taken one week before his death by combat photographer Sacha Rocos (Gamma/Liaison). During his last discussion with journalists covering U.S. advised Salvadoran military operations, Schaufelberger advised those journalists present that the insurgents "know who I am, and where I live". His house had apparently already received drive-by gunfire during one recent evening. Previous pictures of Schaufelberger were taken (Schaufelberger appeared as a rear view only and in civilian clothes for security reasons) by the famed Magnum Agency in Paris for a syndicated feature story on the escalating US military involvement in the region.

The June 6th 1983 edition of Newsweek carries a detailed background of Albert Schaufelberger.

Schaufelberger was a US Navy SEAL, second in command of the US MILGROUP advising the Salvadoran Military on counter insurgency and weapons traffic interdiction operations. Schaufelberger had responsibility, among other duties, for naval ops in the Gulf of Fonseca which were run out of the La Union naval base. It was at the La Union naval base where Schaufelberger allowed himself to be photographed for the last time several days before his assasination.

Albert Schaufelberger was a graduate of Annapolis Naval Academy and was an avid American football player at school. His father, Albert Schaufelberger senior, was a decorated fighter/ bomber pilot during the Vietnam War.