Jersey. Schirra's mother, Florence Shillito Schirra (; 1898–1982), went along on her husband's barnstorming tours and performed wing walking stunts. Schirra Jr. grew up in Oradell, New Jersey, where he attended elementary school and was a First Class Scout in Boy Scout Troop 36. He graduated from Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood, New Jersey in June 1940 and enrolled in the Newark College of Engineering (now New Jersey Institute of Technology, NJIT), where he was involved in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and the Sigma Pi fraternity. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Schirra decided to apply to a service academy. His father encouraged him to apply to West Point, but he decided to enroll in the United States Naval Academy instead. Schirra graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1945 after only three years instead of four, as the Naval Academy had a wartime accelerated curriculum. Military service After graduating from the Naval Academy, Schirra was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy on June 6, 1945. Schirra served during the final months of World War II aboard the large cruiser . Following the Japanese surrender, Schirra returned to America, where the Alaska was decommissioned. He was subsequently stationed to Tsingtao and assigned to the amphibious command ship . Following his return from China, Schirra began training as a Naval Aviator at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. After he completed training, Schirra received his naval aviator wings in 1948 and joined Fighter Squadron 71 (VF-71) at Quonset Point, Rhode Island. In VF-71, Schirra flew the F8F Bearcat. After several years of flying the F8F, he attended jet transition training with the F-80 Shooting Star in preparation for his squadron's transition to the jet-powered F9F Panther. Schirra was deployed to the Mediterranean aboard the aircraft carrier at the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950. He applied for an exchange program with the U.S. Air Force to gain combat experience, was selected for the program, and trained to fly on the F-84 Thunderjet. Schirra was initially deployed with the 154th Fighter-Bomber Squadron to Itazuke Air Force Base in Japan, from where he flew missions into South Korea. As U.S. troops advanced north, the squadron was reassigned to a base in Daegu. In the eight-month deployment, Schirra flew 90 combat missions and downed two MiG-15s. After completing his tour in Korea, Schirra