Lieutenant Wheeler was the pilot of a F4U-5N Corsair night fighter with Composite Squadron 3 aboard the carrier USS BOXER (CVA-21). On May 24, 1953, while conducting night operations over North Korea, his aircraft was observed to crash in the vicinity of Soho-ri. He was listed as Missing in Action and was presumed dead on July 29, 1954. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.