Donald Wayne Pageler was born February 1, 1946, in Wamego, Kansas, the younger of two children. He attended Wamego High School and graduated in 1964. After briefly attending the University of Kansas (KU), Pageler enlisted in the Navy. He was married to Jane [last name unknown] shortly before being assigned to the technical research ship USS Liberty. Following his service, Pageler and Jane eventually divorced, and he remarried.

The USS Liberty shipped out from Norfolk, Virgina on May 2, 1967. Pageler served as a communications technician aboard the Navy ship during the Six Day War, a brief war between Israel and several Middle Eastern Arabic countries, and was off-duty at the time of the incident the morning of June 8, 1967.

The USS Liberty was conducting a routine patrol near the Sinai Peninsula when Israeli fighter jets began firing upon the ship. The Liberty also endured a torpedo-strike from an Israeli torpedo boat shortly after the airstrike ceased. Thirty-four sailors died in the attack, and a further 171 were wounded. Pageler was wounded in the attack and was awarded the Purple Heart. A Navy Court of Inquiry determined the attack to have been an accident.

Pageler left the Navy in March of 1970. He completed his degree from KU in 1972. He remains active in several USS Liberty memorial organizations. Pageler was eventually diagnosed with PTSD from his time serving on the USS Liberty.

[Information pulled from collection materials.]