Sergeant Hoefeler was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy in South Korea on 20 July 1950. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Hoefeler was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.