SP4 – E4 – United States Army
11B20 - Infantryman
1st Cavalry Division

Tour began on August 1, 1969
20 Years Old
Hunter, Kansas
September 19, 1949 to April 14, 1970

Stan Rockwell honors Ron...

Upon visiting your web site, please allow me to express my heartfelt gratitude
for Ron's service and commitment to our country.  We are so very fortunate to
have such brave men in our country.  A belated Thank You for having this web site
to honor Ron and his folks.

A picture of Ron is left at the American Veterans Traveling Tribute while
it was in Beloit, KS, October 2001.

Don Gjesdahl remembers his friend...

Ron and I went to high school together in Lincoln and we shared a lot of
laughs together, what a great sense of humor this man had.  Ron had to be
one of the nicest guys to ever walk the halls of  Lincoln High School and was
loved by all of his classmates.  I remember the last time we spoke to each other
on the main street in Lincoln.  I was about to enter the Navy and he was going to
school at the time.  I remember we talked about the war in Vietnam and what
might be in our future.  I have always felt cheated for not being able to know this
good friend for a longer period of time and when I think of  my high school
memories in Lincoln he is always at the top of my list.

This is the biography sketch of Ron that was used when a
scholarship fund was established at Kansas State in Ron's honor.

Ronald D. Schulz - Scholarship Honoree

Ronald Schulz was born on September 19, 1949 to Carl and Katherine
Schulz in the small farming community of Bethany, Kansas.  As is true
of most boys growing up on the farm, Ronnie enjoyed riding around with
his daddy in their pickup truck to help feed cattle, fishing in the pond in the
pasture by the road, and playing with his friends on the way home from the
one-room country school he attended.  He was especially fond of his "big"
sisters dog, Crummy, and had lots of fun ice-skating with his brother, Dan,
and friends from church on a neighbor's nearby frozen pond in the winter.

Ron attended Lincoln High School where, in addition to participating
in regular required classes, he was active in marching band, brass ensemble,
choir, and various woodworking and farm-shop courses.  He took pride
in the numerous articles of wood and metal he created in "shop" and was
pleased with the new skills he developed as his classes progressed.  It was
also during his high school years that he helped his dad restore an old 1946
Aronca Champ which they later enjoyed flying together, seated one in front
of the other, usually without the side door attached.  In general, Ron was a
conscientious student whose character was best summarized by his favorite
band instructor who, upon hearing of Ron's death, noted that the world was a
better place for Ron having been in it.

Ron attended Kansas State University as a freshman in 1967-68 but dropped
out his sophomore year to take a job at Quartsite, the local rock-quarry in Lincoln.
His dog, Sport, enjoyed running to meet him daily as sounds of Ron's
"souped-up" Chevrolet came within hearing distance several miles away, indicating
his master would be arriving home shortly for supper.  Ron enjoyed working on his
car on Saturdays and by now was enjoying the company of that special girlfriend.
It was during this year, which was at the height of the Vietnam War, that Ron decided
to enlist in the Army.  He was well aware of the controversy surrounding the war,
but felt it his duty to support his country's foreign policy, popular or not.  He did
this by joining the infantry and was eventually stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood,
Missouri, before leaving for the War.  Ron was a loyal individual who soon grew
close to his buddies while serving in the jungles of Vietnam.  During the many
combat missions he was required to participate in, he somehow managed to retain
his sense of humor.  He once explained in a letter to his folks what the position of
point man on patrol meant:  "...falling in all the holes."  Ron was frustrated by the
senselessness of war and spoke often of being able to "...come back to the World."
Unfortunately he was killed in action on April 14, 1970 on routine patrol, after seven
months of combat duty.  When news of his death reached home his parents noticed
that Sport went down the lane and waited near the mailbox as if well aware that his
master was about to make that final trip home.

The Scholarship Fund established in Ron's honor is in remembrance of a young
Kansan who chose to serve his country during the Vietnam era because he felt
it his duty to do so.  Like so many young men who didn't make it back from
Vietnam, Ron was not privileged to marry his high school sweetheart, watch his
future son enjoy a new puppy, take up farming with his dad, or perhaps realize his
potential as a University graduate.  Who knows, given the opportunity, Ron may
have made an excellent junior high earth-science teacher in some small community
similar to the one he enjoyed so much as a youth.

If you would like to post your remembrance
about Ronald, please click here.