SFC - E3 - United States Army
Medical Specialist
D Company, 1st Battalion
506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division 
22 Years Old
Hillsboro, Kansas
May 27, 1948 - MIA, July 21, 1970
Body Was Not Recovered 
On July 21, 1970 Ronald J. Schultz was serving as a medic with D Company, 1st Battalion,
506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division during operations in the A Shau
Valley when his unit was under heavy mortar, rocket, and automatic weapons fire.
A landing zone was secured and the casualties moved to it. As the first medevac
helicopter approached the LZ it began to take enemy fire and was able to stay on
the ground for only a brief period before the crew began an emergency take-off.
At this point, PFC Schultz grabbed hold of the aircraft's right landing skid and was
carried up with the Huey. Ronald was helping to evacuate the wounded and was most
likely hit with gunfire while he was holding onto the skid.
As the aircraft climbed to an altitude of about 400 feet above ground level - less from
the tops of the triple-canopy jungle - PFC Schultz lost his grip and fell. The point at
which he entered the jungle canopy was outside the US defensive perimeter and the
enemy presence prevented any ground search. Other helicopters did make an
unsuccessful air search of the area where he had fallen. Although a direct fall from
400 feet would have been fatal, there was a remote possibility that PFC Schultz' fall
was broken by the jungle canopy and that he might have survived. If so, capture was
a certainty, since the area where he fell was in enemy hands.
PFC Schultz was carried as Missing in Action until the Secretary of the Army approved
a Presumptive Finding of Death on 14 August 1978, changing his status from MIA to
Died while Missing/Body not Recovered. If you would like to post your remembrance
about Ronald, please click here. |
